In the olden, not necessarily golden, days of yore, you were born, and then you got a birth certificate stating that you had been born. That birth certificate contained information you really needed if you wanted a passport or wanted to move to Arizona for the winters. In case you ever forgot your name, a distinct possibility as one grows older, you could look at your birth certificate, and there it would be. (Of course, if you can't remember your name, remembering that you have a birth certificate is problematic.) One person, one name. That's the way it worked. You knew who you were.
These official names could be "tweaked" a bit as one aged. Some of you got confirmation names and/or nicknames, acquisitions which never showed up on your birth certificates. Some men and a teeny weeny number of women were given special titles like Dr. Before marriage, a woman was called "Miss." After marriage, she was called "Mrs." Also, most women got new surnames when they married although some didn't. A classmate, Miss Jones, who loathed her "common" last name, married Mr. Jones and has been known ever since as Mrs. Jones or Ms. Jones. Other women became Sisters and were given new names altogether. None of these additions or changes affected birth certificates or senses of identity. You still knew who you were. Most importantly, even with additions and changes, you had only one name at a time.
Then along came the Internet.
The Internet assaults the identities of both men and women. How many names have you acquired since you've been on the Internet? Can you remember them all? How many times have you begged, "I want to sign in, but I can't remember who you think I am. Please e-mail my name to me." Still, those were the old and golden days of the Internet. Back then, when you registered and had to choose a user name or a nickname, you could actually think of one that was still available. No longer. I tried to register for a new account today. My name of preference, NanookMN, was not being used by anyone. Hallelujah! I'm NanookMN. Then, for over 40 minutes, I typed in nickname after nickname that I liked and just might remember. Alas, each was in use. I stopped my frenetic typing to think. Perhaps my approach was wrong. Perhaps I should choose a nickname no rational person would want. That's what I did. I typed it in and now have an easy-to-remember nickname no rational person would want. Iditarod.
Who am I? I'm Old Baguette or NanookMN or Iditarod.
Am I having an identity crisis? Perhaps. Anything is possible on the Internet. Or so they say.
Hi! You like art? Please have a look at my paintings and sketches. Have some new done.
ReplyDeletehttp://joeparthur.blogspot.com/search/label/art
:-))))))))))
I would be very pleased if you like to follow my blog.
Some people courageously (others quite stupidly) use their real names on the Internet. Our friends at Amazon applaud one for doing so. But what advantage does in confer to the user? Other than not having to remember a bunch of user names, I see no advantage to me to use my real name and a whole lot of risks.
ReplyDeleteI hear stories all the time of person applying for a job and losing it because the hiring manager googles the person and doesn't like something they find, like scantily clad or worse photos, political or religious views, or on line admissions to less than admirable behavior.
We are born with something that money can not buy, relative anonymity. It is more priceless than all the fame in the world. Do what you can to maintain it. Here's to NannookMN from Sextant.