Google+? No thanks.
Joy. Just found that the last time I took something out of my freezer, the door didn't close completely and has let some air in for the last two days! :( All the food was still frozen, so that's no problem, I suppose, despite the heat of this summer. But it was all covered in snow and ice! I got the snow out (and while at it, freezing my little fingers off, I was wondering if I should make a snowball out of it and throw it from my balcony), and managed to hack away enough of the ice to be able to close the door properly. Urgh. Yeah, that was fun! ;)
Got a Google+ invite a week or so ago. I had one look at it and since the "find out more" link only led to a page where they demanded I give them a lot of personal info, including real name, I hit the close button to that tab so quickly that I almost got a whiplash! Still not interested.
A place that looks at pseudonyms as a bad thing and wants their users to attach a real (legal) name to their email addresses and forces their profiles to be public is not a place I need. I have a Facebook account that I use for playing games on. That's enough. And no, it's not under this name. I have no intention of letting anyone in fandom even know about my FarmVille FB account, as I want to keep things separate. I have fun in fandom on LJ, DW, and various archives (AO3 being the one I'm currently active on). People can sometimes find me on Y!M and on IRC. I'm happy with that.
It's all fine and dandy when your legal name isn't very unique, but when there's just one person in the entire world with your name... um, it gets real easy to find out where you live and who you are if someone wants to. No thanks.
And even though I've been completely open to my family about my porn-writing hobby, I'm not interested in my clients, students, or the customers at work easily finding my underage incest fisting porn. Okay, so I've never written exactly that, not in the same story, but you get the point, right? It's Id fic, and Id fic can look pretty damn terrifying for an outsider.
And to people who go "if you're not ashamed of it then why hide behind a fake name" or "I have nothing to hide so using my real name doesn't bother me (and shouldn't bother you either)", I just want to say:
Have you ever rented or watched a porn vid? Most people have at some point in their lives. Being forced to use your real name on the internet, cross-sites and on various services, is a lot like suddenly *everyone* in your social circle knowing that you did. Also, what the title was, if it was gay, het, bi, or trans porn. And what the actors in it were called. And how long you watched it. If you skipped scenes or if there was a particular scene you watched several times! Not only that, they'll also know if you masturbated while watching it! And then, next time you apply for a job, they'll know too. Your current co-workers, your teachers, your students, your future bosses (if they actually hire you after finding this out. Maybe they don't like gay porn; you'd be amazed how many future bosses might get really suspicious of you for that. Or maybe they don't like porn at all!), your spouse, your kids(!), your mother-in-law, your grandmother... If not a porn vid, then maybe it was a magazine or a book of erotica. They'll all know about that stash of magazines with naked women you hid under the mattress when you were 13!!!!
Or, if you happen to live in a certain type of society or family where some things are very much frowned upon, and if you borrow a book from a friend about these subjects, they will all know it and judge you for it, before you're ready to take up that particular fight, or before you have time to throw those ideas aside as bad yourself. And then your future bosses will know that at some point in your life, you read this horrid thing!
That's why I don't want to attach my real name to the things I write, or run the risk of people making the connection. Not because I'm particularly ashamed of it, but because it complicates things if the streams cross.
But the people who usually spout such nonsense are usually white, male, cis-gendered, fairly well-off people. And maybe they'd be proud to show off their porn collection to their grandmothers, I don't know. ;)
Writing (I typed ranting at first. LOL I think I got a little stuck in that mood. *shoo*) proceeds. :) One fic just got back from beta, and I'm making a few changes to it to make it as good as I can. Another one is about halfway through, I think, with the sex scene just started. I have several more planned, because oy! Kink Bingo card is inspirational, and I want to finish a line soon so I can ask for a second card! :D
But... yesterday I accidentally signed up for a fic challenge. I, who've repeatedly said that I don't do any other writing challenges than Kink Bingo any more. Ooops. But it was for Uruha/Kai! I couldn't resist! ... Oh dear. LOL Well. I can do it. 1000 words. And I have until the beginning of August to write it.
