Has DVXUSER Jumped The Shark?

[filmguy123]

I'd like to see JB back, regardless of what happen BTS, a permanent ban over a timeout seems a little over reactionary and without knowing more than I do, I would hope that once things cool down the mods that be could perhaps re-evaluate things after some discussion.

I understand both perspectives on real names and anonymity. In my experience real names hasn't stopped people from being rude, and anonymity hasn't stopped people from being extremely helpful and courteous. Personally I think members should be treated based upon the content of their contributions over time, and it seems there's a system in place for that which is imperfect but largely effective.

I don't think DVX has jumped the shark, the world has "jumped the shark" in 2020 and some of that has bled into everywhere and everything. There has been some out of character exchanges given the odd circumstances/boredom/social isolation or whatever... but regardless, DVX remains today as one of the most informative and civil places on the net despite some of the recent drama.

 

[Liam Hall]

I'd like to see JB back, regardless of what happen BTS, a permanent ban over a timeout seems a little over reactionary and without knowing more than I do, I would hope that once things cool down the mods that be could perhaps re-evaluate things after some discussion.

I understand both perspectives on real names and anonymity. In my experience real names hasn't stopped people from being rude, and anonymity hasn't stopped people from being extremely helpful and courteous. Personally I think members should be treated based upon the content of their contributions over time, and it seems there's a system in place for that which is imperfect but largely effective.

I don't think DVX has jumped the shark, the world has "jumped the shark" in 2020 and some of that has bled into everywhere and everything. There has been some out of character exchanges given the odd circumstances/boredom/social isolation or whatever... but regardless, DVX remains today as one of the most informative and civil places on the net despite some of the recent drama.

Good post Filmguy123. Though, I take a different view, I get your point re-real names. The world would be very dull if we all agreed on everything.

My question to you and other anonymous keyboard crunchers, how would you feel if we had a "pro's corner" on this site where people use their real names and discusss all of the topics relevant to professionals in a grown up, as though we are face-to-face, kind of way?

 

[ahalpert]

My earlier post didn't get much response. Maybe it was TL;DR.

Question: why do people think that we don't have more female and non-white membership? Does it strike anyone else as odd?

 

[Ben Scott]

My earlier post didn't get much response. Maybe it was TL;DR.

Question: why do people think that we don't have more female and non-white membership? Does it strike anyone else as odd?

Sorry it was sandwiched in between lots of people disagreeing with each other.


There's a lot of very strident people on here - I'm guilty of that too - and it's a bit stifling. Not in any way suggesting women couldn't stand their own in that environment. My female mentors in this industry were some of the toughest people you will ever meet, but rather, I imagine a fair few of them could not be bothered to be involved in such a s*%tshow just to get some answers.

Internet forums are outdated by definition. Lots of people get their information in different ways now. So perhaps the younger generations (any subsequently the explosion of young female talent coming through) aren't even slightly interested in hearing about the 5th Amendment when they need to know the correct IRE for exposing SLOG3 when they can check other places.


I'm on two large guitar-based forums. One US and one UK-based. Both absolute sausage-fests and internet people butting heads and shouting. From the outside looking it is in no way inviting.


No idea about the ethnicity of the makeup on DVXUSER but in my experience the non-white makeup of camera crews in the UK is very, very small. Which is an issue in itself. How that translates to their takeup of forums like DVXUSER may well be similar to the line of thought above.

Reduser has a relatively stronger and more diverse set of contributors from around the world although I don't think I've ever seen a woman post on there. It being a real names forum you'd think one would stand out after all these years.

 

[FrameFarmMedia]

I am anonymous - but I am still subject to TOS...

Meanwhile, I have no problem stating that an idea is stupid - why not? Are ideas a protected class? That’s the whole point, there should be open season on those, and calling a spade a spade, if it’s stupid, I’ll call it stupid (in my opinion). That’s my opinion, and you’re welcome to say it’s a stupid opinion - I have no problem with that. I’ll argue my position and you argue yours. That’s how it’s done - plus you don’t need to have your real name, or not while making the argument - it’s a non-issue.

“I don’t say bad things, so I don’t need anonymity” is a moronic position.

