Do you prefer to be anonymous here?
jaga13
Posts: 1,149 Member
I recently read a post in this community and realized I know the person in real, actual life. Which made me wonder....how do you all feel about mixing MFP with the rest of your community? Are you "friends" here with people you actually know? Or do you prefer some level of anonymity?
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I'm friends with family and friends on here but I don't know if any of them read the forums. Either way doesn't bother me, my handle gives me away to anyone who knows me or my family anyhow
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Well, my face is in my avi so I can't really claim to want anonymity. I started out being more concerned and actually changed my username because of it but then kind of said forget it.
One of the people on my friends list is somebody who sent me a FR after seeing my before/after face pic on a thread in the Success forum. When I looked at her profile I realized I knew her from a previous job. I sent her a message and she hadn't realized that she knew me IRL because neither my before or after picture were similar to what I looked like when we worked together (different hair and weight.)
I have several other people on my FL who I know IRL but I am not sure if any of them are active on the forums.0 -
Interesting feedback, thank you!0
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Nah. I don't post anything here I wouldn't want people IRL to see and I've posted the occasional photo with my face in it, so the jig is pretty much up.0
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It doesn't bother me if people know me on here. Shrug. They all know I'm losing weight so it's a moot point for me. If I was on a dodgy forum... I'd perhaps be more cautious
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If someone I knew read my posts, they'd know it was me. I wouldn't especially care.0
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Yes, even tho my face is on my avi.
Do you know me?0 -
I think in the past I've heard people who CONSTANTLY talked about weight loss and healthy eating, and it was a real turnoff, so it makes me want to limit this conversation in my real life (unless asked). But maybe that will change.0
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Anonymity isn't something that has ever really been a concern for me. If someone I know IRL happens upon my profile, or stuff that I post, so be it. I'm as close to the exact same here as I am in the real world, so nothing should surprise anyone. If it did, and they mentioned it, I'd tell them to stuff it into the closest nether region in relative proximity to their dominant hand.0
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strong_curves wrote: »Yes, even tho my face is on my avi.
Do you know me?
lol, I don't know you! oddly enough, the person I noticed here doesn't even have a picture of themself, but information in the profile gives it away. And that person has NOTHING to be embarrassed about. I was just wondering if they would feel weird if they realized that I know. Trying to put myself in that person's shoes. I don't plan on saying anything.0 -
Not so much on here. I do try to keep places like Twitter a bit more anonymous in case RL people find me on there (easy, as my Twitter and Instagram have the same name and coworkers/family follow me on the latter). But I've had long-time internet friends of my mom and me friend me on here.0
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I have a couple friends and family members that use MFP...I don't care if they know I use MFP...not sure why I would care?0
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I prefer to be anonymous because I don't really want to make a big public deal out of losing weight. I'd rather keep this seperate from my real life friends or family.
I haven't been that devious about it. I just haven't told anyone I use MFP. I use a different username than I do most places. I don't post pictures. Someone might be able to figure out that they know me though.
I found my cousin on another site and that was a bit weird. I don't know how long she had been a member because she didn't post much. I didn't feel as comfortable there after that.0 -
I have ranted a couple times on here about my co-worker and her pushing advocare on everyone everyday that I maybe would not want her to see to keep peace at work lol other then that it does not matter0
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Most of my FL are my family and friends, but most of them don't use the site any more. (All in red for last days logged) I have a couple of people who I "met" here.0
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I prefer to be anonymous to some extent. I keep my weight loss out of general everyday conversation - there are a couple of people i know who can really lash out at people slimmer than them trying to lose weight, but unwilling to do anything about their own and I find it easier to keep it separate. But when someone mentions I look slimmer and asks how I'm doing it, I will happily tell them I use mfp and if they wanted to sign up I'd be happy to add them.0
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I'm sure if someone found me because my face is in my profile pic, then that would be okay. However, if a co-worker or someone outside of my support system sent a FR, I'd probably decline it. MFP is the only place I can be 100% open about everything. My "inner circle" knows about my issues, goals, struggles, etc., but not everyone knows everything. That's how I want to keep it.
I can say anything to my MFP friends and not worry about any of them judging me or treating me like I'm made of glass.0 -
it's connected to my FB...people know I am here...odds the dif to me. also note my profile pic is me and my husband.0
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Guess why I use a sheep as avatar I'm sure though there are people I know on here. 0
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It has nothing to do with who I know irl, and everything to do with the complete strangers who may or may not be mentally stable. I have dealt with a cyberstalking incident before, severe enough that law enforcement was involved, and it started with someone who wasn't taking meds they should've been taking. IMO the safety of myself and my family > showing my face.0
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It has nothing to do with who I know irl, and everything to do with the complete strangers who may or may not be mentally stable. I have dealt with a cyberstalking incident before, severe enough that law enforcement was involved, and it started with someone who wasn't taking meds they should've been taking. IMO the safety of myself and my family > showing my face.
