The Importance of using your RealName on TorontoWiki . . .
Why should I use my RealName?
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In short, please use your First and Last names to create a username like FirstLast.
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For instance:
- If your name is Dona Jafri, please don't choose a username of Dona or just the initials dj.
- If your name is Dona Jafri, please DO choose the username DonaJafri.
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For instance:
Using your RealName is important to the TorontoWiki Wiki community. First, and foremost, it gives you instant credibility.
However, using your real name alone doesn't give one credibility, you must then make valuable contributions rather than just talk trash.
Fundamentally, the question is one of community. Would you introduce yourself to your next door neighbour with a fake name? Probably not... and the people on the wiki are your neighbours.
However, you may want to consider that this is an online community, and not quite the same. The better solution to this problem is to never post anything you wouldn't want associated with your name. Be warned any of your comments (be they positive or negative) may be remembered by local businesses and restaurants, and anyone around the world with internet access (not: not a 'next door neighbour') can read or find out about them. Putting material on the wiki should be considered an act of publishing, in a sense.
Many people have created fake or dubious PseudoNyms just to troll or trash talk a single restaurant, business, or individual. This type of cowardly behaviour is not constructive and is unfair to the recipient of the complaint. Wiki edits should be fair enough that you'd be willing to say them to someone face to face. That's true whether or not you use your RealName, but it's certainly easier to be unfair when you hide behind a pseudonym.
Different Torontonians share same First or Last name
Lastly, Toronto is a Canada's biggest city population wise, there are many many different people who share the same first name, share the same last name. Many others with different first and last names still share the exact same two or three initials drawn from their first and last names.
- There might be many Torontonians named Dona
- There might be only one TorontoWiki editor with the name Dona Jafri, hence the username DonaJafri
What if I want to use my RealName but don't want to get picked up by google?
An alternative is to use a slight modification of your RealName (e.g., RName, RealN, RaelName, etc.) and indicating so on your user page. That way, you establish instant credibility, and can always remove the link to your RealName after you've confirmed your credibility through your awesome edits. This option is good for people looking to evade google once they leave Toronto. The point is accountability: establishing a reputation on the wiki. Of course, you might wind up making friends who wind up only knowing you by the name you use, so be aware it may well become your new nickname in some circles.
Please remember to use your RealName and not your Real Name, which is trademarked by Amazon.com. ;-)
When is it ok to use a complete Pseudonym?
It is ok to use a pseudonym if you are known widely by that name. For instance, HiMY almost always simply goes by HiMY in real life but also makes his RealName available to anyone who is curious.
Other users who choose to use a pseudonym to remain anonymous manage to establish their credibility through making a history of providing many valuable contributions to the wiki. However, using a pseudonym only grants one a certain degree of privacy, because the IP Addresses of all editors are logged and public.
Changing your user name
It's not possible to rename usernames at the moment.
We suggest first creating a new account with your RealName. Then log in to your old account with your old username, on your personal User Page, leave a message and page link about how you are now on TorontoWiki with your brand new RealName as your username.
Then, just use that new account!
To see this in action, read the last comment on HiMY's old username page, which is now retired, pointing to his HimySyed now-in-use personal page.