Example from real life: “Bob” was discussing (on a set) the films of a well-known director who is super successful with a specific demographic X. Bob was of the opinion that those films are on an extremely poor level techically. Another person (as happens, from the demographic X) immediately got angry claiming Bob was racist against X and that what he must be saying is that since it’s mostly X demographic that watches those movies, those people are too dumb and unsophisticated to know how badly done those movies are. Bob denied that, but the argument escalated. Soon, an actress of demographic X refused to work with Bob, and others joined in solidarity. Bob couldn’t protest his innocence - how would he do it? The producer listenend sympathetically to Bob’s side, but hey, he has a movie to make and Bob is now, however innocent, too much of a distraction. Unfortunately, this reputation followed Bob subsequently and nobody was willing to dive deep into what was behind it. Bob missed out on a lot of work.


but I don’t need that distraction on my set, and I’m going to hire Amy instead” (who happens to be a racist - unlike Bob - but was lucky to keep her mouth shut).

Recognizing that reality is why the fifth amendment exists.

if you tell me 2+2=5 I’ll call BS. You could be a famous director, distinguished DP, whatnot, it makes absolutely zero difference to me. You are only as good as your argument. And I know far more about you and your biases or virtues, or flaws from 3000 posts than from perusing a CV. But you do you. If you think 2+2 might equal 5 because they’re A Famous Mathematician, you do you.

That’s also what the guy who jogged at night along the autobahn said. Until one day he ended up dead. Hasn’t happened yet! Means I’m safe! And you know the future how?

If an anonymous person gets banned does it matter. They are anonymous and can make another account. The reason people troll freely on the internet and not in real life is because they are anonymous. Have you ever been trolled by a non anonymous account? I haven't. Having your real name or identifier makes trolling harder.

In your Bob story you forgot the most important thing. What did Bob say. You pass it off as nothing without actually giving the entire point to the story. Words do matter and how you use them matters. Its not cancel culture its consequence culture. Just like before the internet people would not get hired because of the things they said on set. General society is not the court of law. There is no onus of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If people talk to other people and say they don't like working with you then people don't hire you. Its ALWAYS been that way in this industry just as people get hired because of their connections and good words spoken about them. Self censorship is a lost art. Not everyone needs to know every thought without thinking of how it effects others. The whole "I'm just being honest or keeping it real" is a schtick used by A holes to attempt immunity for their words and the effects they have.

How do you know Amy is a racist? You are telling me a known racist was hired to fill Bob or is this a made up scenario to justify your feelings like the autobahn nonsense? People can hire and no hire just because they like or don't like you. Again this is the way it has always been. If you feel you need an alias as people will think you are an unlikeable person you need to look inward for answers.

The whole math question is my entire point. Many users are here for information not a debate or an argument or to have opinions tested. We are looking for information and facts. If I am looking for something I won't know what 2+2 equals. Thats what I want to know so I won't have reference that its wrong if they say 5. I'm not approaching it like I am the smartest person in the room and know everything. I am a student always learning and far to busy professionally to parse thousands of posts to figure out of the person knows what they are talking about. Maybe the answer is Liam's suggestion for a 'Pro' forum of working professionals who want to talk to other industry professionals who use their names and experience.

I come to DVXUSER for information and to share information from real work experience. I'm not looking for arguments or uninformed opinions. I believe it helps to know who is giving an opinion.

My earlier post didn't get much response. Maybe it was TL;DR.

Question: why do people think that we don't have more female and non-white membership? Does it strike anyone else as odd?

I personally think it is an age thing. Most female and non-white film makers I know didn't come up on the forums that came up on small supportive facebook groups of like minded film makers. They are looking for support and information not a debate or argument. The shift from the traditional white sausage fest of film making is very recent and forums are very old and for those who didn't grow up on them archaic. I would love to chat with BIPOC film makers to get actual feedback but again nobody I know of these groups even knows about DVXUSER and when I've asked in the past the name for an 'ancient' to them camera just doesn't resonate as a place to go look for answers. Forums are community based and they were never part of that community.

 

[Imamacuser]

I'm also torn on real names.

A few considerations:

Real names presents a great resource for thieves to track down where you live & burglarize your home. Successful people one here can store gear at a secure off-site location, but freelancers don't necessarily have/can't afford a secure place, outside of their home, to store gear.