Really good point. Plus, With so many users here, you have to assume a percentage are completely made up liars.0 -
strong_curves wrote: »Yes, even tho my face is on my avi.
Do you know me?
I'm peering around the corner, looking at you right now.0 -
BTW - not serious.
Maybe.0 -
I'm really a beer can.or maybe I'm the water can? Can't remember which.......0
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It has nothing to do with who I know irl, and everything to do with the complete strangers who may or may not be mentally stable. I have dealt with a cyberstalking incident before, severe enough that law enforcement was involved, and it started with someone who wasn't taking meds they should've been taking. IMO the safety of myself and my family > showing my face.
^^This. I have seen a lot of crazy stuff happen on the internet. The fact that this forum is visible to anyone on the internet, not just members, causes me to be cautious.
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This. I prefer to talk about weight loss and food on here than IRL because most of my friends on here have similar goals. I do have my Sis, but that's pretty much it. I have gotten, a friend, an aunt, hubbies Aunt, and my StepMum on here so of course I accepted their FR. They didn't stay active though and are never on. My hubby signed up as well. I unfriended him lol. He just signed up and never bothered.I think in the past I've heard people who CONSTANTLY talked about weight loss and healthy eating, and it was a real turnoff, so it makes me want to limit this conversation in my real life (unless asked). But maybe that will change.
ETA I did end up meeting a friend from here IRL, and plan to meet another this summer. They both live close to my hometown.
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Yes. I like to be anonymous on MFP. None of my FL are people I was friends with in RL before joining. I did have one person but I found it make me feel like I couldn't be honest and that I had to sensor myself so I quietly unfriended them. I'm still friends with them on Facebook and that's enough.
That said, I have met 5 of the people on my friends list since joining. I have no problem with that. They are friends in the context of my weight loss journey so I don't worry about annoying them with my self-focused posts in the news feed. Its what this site is all about anyways.0 -
It has nothing to do with who I know irl, and everything to do with the complete strangers who may or may not be mentally stable. I have dealt with a cyberstalking incident before, severe enough that law enforcement was involved, and it started with someone who wasn't taking meds they should've been taking. IMO the safety of myself and my family > showing my face.
^^This. I have seen a lot of crazy stuff happen on the internet. The fact that this forum is visible to anyone on the internet, not just members, causes me to be cautious.
That's true, of course... but I also had to put a restraining order on a guy that I met at my workplace (he didn't work there, he was a friend of a friend), that worked in my town and lived two streets over from me.
Crazy is everywhere... the internet is just part of the geography....0 -
1HappyRedhead wrote: »It has nothing to do with who I know irl, and everything to do with the complete strangers who may or may not be mentally stable. I have dealt with a cyberstalking incident before, severe enough that law enforcement was involved, and it started with someone who wasn't taking meds they should've been taking. IMO the safety of myself and my family > showing my face.
^^This. I have seen a lot of crazy stuff happen on the internet. The fact that this forum is visible to anyone on the internet, not just members, causes me to be cautious.
That's true, of course... but I also had to put a restraining order on a guy that I met at my workplace (he didn't work there, he was a friend of a friend), that worked in my town and lived two streets over from me.
Crazy is everywhere... the internet is just part of the geography....
Yes, of course the crazy is not limited just to the internet. But you can limit a big pool of the crazy if you don't have personally identifying info on the open internet.
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1HappyRedhead wrote: »It has nothing to do with who I know irl, and everything to do with the complete strangers who may or may not be mentally stable. I have dealt with a cyberstalking incident before, severe enough that law enforcement was involved, and it started with someone who wasn't taking meds they should've been taking. IMO the safety of myself and my family > showing my face.
^^This. I have seen a lot of crazy stuff happen on the internet. The fact that this forum is visible to anyone on the internet, not just members, causes me to be cautious.
That's true, of course... but I also had to put a restraining order on a guy that I met at my workplace (he didn't work there, he was a friend of a friend), that worked in my town and lived two streets over from me.
Crazy is everywhere... the internet is just part of the geography....
Yes, of course the crazy is not limited just to the internet. But you can limit a big pool of the crazy if you don't have personally identifying info on the open internet.
Agreed.
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