How many of us who blog these days are actually anonymous? If I had any anonymity, it was reduced to a state of pseudo-anonymity after open mike. Not that i regret it. It felt kind of good to come out into the open and then realize that you don't really feel like deleting all those posts with possibly embarrassing details of your life embedded in them, contrary to what you thought.
So now I’m just pseudo-anonymous. I simply say pseudo because TheWhacksteR is now simply a pseudonym. If you want to know my real name just click on the link to my twitter account that’s on this blog somewhere.
I have no idea why i chose the name TheWhacksteR. Its definitely a painful ask to type. It all started as a prank. I somehow convinced someone i was SMSing that i was the offspring of the Armenian ambassador and that my name was Wackinnaborgeouseworsoski ('my friends call me Whacko'). Revealing this to a couple of friends who actually knew the person in question brought about a hilarious reaction and the joke went on for quite some time. The name kind of stuck afterwards and 'Whacko' seemed to have kind of a ring with the state of my mentality so when i started blogging i guess i improvised on it to come up with TW.
On an unrelated note to blogging, but on a related note to Armenians, I once went on this ITN TV show (Fan Club i think) pretending to be this Armenian (Serge Mihailovitch) working for an NGO specifically involved in eradicating cholera in the North and West. The lady handling the show was kind of miffed that a 'Russian' was calling her and commented on how alike my accent was to Indians. At which point i objected to being called Russian and stressed on the ethnic characteristics of Armenians. I also pointed out the fact that i was heavily loaded with work these days due to many of my co-workers being unfortunately afflicted with the deadly disease they were supposed to be combating.
I also made a suggestion that the host should move around a little bit more and look a bit more alive, which didn’t go down too well with her i think. At the end though, the promised Metallica video did not materialize and some worn out 10 year old MC Hammer type love song was going to be played in its stead. I raised my objections which turned into a bit of an argument at the end of which i enjoyed telling her that in fact, i was Sri Lankan and thank you very much for the entertainment, at which point i was cut off.
I was heavily into System of a Down those days which may explain the Armenian connection, yeah i know.
So yes, anonymous blogging, what made you guys pick your own names? I’m sure there’s got to be a good story or two lurking around somewhere...?
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
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26 Comments:
haha well im not really anonymous either... as a pseudonym, "Gehan" has to be the worst of the lot.. even Jerry is at least a variation of his real name! :D
yea always wondered abt ur name.. thats jus friggin hilarious..! and hello, MC Hammer type love song...?!
i wonder where RD came up with his name.. i mean, seriously, wat da heck...!
well... I'm really not sure.. lets see...
One of my friends used to have her msn display name as 'the raindrop lady' coz she liked raindrops... and this got me thinking... why not be heavenly..:)
and thereafter... the word 'Divine' made it's way...
that is so NOT an interesting story.. but then.. that's how the name came..:)
I actually have noidea where mine came from. I think I wanted scrumptious but that was taken and Scrumpulicious was the next ebst thing!
But now that gets so hard to type (and long!) so maybe I'll change it but then I have to change the name of the blog and people will have to update their links and I just don't need that hassle! :)
(Even less interesting than LD's! :S)
Why all you frustrated lot go through so much trouble inventing names when your parents have given you all nice names?
Learn from named bloggers like Indi, Pradeep jeganathan, NB, David blacker, Ayesha, Alefiya, Dominic sansoni, Nazreen, Amina and Ahamed Nizar, Ruchira, Ajith Perera, Prabath siriwardena, marissa wickramanayake and so on. They are just normal people like you and I.
No, i'm still anonymous :P
Can't seem to stick to one really. Messiah, cyanide, Tumbleweed, The Puppeteer...
Trying to stick to this one... What can I say I thrive on change.
I guess it's safe to fess up now though, I came up with "Messiah" to throw people off...
I used to be the_jester100, for god knows what reason. It was the first internet 'account' I had(MSN). But then I realized it looked a bit silly, and just used Jerry, which is what everyone calls me.
Borehn.