Non-real user names aren't strictly about anonymity, they represent something unique about you that you've chosen to share with the world, as you probably didn't choose your birth name, unless you had it legally changed.

Old Corpse raises some very good points on cancel culture twisting your posts against you, regardless of innocence.
I imagine that Algernon Sidney's trial and execution was a primary reason for the 1st amendment (I'm not stating this as a historical claim, just postulating since his Discourses Concerning Government were an influence on the founding fathers). If you're not familiar with Algernon Sidney, you can look him up on Wikipedia. I've never met a fellow American who knows who he was, but I wonder if they teach about him in the UK.

As a general rule I think that hypothetical examples are stupid, because the given scenarios are generally ludicrous, but they're useful within the bounds of reason and probability, so here's an example where most of us could come under the wrath of cancel culture.
When I was a kid I believed that Pluto was a planet, because Magic School Bus told me it was. I believed the scientific consensus of the time, which turned out to be incorrect, as it was recategorized as a dwarf planet, and even though I've changed my views to match the current scientific consensus resulting from advancements in astronomy, I'm still branded a science denier by cancel, who should never be allowed to work again.

One of the biggest problems with cancel culture is that it doesn't respect or acknowledge someone changing their view, if you've ever believed something that contradicts the current status quo, you're a prime candidate for cancelation.

That may strike you as far-fetched and unrealistic, but 2020 and the rise of cancel culture has expanded my view of probability.

 

[Ben Scott]

Cancel culture is part of an ongoing weaponisation of the language of empathy by those that stand to lose out if they are held to account for the things they say or do.

You will always find outliers or extreme examples to support any hypothesis about anything but real genuine career over examples of cancel culture are quite thin on the ground. James Gunn was the big example and during his cancellation directed another huge blockbuster movie, produced several TV shows and is back directing the thing he got fired from.

Again I and many others go through life not having to watch what we say and not falling foul if any of these types of things.

If your concern is that people might call you out for what you have said first take a look at what you have said.

Tempting fate but not been burgled either since joining here or reduser.

 

[FrameFarmMedia]

One of the biggest problems with cancel culture is that it doesn't respect or acknowledge someone changing their view, if you've ever believed something that contradicts the current status quo, you're a prime candidate for cancelation.

That may strike you as far-fetched and unrealistic, but 2020 and the rise of cancel culture has expanded my view of probability.

Are you really proposing that someone having a past belief in Pluto being a planet won't allow them to adjust their views now? Is this a real example or another made up scenerio?

From the real world examples I have seen people have been 'cancelled' (what does that even mean? are social media platforms or private business not wanting to associate with you not free market?) because their current beliefs and actions still mirror past beliefs that are no longer acceptable. Can you cite examples of people who have changed their beliefs and actions being 'cancelled' for past beliefs? It must be very common for everyone to be so afraid of it.

I see consequence culture where words and actions have consequences as they always have. Most people completely miss understand what freedom of speech or freedom of expression here in Canada even means. Is the government cancelling you? The film industry has always been word of mouth and fair or unfair people don't get work because of past actions or words used. This is nothing new. What has changed is that everyone rushes to the internet to post any and all thoughts without thinking about their words or actions and the impact they have on others.

I would also love an example of being cancelled for a post on a camera forum about technology? In this thread those with the highest profiles in the film production world use their real names or want to use their real names. Wouldn't they have the most to lose? My reputation far outweighs any possibility of a DVXUSER post losing me work. It also helps that I'm here to talk cameras and filming which also has zero avenue to delve into anything controversial. Hot take culture will be the death of intelligent discussion.

 

[filmguy123]

how would you feel if we had a "pro's corner" on this site where people use their real names and discusss all of the topics relevant to professionals in a grown up, as though we are face-to-face, kind of way?

Isn't discussing relevant topics in a grown up way suppose to be the whole forum? Seems like the creation of a false dichotomy. Many people here have anonymous user names but post links to their website and communicate with each other using real names in PM, selling gear to each other, etc. There is actually a bit less anonymity here under the surface; the anonymity here is often for the outside world less than the inside core members here.