This entry was originally posted at http://ldybastet.dreamwidth.org/554836.html.
comments there. You can comment on either site.
Got a Google+ invite a week or so ago. I had one look at it and since the "find out more" link only led to a page where they demanded I give them a lot of personal info, including real name, I hit the close button to that tab so quickly that I almost got a whiplash! Still not interested.
A place that looks at pseudonyms as a bad thing and wants their users to attach a real (legal) name to their email addresses and forces their profiles to be public is not a place I need. I have a Facebook account that I use for playing games on. That's enough. And no, it's not under this name. I have no intention of letting anyone in fandom even know about my FarmVille FB account, as I want to keep things separate. I have fun in fandom on LJ, DW, and various archives (AO3 being the one I'm currently active on). People can sometimes find me on Y!M and on IRC. I'm happy with that.
It's all fine and dandy when your legal name isn't very unique, but when there's just one person in the entire world with your name... um, it gets real easy to find out where you live and who you are if someone wants to. No thanks.
And even though I've been completely open to my family about my porn-writing hobby, I'm not interested in my clients, students, or the customers at work easily finding my underage incest fisting porn. Okay, so I've never written exactly that, not in the same story, but you get the point, right? It's Id fic, and Id fic can look pretty damn terrifying for an outsider.
And to people who go "if you're not ashamed of it then why hide behind a fake name" or "I have nothing to hide so using my real name doesn't bother me (and shouldn't bother you either)", I just want to say:
Have you ever rented or watched a porn vid? Most people have at some point in their lives. Being forced to use your real name on the internet, cross-sites and on various services, is a lot like suddenly *everyone* in your social circle knowing that you did. Also, what the title was, if it was gay, het, bi, or trans porn. And what the actors in it were called. And how long you watched it. If you skipped scenes or if there was a particular scene you watched several times! Not only that, they'll also know if you masturbated while watching it! And then, next time you apply for a job, they'll know too. Your current co-workers, your teachers, your students, your future bosses (if they actually hire you after finding this out. Maybe they don't like gay porn; you'd be amazed how many future bosses might get really suspicious of you for that. Or maybe they don't like porn at all!), your spouse, your kids(!), your mother-in-law, your grandmother... If not a porn vid, then maybe it was a magazine or a book of erotica. They'll all know about that stash of magazines with naked women you hid under the mattress when you were 13!!!!
Or, if you happen to live in a certain type of society or family where some things are very much frowned upon, and if you borrow a book from a friend about these subjects, they will all know it and judge you for it, before you're ready to take up that particular fight, or before you have time to throw those ideas aside as bad yourself. And then your future bosses will know that at some point in your life, you read this horrid thing!
That's why I don't want to attach my real name to the things I write, or run the risk of people making the connection. Not because I'm particularly ashamed of it, but because it complicates things if the streams cross.
But the people who usually spout such nonsense are usually white, male, cis-gendered, fairly well-off people. And maybe they'd be proud to show off their porn collection to their grandmothers, I don't know. ;)
Writing (I typed ranting at first. LOL I think I got a little stuck in that mood. *shoo*) proceeds. :) One fic just got back from beta, and I'm making a few changes to it to make it as good as I can. Another one is about halfway through, I think, with the sex scene just started. I have several more planned, because oy! Kink Bingo card is inspirational, and I want to finish a line soon so I can ask for a second card! :D
But... yesterday I accidentally signed up for a fic challenge. I, who've repeatedly said that I don't do any other writing challenges than Kink Bingo any more. Ooops. But it was for Uruha/Kai! I couldn't resist! ... Oh dear. LOL Well. I can do it. 1000 words. And I have until the beginning of August to write it.
This entry was originally posted at http://ldybastet.dreamwidth.org/554836.html.
comments there. You can comment on either site.