:/
Also, I doubt it's even pseudo anonymity. It's just... Anonymity that is only a click away from being seen through?
I wanna pretend to be Armenian! :(
I chose mine 'cos I liked the sound of it, and it's a half-decent description of what I'm like. It's the name I gave my computer on the college network and it kinda became my username for anything and everything. All my accounts are a variation on that theme, depending on whether the original's been taken or not :D
So yeah, not very exciting either :D
I'm not really uber-protective about my identity...if someone asks me what my real name is, I'll probably tell them eventually. I just like to make them work for it 'cos it's entertaining :D
I had decided not to comment on any lankan blog, but i guess i will make an exception here coz its all about anonymity, my favourite subject.
I've been blogging since 2001, about 8 years or more. Back then i was COMPLETE anonymous too. Not a clue, not a single sign of my identity. It continued for 6 years. My pseudonym used to be "The VIP Dude" :-) and now its deactivated and thrashed. but somewhere in 2007 when i went through a rough patch with my wife Meloni, i finally found the courage to blog under my own name, it was necessary i revealed my name. So I revealed my name, blogged about all the beautiful things we had shared together for the world to know. It was a deliberate decision coz i wanted her back in my life and i always knew she would respond if i said things so publicly. And it really WORKED :-) Fair to say, i revealed my identity coz i wanted my woman back in my life. Weird logic, but true :-)
After i revealed my identity, i also noticed i had more credibility. My sporadic readership sky rocketed, many exchanged e-mails and SMSs with me, also became true friends in real life, something i had not been able to do when i was anonymous, So i decided to stick to it. But Yes there is also a price you pay for it, like my two kids when they grow up and go through Google Cache will know their Daddy has been such a fool online which he really is not in personal life.
Fair to say i never quite succeeded in maintaining a consistent personality online & offline. I don't know why...... But i'm not going to blog again for a while coz i have got what i wanted, MY WOMAN and MY FAMILY.... Purpose acheived. So i have no regrets revealing my identity end of the day. I guess it is person specific.
On exposing people, I know about 52 anonymous bloggers on Kottu, but blatantly exposed only 6, that too as a last resort when they crossed the limits. I guess its OK to be anonymous. Frankly !!! I mean I was an anonymous blogger for 6 years.... Duh.... So morally i can not complain i guess. Its an individual choice and its all fine as long as you don't become a nuisance to others.....
What say you Halik Azeez ? :-)
lol
Also Whacks, these anonymous bloggers are stupid. Yes, they are STUPID. No offence intended, but what i'm trying to say is the clues are in their own blogs if one were little crafty when analyzing the blog.
When i want to trace, the first step is the blog itself, I copletely read from scratch and analyze every bit, taking notes. Sometimes things just fall into place if the blogger is genuine and not lying.
For instance Makuluwo got caught to me coz she had posted a drawing signed off as "SR" and another of her drawing as "Fan Reff". Mmmm..... If you are a 007 brain with some common sense, you would end up with a possible name like ShiFANi REFFai and build your case from there onwards.... Easy infact !!!
Similarly with this headless pianist Gehan Samuel who managed to say he was from Kandy and choir singing and all that, then this Jerry guy who couldn't hide his obsession for hardware and IT related stuff.... Its not that difficult to trace these bloggers coz certain things are very apparent like in your case.. In one of your posts you say "this mobile thing sucks" giving an evidence as to your industry and place of work.....
My hobby has become tracing anonymous bloggers :-) Intellectually challanging and very interesting... I think i would now trace the rest than blog :-)
I concur with jerry - 'lol' ...
NB is a sad weird character, but hey dude finally its good 2 hear this from YOU. Thanx 4 being candid you little candy man stalking everywhere !
On a related note, please use your analytical skills for more productive use. No doubt you are smart, but use it wisely dear bawa.
LoL :P
Let me interject with another; LOL..
and Gehan and Jerry, what you two Do have are a coupla interesting stories of how your blog names came about. At least Gehan does, Jerry's is a little less so but he makes up for it through his wit and style, er..