Real names presents a great resource for thieves to track down where you live & burglarize your home. Successful people one here can store gear at a secure off-site location, but freelancers don't necessarily have/can't afford a secure place, outside of their home, to store gear... Old Corpse raises some very good points on cancel culture twisting your posts against you, regardless of innocence.... One of the biggest problems with cancel culture is that it doesn't respect or acknowledge someone changing their view, if you've ever believed something that contradicts the current status quo, you're a prime candidate for cancelation.

Beyond burglary, which is a real concern for some, many don't want their business diluted with their 10+ year chat history showing up on google search for a number of reasons: you may have asked questions on how to deal with the very client who might google you. You may have asked questions on what gear to use or what setup to use on a shoot and someone could read that and think you are incompetent by having to ask. You ask how to fix a mistake in production, or a problem on your computer, etc.. The list goes on with a multitude of innocent professional questions here beyond cancel culture.

Unless the entire forum becomes completely closed and unsearchable to the outside world, as well as internally vetted to remove all lesser known or not entirely trusted members, the reality is removing privacy is less about taking the mask off of individuals talking to each other here, and more like recording, cataloging, and broadcasting conversations between a small group for the entire world, who was never part of the conversation, to simply search and read on a whim. Such a thing is unnatural and does not mirror any of our other relationships in life. It also freezes in time opinions, perspectives, and thoughts that simply don't represent us at all years later (and I am not talking about offensive thoughts, it could be something as simple as 'I don't like doing weddings' and then 5 years later it turns out you grow to love doing weddings, and now a client searches you, and sees you wrote how you don't like doing weddings).

If one wants a forum that is more like a public amphitheater or town hall meeting for video pros that anyone can come listen in on, that's a noble enough desire, but it's inherently different without search engine anonymity. Personally I would never ask a single question about things like batteries, or share about my travel experiences, ask how to recover corrupt data, or ask for feedback/help in something I messed up.

I suspect I'm not alone, and the end result would be a more stifled culture.

Cancel culture is part of an ongoing weaponisation of the language of empathy by those that stand to lose out if they are held to account for the things they say or do... If your concern is that people might call you out for what you have said first take a look at what you have said.... Tempting fate but not been burgled either since joining here or reduser.

The idea that the people doing the cancelling are infallible, or even correct at all to begin with, is part of your presupposition here. The idea that outsourcing a form of retributionary, non empathetic, hyper judgmental justice to a digital mob in a conduit that often lacks nearly all forms of nuance is a second implicit presupposition.

The argument of not being concerned of burglary, cancel culture, your name tied to every post, etc. essentially boils down to the classic and simplistic privacy argument: "if you don't have anything to hide, what's the big deal?" The main problem with this position is that history has proven it naïve, and not for the "right" reasons.

 

[Ben Scott]

The idea that the people doing the cancelling are infallible, or even correct at all to begin with, is part of your presupposition here. The idea that outsourcing a form of retributionary, non empathetic, hyper judgmental justice to a digital mob in a conduit that often lacks nearly all forms of nuance is a second implicit presupposition.

The argument of not being concerned of burglary, cancel culture, your name tied to every post, etc. essentially boils down to the classic and simplistic privacy argument: "if you don't have anything to hide, what's the big deal?" The main problem with this position is that history has proven it naïve, and not for the "right" reasons.

Please ask and don't tell me what my suppositions are if you would like clarification on something I have said.

It's not an argument. It's an opinion. It's also nothing like the 'if you don't have anything to hide' line. For the record: I don't believe cancel culture is a real thing. I think it is a scare tactic just like the weaponisation of the terms 'do gooder' or 'political correctness' used by certain types of people. Aside from the obvious extreme outliers I've yet to see real world examples of cancel culture where a person has lost their career due to a witch hunt. it's been explained by multiple people multiple times that they cannot lend weight to the opinions of someone who refuses to be open and honest about who they are and their background. If that is who you want to be then great. For myself, a rule I live my life by, and I don't have many, is this. Consider the source. Of everything. Of opinion. Of news. Of information.


If the source is 'anonymous guy off the internet' I give it zero weight. If the source is 'oh that's the guy that shot so and so' or 'that's the kid starting out who does good work with his limited budget etc' then it is a very different proposition.

There's really nothing more I can add to it than that. It's the full extent of my reasoning. I'm afraid the various people discussing various American constitutional amendments to hammer home an argument is of zero interest to me.

