Quote: David Bussell @ October 8 2008, 12:01 PM BSTI couldn't agree more with this. If people didn't feel the need to hide behind pseudonyms there would be a lot more integrity on these boards.
I can't believe you said that Barbara!
I think we've upset someone Page 16
Yes and no. There's also the matter of privacy and personal safety. I even hate it when they call out your name in the doctors' waiting room for everyone to hear.
Quote: David Bussell @ October 8 2008, 12:01 PM BSTI couldn't agree more with this. If people didn't feel the need to hide behind pseudonyms there would be a lot more integrity on these boards.
It's a board where people voice opinions and blow off steam about what they've seen. That's all. Sometimes it funny, sometimes it's nasty, sometimes it's boring. I can't say the people who post here under real names have anymore integrity than those who post under pseudonyms. In fact, I find the ones who post under their real names a bit tiresome because they're mainly doing it for self-promotional reasons.
Quote: chipolata @ October 8 2008, 12:06 PM BSTthey're mainly doing it for self-promotional reasons.
Oh no! A comedy writer trying to get ahead! Gasp!
Quote: chipolata @ October 8 2008, 12:06 PM BSTIt's a board where people voice opinions and blow off steam about what they've seen. That's all. Sometimes it funny, sometimes it's nasty, sometimes it's boring. I can't say the people who post here under real names have anymore integrity than those who post under pseudonyms. In fact, I find the ones who post under their real names a bit tiresome because they're mainly doing it for self-promotional reasons.
At least to be fair you do use your own photo. Like me.
Quote: Seefacts @ October 8 2008, 12:07 PM BSTOh no! A comedy writer trying to get ahead! Gasp!
Fair point. But it can become tiresome. 
Quote: chipolata @ October 8 2008, 12:09 PM BSTFair point. But it can become tiresome.
Only a handful post under their real names, don't they?
Quote: chipolata @ October 8 2008, 12:06 PM BSTIt's a board where people voice opinions and blow off steam about what they've seen. That's all. Sometimes it funny, sometimes it's nasty, sometimes it's boring. I can't say the people who post here under real names have anymore integrity than those who post under pseudonyms. In fact, I find the ones who post under their real names a bit tiresome because they're mainly doing it for self-promotional reasons.
Well yes, there's a promotional aspect to it of course, but more than that there's an honesty to it. I don't say anything on these boards I wouldn't say to a person's face. I can be as funny, nasty and boring as I like but I take responsibility for it.
Quote: David Bussell @ October 8 2008, 12:12 PM BSTWell yes, there's a promotional aspect to it of course, but more than that there's an honesty to it. I don't say anything on these boards I wouldn't say to a person's face. I can be as funny, nasty and boring as I like but I take responsibility for it.
I've been thinking about dumping the pseudonym and starting again under my own name.
Quote: Seefacts @ October 8 2008, 12:11 PM BSTOnly a handful post under their real names, don't they?
Yeah, it's mainly Bussel trying to stir up trouble between BSG members.
Quote: chipolata @ October 8 2008, 12:12 PM BSTYeah, it's mainly Bussel trying to stir up trouble between BSG members.
Right, because I'm famed for that.
This is why I really want two BSG usernames. One for sensible discussion about writing, and another one where I can go on the "British Sitcoms" thread and let off steam anonymously (IN A CONSTRUCTIVE AND HELPFUL FASHION OBVIOUSLY).
I post under a pseudonym only because I don't want my employers to stumble upon how much time I spend here when I'm supposed to be working. Five seconds' worth of detective work/extra clickery would elicit my real name.
Quote: David Bussell @ October 8 2008, 12:01 PM BSTI couldn't agree more with this. If people didn't feel the need to hide behind pseudonyms there would be a lot more integrity on these boards.
No, it wouldn't. In the early days of the usenet there was a strict rule of using real names on some servers. It didn't soften (or whatever) the conversations in the slightest.
The internet has been around for a while, so have forums. Everyone knows that the language gets a bit rougher in written communication (just pick up a newspaper opinion/review page; and those people have much more power with regard to the things they're smashing to pieces in their columns than we have).
And it *is* a matter of honesty to not praise something you thought was shit. As a writer you might want to phrase it differently, but we're not all writers, we're the audience. Well, that part of the audience that actually gives a shit and will maybe watch a rerun or even buy a DVD.
Also, there are good reasons for not using real names and if someone chooses to do so, it should be respected.
Finck is, of course, my complete real name. I'm not a coward.
And it *is* a matter of honesty to not praise something you thought was shit.
Of course it is. But Sooty was saying that if you are being honest then you are automatically being fair as well. That was my complaint. (I should of course know better than to venture into the world of Sooty's muddled vocabulary, it's a voyage from which few ever return.)