Lady Divine - yes wll you definitely gave me a picture if a person leading a very 'heavenly' life when i first read your blog :D so i guess you got that right..
Scrumpulicios - I like your choice all the same, don't change it. Scrumpulicions has a certain erm, Scrumptiousness to it :D
The Puppeteer - Hah! your deception worked all too well if it was aimed at making people think you were male. instead of the slip of a girl that you are..u make up for it with attitude though so no worries there..
NB - my, you're a very clever man Mr Nibras Bawa, next thing you'll be telling me you found my real name by clicking the link to my twitter account..
anonymouses_ V
@ Whacks, don't be stupid. You always knew I knew you. Didn't you??? See my past comments on your own blog. Accept it kid. This dehiwela Campbell place guys are always stupid no ?????? :-)
@ Anon machang, thank you for the unsolicited advice :-)
Meh, I was never really anonymous, told all my friends about my blog when I started.
As for the pseudonym, I just like spiders. :D
Pseudorandom - well i think all our names are sort of a half decent description of what we're like so cool scene :D so are you gonna tell me your real name or do i have to contract the services of a certain comeone we both know??
NB - last time i heard Dehiwala was nowhere near Campbell place.. hey how do you respond to the hypothesis that the real NB would be way too jobless to engage in the type of activities that you are engaged in and therefore you are nothing but an impostor using stock photography and someone else's name to create an online persona to try and satisfy deep seated unfulfilled needs and wants? hey im just asking..
Maks - yeah i know, plus you sneak up on people in a silent and ominous manner when they are not looking :D
Impostor and someone else's name? Really? Please..... give me a break. Fact is someone does exist and thats the only REAL thing you whacks. So you are not at Campbel place you mean? Where are you then? Liar.. Anyway, i've got to go. Here i end. See ya :-)
My 'name' is after the Tori Amos album/song called Little Earthquakes.
I'm not in the Kottu circle, but I'm not too fussed about people knowing my real name.
St. Fallen knows me, that's about it.
i have wit and style? COOL!
:D
*waves around his newly discovered wit and style.
*'accidentally' knocks Gehan over with wit.
well.... the comments were certainly interesting LOL
ahhh armenian names....... takes the thought train bak to the station where i just started to chat online.. i had made this online chat frend from yahoo .. her name was anna toumanian... weirdly interesting thing to note... Most armenian guys are over 5 ft 10 inches tall... and rarely any women are taller than 5 ft 6 inches.. ( i cannot confirm these ones) but yeah some of the hosts of music programs in lanka rili need to undergo some form of charisma training .... a certain "Loka Hanthagasma".. (hint hint)
Ever...got to know the studpid AI Players in Age of Empires...well yeah and then when you try to get the yahoo login its already taken so then i had to become the "Real" one...lol
meh. couldn't think of anything better.
NB sad weirdo, the difference between the wise and not so wise is a simple one. The wise use their intelliegnce constructively and the not so wise use it destructively.
Sadly you belong to the second lot despite all your smart ass brain. Don't come back and haunt us again. Try build your family. Truth is you are quite useless despite your being a good material, thats due to your attitude that sucks.
Ooh I came back after ages to this... niiice :D. Nothing special about my pseudonym or blog name *sulks in corner watching the other kids play* :P
The name of my blog - "The Shoat Statements" was formed by combining sheep & goat to get 'Shoat', a combo of my two astrological signs, and since I'm like a sheep and goat combined.
"Queen from Another Planet" is because I believed I was an alien when I was young. Obviously, I was the ruler in my own planet.
I wanted to remain anonymous so that I can write about anyone and anything without offending anyone, and it was great for a while, but I was fool enough to give my blog details to a so-called friend at a previous office, who then passed on the details to a very popular Sri Lankan blogger, who was moronic enough not only to make my identity quite obvious on my blog, but also the identity of several people I had written about.
You know what they say - stupidity is more common than Hydrogen, and it has a longer shelf life.
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