Black Raven wrote:

From: kleppe@execpc.com (Gary Kleppe) wrote on:
Date: Mon, 05 Apr 1999 23:44:51 GMT

The following words of wisdom:

Hitomi, c/o Edward Becerra <eabecerr@henge.com> wrote:
Also, as to Nabiki's intelligence, and her ability to make money.  I
don't think ANY of you know the cost of living over here, so please refrain

>from doing a price comparison based upon what you have in America.  Also,

Over "here," huh? Where, Vancouver?

Folks, in case any of you out there don't know, currently available
evidence indicates that Hitomi is *not* a Japanese national. Anything
she says regarding Japanese life, culture, etc. should be taken with a
grain of salt until it can be verified by an actual Japanese person.

Now, personally I don't care if someone wants to use a pseudonym,
whether Japanese, English, or what have you. But claiming false
credentials and waxing expertly about subjects in which you are not in
fact an expert is not a good thing to do.

Sir. I do not know what your problem is with the Lady
in question and to be honest with you I do not care.
I do not believe that this is a proper forum for you
to be making attacks upon her. You have stated 'currently
available evidence indicates' yet you gave no evidence,
merely not so thinly veiled claims that she is lying.

Please take your personal vendetta elsewhere.

BlackRaven

Gary is being tactful, Mr. Raven. The evidence he speaks of should *not* be
dredged up here ever again. If you wish to know more about what he speaks
of, email me privately. I really don't like discussing the matter, but I
dislike people being in the dark more. I do not offer this information for
the purposes of displacing the credibility of anyone. The potential for
loss of credibility is entirely up to ourselves.

What follows is the last I will contribute to this thread, and I would like
to request that it dies here, so that those who are enjoying Hitomi's
stories can continue to do so in peace. Because no matter what I may feel
about a person, if their stories are good, and people enjoy them, no-one
should assume they have the right to tell other people not to read them.
Book burning was wrong.


The Security Of Illusion

What Gary has said that is important to you and this list is, be wary. Be
aware that the internet is a place where people can be someone other than
themselves rather easily, and that this power of anonimity is equally easy
to abuse.

People use nicknames (such as yourself), but most usually provide their
real name in their posts as well. Nobody who has been on the net for a
while should think of nicknames as unusual, and by not providing a real
name, you ensure a measure of privacy. But there is a price to pay for that
security. To those who read your posts and who have been on the net for a
while, you lose credibility.

Why?

After using a mailing list for a while, and experiencing several quality
exchanges between yourself and other members of the list,  you may feel as
if you have become part of a family or neighbourhood. This feeling is the
best part of being on an ML. And like the people in your real family, their
words and ideas should be respected. But unlike your real family, you are,
for the most part, unlikely to meet any of the members of the ML. You will
never shake hands with them, talk face-to-face with them or listen to the
tone of their voice. These are physical properties of people that we do not
have access to on a mailing list. And the lack of access to these
properties limits your ability to make decisions on what kind of person
they are.

Instinctively, we measure up every person we meet in RL, each and every
time we meet them. We re-evaluate our relationship with them with spoken
word and gesture. On the internet, our instincts are still active, but
without hearing, sight or touch, your instincts are muted; starved of the
input they need, and we fall back on our very limited ability to interpret
a person's personality by what they have written. And you will *never*
really know what someone is like by what they have written, because
someone's written words are usually carefully chosen, leaving out all the
bits of their personality they don't want anyone else to see. And
rightfully so, because writing is the learned skill of choosing and
arranging words. It is not a physical property of a person that we can use
to get to know them. We can try and describe someone in writing, but that
description is still based on someone else's perspective.

But to those individuals who choose to use a nickname without revealing
their real names as well,  you are muting the instincts of those who read
your posts even further, and this can lead to mistrust or suspicion. If you
choose not to reveal your real name, you should never be so naive as to be
offended by people who mistrust you or are suspicious of you. You have made
a concious choice to be anonymous, so be aware of the consequences. For the
ML reader, this situation is easy enough to identify and deal with because
most nicknames are what they are; nicknames. But consider this...

What if someone you were corresponding with was using a nickname that looks
and sounds like a real name? Would you be able to tell? And how would you
feel if you found out someone wasn't who you thought they were? Would you
feel offended? Your rights violated? Angry?

It is instinctive to feel all those things, but you would be wrong in doing so.

Why?

Because when you choose to reveal your name in a place where others do not
and that practice is accepted, you only have yourself to blame for being
deceived.

Stay frosty.



Andy Skuse

-------------------
Raven's Garage & Fanfics
http://members.home.net/askuse/