credibility

does anonymity make for better forums?

wait a few weeks and I may have an answer for you... i know on the australian bushwalk forum there are members taht arrange trips with other members that arent advertised that i'm pretty jealous of....

Interesting question Hugh, I personally think it depends on what you would consider 'better'? I myself take what most people say online with discretion and don't really look to forums as a form of educational tool as much as a form of entertainment. I know this my be different for everyone, and its not like I think I know better or more than anyone else (because I know that is certainly not the case) but rather because I am a practical learner. Hands on is the only way for me, with theory as reinforcement once its practically learned. So in my opinion anyway, if I wanted to network on a more personal level, I would use websites such as Facebook or twitter etc I expect a fair level of banter and heckling in forums its just the way they are. I know of one particular nz outdoors forum that ended very sour with the owners getting involved in maybe too much themselves in the discussions and more often than not copping it hard. I knew them personally, and it was a shame because they seemed like nice people too. They upset some old school hard nuts who didn't appreciate being told what to do, it all went down hill from there.. Online forums are funny things at times, and I'm sure my take is slanted somewhat, but I can't think of any I have been involved in ever that were not anonymous.

Using a pseudonym keeps things at a distance. I'm happy with that. You soon figure out participants after a series of posts. It's good to get a challenge or a different angle sometimes.

I'm pretty much an open book. My name really is Kreig. I'll answer any question honestly. I don't mind a bit of banter; the only problem is when inflection is lost in the poor translation of words on a screen. (For instance, I didn't realise Pipe's comment on drop bears was very tongue in cheek). :D But it's all good. And hey, as the foreigner here, I expect to cop flack. Just goes with being the outsider. :) The only thing I struggle with is dishonesty. And unfortunately, anonymity often breeds it. People who claim others stories as their own, or profess to know something about things they don't, that's what I don't like. I have no problem sharing my weaknesses as well as my strengths. If I was the greatest outdoorsman I'd have joined the 7 Summit club, bagged a Sasquatch, and ridden a whale to China by now. :D

and I'm known as Hugh in most of my lives. Facebook and Yahoo amoungst others have made a strong move away from anonymity in more recent times.

My name Geeves is my surname. The only place Im not Geeves is on trademe but even there once you find my username you will understand. I came to NZ as a 10 year old in 1970 and lived in Balclutha till I left home at 19 and moved to Wellington. I joined the WTMC for 3 or 4 years where I met the wife then dropped out to have kids. For many years any ideas of tramping were very much on the back burner as costs and time were against us. When the kids got to that age we did a stint in Scouts with Linda being a cub leader and me doing 5 years as a Scout leader. After our kids moved on we carried on for a while but it got to the point every Wednesday where you felt you had to go rather than wanted to go which everyone will agree is the time for a change. A couple of years after that we joined the HVTC and I have been fairly active there and enjoyed it a lot. Linda does some of the day walks but needs a little encouragement these days. I think thats all you need to know about me alan

I've been Big Paul my entire life. Some may now claim that to be prophetic considering my handsome proportions. I only find complete annonimity frustrating in forums when when you have no background with which to judge opinion or advice offered. I think I would prefer to see a profile for instance to refer to so you could judge the value of the comment or advice given. I don't need to know your real name but some idea of your actual experience would be valuable to me at least.

I've been pseudonymous on other forums for good reasons. But here I'm happy to use my meat-space name. It's a choice that each person makes for themselves and I strongly defend their right to make it. Besides no matter what name you blog under the only people who really know if it is real or not are probably the spooks. @ geeves. We may well have met. I've been around the Wellington area since 1990. Did a few trips with HVTC - but we moved to Masterton around 2008 and became active there. HVTC always struck me as a good down-to-earth bunch of people and I regret not making the time to go out with them more.

No objections to the idea of a 'real name' being shown on my profile, but ... not sure it helps. To anyone involved in tramping I'm madpom. To people involved in possuming I'm the pom, or the mad pom. To me I'm 'pom'. So for people aware of my existence and experience, madpom means a lot more that what my mother calls me! Additionally, a 'handle' like madpom can be chosen to be memorable and more unique. There's a lot of Matt Briggs's out there, but google madpom and you get me! Google izogi and you get izogi. Google pmcke and you get pmcke. They seem, to me, more effective identifiers that birth names. So: nicknames, well known, used across the board ones seem to me easier to use to identify people and judge their experience than shared, common, unmemorable traditional names. The only downside is people creating multiple identities or using anonymity to lie, insult or bully. But telling them to use a real name is hardly going to stop them inventing new names and carrying on as usual.