EDIT: Just to add I know Real Names will never happen here. This place will slowly become the exclusive reserve of the 'let me tell you this' gang and fade away.

 

[Liam Hall]

Isn't discussing relevant topics in a grown up way suppose to be the whole forum? Seems like the creation of a false dichotomy. Many people here have anonymous user names but post links to their website and communicate with each other using real names in PM, selling gear to each other, etc. There is actually a bit less anonymity here under the surface; the anonymity here is often for the outside world less than the inside core members here.



Beyond burglary, which is a real concern for some, many don't want their business diluted with their 10+ year chat history showing up on google search for a number of reasons: you may have asked questions on how to deal with the very client who might google you. You may have asked questions on what gear to use or what setup to use on a shoot and someone could read that and think you are incompetent by having to ask. You ask how to fix a mistake in production, or a problem on your computer, etc.. The list goes on with a multitude of innocent professional questions here beyond cancel culture.

Unless the entire forum becomes completely closed and unsearchable to the outside world, as well as internally vetted to remove all lesser known or not entirely trusted members, the reality is removing privacy is less about taking the mask off of individuals talking to each other here, and more like recording, cataloging, and broadcasting conversations between a small group for the entire world, who was never part of the conversation, to simply search and read on a whim. Such a thing is unnatural and does not mirror any of our other relationships in life. It also freezes in time opinions, perspectives, and thoughts that simply don't represent us at all years later (and I am not talking about offensive thoughts, it could be something as simple as 'I don't like doing weddings' and then 5 years later it turns out you grow to love doing weddings, and now a client searches you, and sees you wrote how you don't like doing weddings).

If one wants a forum that is more like a public amphitheater or town hall meeting for video pros that anyone can come listen in on, that's a noble enough desire, but it's inherently different without search engine anonymity. Personally I would never ask a single question about things like batteries, or share about my travel experiences, ask how to recover corrupt data, or ask for feedback/help in something I messed up.

I suspect I'm not alone, and the end result would be a more stifled culture.



The idea that the people doing the cancelling are infallible, or even correct at all to begin with, is part of your presupposition here. The idea that outsourcing a form of retributionary, non empathetic, hyper judgmental justice to a digital mob in a conduit that often lacks nearly all forms of nuance is a second implicit presupposition.

The argument of not being concerned of burglary, cancel culture, your name tied to every post, etc. essentially boils down to the classic and simplistic privacy argument: "if you don't have anything to hide, what's the big deal?" The main problem with this position is that history has proven it naïve, and not for the "right" reasons.

I'd like to go through this post and point out what I believe are logic fails and misconceptions, believe me, I feel there are quite a few. It's my wife's birthday, I have a tomahawk steak ready to go on the BBQ and I'm not wasting my time debating someone who may be a trainee accountant, a twelve year-old ballet dancer or the next big thing in Holywood who doesn't have the decency to reveal his/her identity. Life is too short.

 

[Stephen Mick]

(The below is not the collective opinion of the moderators or admins, just my thoughts.)

The “real names” idea is something we’ve come back to a number of times over the years. There are certainly pros and cons to this approach, most of which I think have been laid out in this thread already. And it’s certainly something we COULD implement, but given what I’ve seen at other forums, I don’t know if the end result would have the effect we collectively want.

DVXUser has, really from the beginning, been a place where filmmakers of all levels could come. But mainly, we’ve mostly been a membership of “learning” filmmakers. Many have come to the site when just starting out, and with a load of questions that they might not ask if forced to use real names. I’m not saying that, in and of itself, is a reason to keep to the existing policy. But it certainly has mattered to a number of members over the years.

Now, have things changed in the online world? Sure. Could we shift to a real names-only forum? We could. My feelings at the moment are that we have quite a bit of other work to do to get the focus of this forum back on the craft of filmmaking, and that’s where I would like to start.

On the topic of gender diversity, this is a tough one. I would certainly love to see more of that here on User, but it would be something we would have to actively build, first by recruiting female professionals (of which I know a few) to come and share their expertise. Then we would have to work to attract female filmmakers, primarily new or growing ones, to the site. But given the fractured nature of today’s online landscape, there are so many other places for them to gather, like FB groups, etc., I think we’d be rolling a boulder up a hill on that. So I’m not sure how to address that, but I think it’s worth looking into.

