[WikiEN-l] Exeunt 172

Wed Mar 2 18:52:31 UTC 2005

Viajero wrote:

> 172 has announced on his user page he has left. I know that this is 
> not the first time and I also know that not everyone on this list will 
> necessarily find this unfortunate, but I think it is a pity as his 
> contributions have been enormous.

Hmm, one of the farthest-gone of Wikipediholics quitting? I give
it a week, maybe two. :-)

>
> Over the past couple of years, I was using a pseudonymous account, and 
> the name I was using in my Wikipedia email account was not my own. 
> Given Wikipedia's sketchy reputation in some circles, I wanted to 
> avoid any possible negative consequences in the "real world"; and I 
> did not want the less-than-friendly environment on Wikipedia to come 
> back to haunt me off-line. Unfortunately, when the community knows you 
> as 'just a number,' you don't tend to be treated so well.

The irony is that he's left so many clues to his identity that
it would probably take a PI two hours to get him on the phone;
people on the net are just not as anonymous as they think.

The other irony is that he would probably experience less conflict
editing under his real name; on the average, WP editors are more
deferential to a known professional than to a bare pseudonym.

Stan