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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxn!ihnp4!inuxc!pur-ee!uiucdcs!kaufman
From: kaufman@uiucdcs.CS.UIUC.EDU
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Re: "pretend" names and aliases
Message-ID: <26600175@uiucdcs>
Date: Thu, 20-Mar-86 00:01:00 EST
Article-I.D.: uiucdcs.26600175
Posted: Thu Mar 20 00:01:00 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 22-Mar-86 06:12:02 EST
References: <712@osiris.UUCP>
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Nf-ID: #R:osiris.UUCP:712:uiucdcs:26600175:000:1196
Nf-From: uiucdcs.CS.UIUC.EDU!kaufman    Mar 19 23:01:00 1986


>	I guess the question is, what is the importance, if any, of using
> hig-falutin' names ? Is the user in that much need of an ego-boost ?
> My reaction would be to assume that the person would seem to be fairly
> immature but maybe that's not so. Comments, anyone ?

> jcpatilla

I think the use of an alias, be it from fiction or just a nickname, tends
to add a bit of color to the person, to make them something more than a
bunch of bright spots on a CRT.  Haven't you ever wondered, what makes that
person use so-and-so as an alias?  This reader is more likely to see (as a
first impression, anyway) that sort of poster as an interesting person than
the person who simply signs off with some initials.

With all the hundreds of contributors to the net, it's much easier to remember
a Genghis Khan III than a David W. Gibson.  Of course, it can be said that
the use of such names serves as an attention-grabber, and if you equate that
with immaturity, I can't argue with that.  It may also be a sign of immaturity
if a person does not reveal his/her true identity.

Ken Kaufman (uiucdcs!kaufman)
Disclaimer:  I am neither Genghis Khan III nor David W. Gibson.  Neither are
	     my employers.