My thoughts are a bit scattered at the moment, and I only had a brief few moments to put this down. But I am (and we, as mods, are) listening, and will continue to do so.

 

[combatentropy]

filmguy123, I agree with your post. Granted, all of the downsides of using real names are unlikely to happen. But it's just easier to err on the safe side, so that I don't have to think about it as much.

Like I said, if there was some advantage to using real names, then maybe that would outweigh these reservations. But in my experience, real names provide no advantage, at least not on DVXUser. I've been a member for over 12 years. I just don't see the vitriol here that proponents of real names warn about.

Is it happening in certain sections? I admit I don't visit most threads here. I click What's New, skim the headlines for what's interesting, and click those (which is only 1 out of 20 threads). And, having started in video production in 1990, and am retired from that as a profession, I don't normally click on the technical questions about a particular camera or piece of software. The threads that interest me are more general ones about industry news, directing actors, structuring screenplays, lighting, film theory, film critiques, etc. You might say DVXUser could be stratified between (1) practical how-to's on specific cameras, and (2) general theoretical discussions. A lot of the complaint in this thread seem to mention the first category. Am I reading that right? So maybe those particular threads have a different atmosphere, where a lot of annoying people make a lot of annoying statements that are of little use to information seekers.

What I can say is that I notice zero betterment of realnamers over codenamers. In fact, many of my favorite people use codenames: James0b57, puredrifting, roxics, filmguy123, and others. They are all polite, knowledgable, and have been here for years and years with little or no incident.

For whatever reason, and this is just a data point, most of the people that have rubbed me the wrong way have used their real names! They don't go around spewing ridiculous vitriol like you might see at the bottom of the page on some news website. But, I don't know, they just come across as arrogant. When I speak to them, and they speak back, I feel like they already view me as obviously some kind of insect or lower life-form for even disagreeing with them. I see how they talk to me and others, and it's like they don't look at us as equals.

 

[Peter C.]

About the real names topic. I did a half measure including part of my name. I prefer addressing people by there first names so I extended that courtesy to others. But I've held back on my last name because I frequently have questions or observations on projects I'm currently working on so I wouldn't like the client or colleagues stumbling on me revealing details about my own troubles or their project. The other reason is, I'm not too keen on the way people act here. I don't feel like sharing anything to personal with people I don't trust or respect. While I wouldn't be opposed to it if the forum mandated real names, I don't think it would change the attitude of the rude, arrogant, defensive, and argumentative members here. To help this forum thrive it would have to engage in other social platforms but would also have be more strictly moderated or use real names or people would need to behave better. But at the end of the day if you have a group of people enjoy arguing amongst themselves so prove who's smarter then I'm not sure there is much to be done because they like it the way it is.

 

[filmguy123]

Please ask and don't tell me what my suppositions are if you would like clarification on something I have said. It's not an argument. It's an opinion.

Opinions also, and always, have presuppositions. The presupposition may or may not align with a person's intent. I am not attempting to tell you your intent, only one of the implicit presupposition that comes with this statement (and made clear in your follow up explanation):

Cancel culture is part of an ongoing weaponisation of the language of empathy by those that stand to lose out if they are held to account for the things they say or do... If your concern is that people might call you out for what you have said first take a look at what you have said.

I am not attempting to say whether or not you are correct or incorrect in your opinion, only pointing out why we disagree beneath the surface. Your statement makes sense, but only if you accept the underlying things your opinion supposes. You clarified these in your follow up.

Personally my view on things with the forum has little to do with cancel culture in the political sphere, since this is primarily a technical forum, so this was an aside and a distraction... I already articulated what I see as more pragmatic and relevant concerns.

Consider the source. Of everything. Of opinion. Of news. Of information.... If the source is 'anonymous guy off the internet' I give it zero weight.

I agree that knowing who said something to determine motivation or context can sometimes be helpful. An alternative view is to to primarily consider the logic and reason of what is said, independent of the source.

The first is most helpful for people who have extremely limited experience and don't even know where to begin; the second is most helpful for people with more experience to pull from, who are capable of logical deducing the input of another to see if such a suggestion or idea would be helpful or point them in a new creative direction. One would probably miss out on an awful lot of valuable ideation if you write off every idea in which you don't know the source.

