Anonymity

No Pogs , you are not , this is quite worrying !

Just googled my user name but no links came up anywhere. Some similar names on FB but not me!! I do not use nanaej anywhere else.

I think this is quite worrying, am I alone.

Given the nature of some people to cause trouble for others, would this mean it could happen? I am by no means saying this would be the case, just asking 'IS IT POSSIBLE TO DO'.

Because I live alone in a non-English speaking country, I have joined several forums over the years, as it is the only way I can enjoy the discussions that I used to have with family, friends and work colleagues.
I have found that some forums are much more 'user-friendly' than Gransnet, in that they have 'Edit' and 'Delete' buttons so if you think you have been indiscreet you can take out your own post, but not those of other people. This can give rise to some odd threads, as people are replying to deleted posts.
I have decided to make my profile private, and I am going to do the same on Facebook. My daughter was not happy for any photos of her family to be in the public domain, but even when restricted to Friends Only it makes her uneasy.

My advice to new members would be to take it slowly, see how much information others give about themselves, never use the real name of anyone in your posts.

I won't change my forum name - I do use my real name on some expat forums but I gathered it was not the custom on Gransnet.

Oh dear- that one was taken. Had to think of another one!

BAnanas- how I agree with you! Your story about the ear-piercing-
Absolutely outrageous! And everything else you say I agree with wholeheartedly.
Have just changed my user name. Will pm you

Thanks, Grannyactivist.

It's only the sub-plot Ana although the main theme of the story wouldn't work without it.

I think it's scarily possible and is a great idea for a novel, absent....
(Hope no one trawling websites nicks it after reading it on here! )

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the 'contact us' link.

Ana Yes, the names were from two social forums. He trawled through umpteen posts by these people – you'd be surprised how much we tend to give away in our posts. On GN, for example, we know broadly where JessM, Greatnan, HUNTERF, Galen, absent and quite a few Scottish grannies live. Those are just the ones that immediately crossed my mind but assiduous trawling would undoubtedly produce a list of names and places and would also begin to narrow down areas.

The friend I asked to help is quite skilled in this sort of area and I think did a bit of cross-matching on other sites, Facebook and Twitter. He understands how to use the computer to find and sort in a way that I don't. I could probably only manage to do some identifying on this specific site (which I don't intend to do) but that is how that particular part of my block-buster best-seller works. [inyourdreamsabsent emoticon]

Help! How do I contact HQ please?

Ana I was once able to get on to the blog site of a gransnetter's (adult) daughter simply by following up a few references made by the GNer. I was not stalking, but had an interest in the subject area and I let the GN member know what I'd discovered and how interesting I'd found it.

I too am careful what I say as my family all know I am on Gransnet. absent your story is quite disturbing, but I think we must all be aware that Big Brother , and all his siblings are watching us. I have changed my name whilst on here,but regretted it as soon as I had done it, it was a mad moment of paranoia!

Hello Bags- this is my old name. I will pm you with my new one. Will also send it to a couple of you who appear on here in a lot of subjects.

Mumsnet members name change often for advice on delicate matters, I don't see why it should be any different on here.

But presumably you're searching for their real names, ga. I can understand that, but not how a username could provide so much information.

Like Bags I'm forever chatting to friends and family about things that have cropped up on Gransnet. My (adult) children will sometimes introduce the subject by asking me questions about it; the favourite being, "so what's happening on the net of the grans at the moment?" They all know my username and as my life is pretty much an open book anyway I don't think there's any problem. I am quite careful about giving away third party information though.
As for absent's researcher friend, I can well imagine it's easy to find out quite a lot of information if people are determined and skilled enough. I once tracked down someone in a similar way (for positive reasons I'm happy to say). When I've been asked to provide a home for someone I usually do an internet search before meeting them and occasionally I even astound myself at the amount of information I can acquire.

I would be one of those who wish to remain anonymous for the simple reason I would not want to be identified by my grandchild's other grandmother, not that I expect her to be on Gransnet. I have on occasions posted how disgusted I was that she had gd's ear's pierced at a few months old without consulting my son. That's one example of how poles apart we are. I very much agree with Nelliemosser's comment about "sounding off". GN fulfills that need, as well as being a refuge, somewhere to give each other mutual support with problems we may be having and to draw on the experience of others who may have been through similar situations and of course to discuss and exchange different points of view with things that interest us.

So, were these random names from a real social networking forum, and were they user names only, absent? Unless they provided a profile, how would your friend even know in which area of the country (if in the UK at all) they lived?

! Not surprised though!

I recently had an idea for a story that included a sub-plot that involved the serial murders of members of a social forum not unlike Gransnet, although there are some distinct and important dissimilarities. To check whether it is possible to identify people on a social forum where they use only screen names I asked a friend to see if he could track down six names picked at random without any special software and, most importantly, without breaking the law.

He traced all six names, addresses, numbers of children, workplaces and bank accounts. In a couple of cases he traced hospital treatments and appointments. He backtracked to schools, colleges and universities but didn't have time to check all of them. This was done in his spare time in a week.

Obviously, if my character is a member of this imaginary forum, he/she will become au fait with many aspects of the lives of other posters.

I don't think there is any such thing as privacy any more.

Btw The random names didn't come from gransnet.

DH knows I am on GN and have occasionally read out funny bits. I chose not to be anonymous. This means that I have to be just a tad careful about what I say about other people.
I don't link to GN on Facebook to keep a bit of a separation between GN and other aspects of my life. But I do follow GN and Geraldine on Twitter.

My family know that I chat on a website but have never asked which one.