It's one thing to consider the source, it's another thing to live by the source.

It's been explained by multiple people multiple times that they cannot lend weight to the opinions of someone who refuses to be open and honest about who they are and their background... If that is who you want to be then great.

The phrasing here is a bit over zealous, no? The idea that the existence of one single conduit for people to engage with anonymity means they "refuse to be open and honest about who they are" and that "that is who they want to be" said in such a wholesale way feels to be a bit of an overreach. Regardless, as already stated, many people engaging here already know who each other are; a large part of the desire for anonymity is for the outside world since this is not a closed forum.

This place will slowly become the exclusive reserve of the 'let me tell you this' gang

Ironically, I've observed this sort of thing far more on real name social media platforms like Facebook than here, or in real life real name crews.

I rather enjoy seeing those with strong opinions on gear and technique respectfully duke out their strong opinions as it helps me understand the rationale for each and deduce for myself what will work for my workflow.

As a second point of irony, the "big guys" with the most experience are not always correct. The anonymity can level the playing field and allow other smaller voices to come through - for ideas to be heard on the merit of the idea itself, not just the powerful voice.

 

[Ben Scott]

It's just my opinion.

Well actually... Here's a list of all the reasons why you are wrong. Signed, anonymous guy.

Repeat ad nauseum. I get it. Sure okay you win the internet well done.

 

[filmguy123]

in my experience, real names provide no advantage, at least not on DVXUser. I've been a member for over 12 years. I just don't see the vitriol here that proponents of real names warn about.... What I can say is that I notice zero betterment of realnamers over codenamers. In fact, many of my favorite people use codenames... They are all polite, knowledgable, and have been here for years and years with little or no incident.

My personal experience has been the same. I could list many other anonymous users I feel the same way about (you are one of them), and as is, many of us have connected in real life outside of the forum as a result.

 

[Run&Gun]

Good post Filmguy123. Though, I take a different view, I get your point re-real names. The world would be very dull if we all agreed on everything.

My question to you and other anonymous keyboard crunchers, how would you feel if we had a "pro's corner" on this site where people use their real names and discusss all of the topics relevant to professionals in a grown up, as though we are face-to-face, kind of way?

Filmguy did have a good post.

Regarding the "Pro" forum, and I think I already mentioned this, or possibly in a PM to someone, I was on a TV photography forum that predates DVX and at one point was one of the very few places of its kind on the internet. It was almost solely working professionals, to begin with, but for some reason they decided to make a 'Pro Forum'(the name of the sub-forum). To post in it, you had to seperately register your real name, even if you already posted under your real name(which was still considered JUST a screen name). So you would actually have your screen name(which may be your real name) and then your real name in a smaller print/typeface underneath it) and I believe it also said something to the effect of "Pro" or "Pro User" next to it. This subform, on a forum of probably ~95% working professionals, died a pretty quick death. After the initial "newness" wore off, it had very little activity and when they eventually revamped the site, they didn't even bother porting that sub-forum over. I just did a quick search for it on there and could not find it.

So from my experience over the years on forums that I've participated in on here, REDUser and other professional and hobby/interest based boards, posting under your real name vs. a screen name doesn't guarantee what you're going to get one way or the other. I've seen plenty of polite and professional exchanges and great information come from those posting under screen names and I've seen plenty of bad, rude, mean behavior and trolling from people posting under their "real name". Which also begs the question, exactly how do forums verify a given name is the members real name?

 

[Publimix]

Changing username is difficult. When I started here I gave nickname and password. After a while I found out that changing username is a 'pain in the bibs'.

No problem using my real name: Peter Bosman, one of many worldwide. Not affraid of burglars.

But then again I live in a more civilized part of the world. (By the way is this last part trolling or is it slightly funny?)

 

[Ben Scott]

Changing username is difficult. When I started here I gave nickname and password. After a while I found out that changing username is a 'pain in the bibs'.

No problem using my real name: Peter Bosman, one of many worldwide. Not affraid of burglars.

But then again I live in a more civilized part of the world. (By the way is this last part trolling or is it slightly funny?)

Haha. Ask for it to be changed to 'Peter Bosman not afraid of burglars.'