Sticky wickets

[moonbeamsfanfic]

My request to join a Yahoo! group was just denied because I wouldn't tell them my real name. I suppose I could have lied and used my fictional persona of Rachel Evans (created by redwolfoz) and they wouldn't have known the difference, but it's the principle of the matter.

I like the anonymity of the internet. I like being Moonbeam. When I'm online, that's who I am. My real name is no one's business.

Oh well. The moderator for this paricular group has declared that my one chance to conform and be accepted has past. After several private emails of debate back and forth (I give her credit for at least taking the time to listen to my point of view), she's decided she just can't allow me in unless I concede. Which I won't do.

Game over. I lose.

::shrugs::

I'm not too broken up by it.

Comments

[katt30.livejournal.com]

Here here, I agree, it's noones business what your real name is.

[moonbeamsfanfic.livejournal.com]

Mmm, totally. ::nods::

[drunken-hawkeye.livejournal.com]

I agree with you completely. I would never hand out my real name to random people online, especially not people who think they have some right to it. That would make me nervous, frankly.

What sort of group was this?

[moonbeamsfanfic.livejournal.com]

Just a fanfic mailing list for an otherwise debunk fandom. Would have been nice to get access to the fic hidden away in its depths, but I'll live without it.

I've managed just fine before, after all. :)

[moonbeamsfanfic.livejournal.com]

I've come across a lot of groups and sites that need age statements before you can gain access, and that's something I don't mind. Usually you don't have to tell them exactly how old you are, just assert that you are over 18 and thus everything you see is on your own shoulders.

This group apparently wants your real name so they can cross-check your age to ensure you aren't lying. I wasn't... comfortable... with that policy, regardless of the fact I'm certainly old enough to qualify.

[redwolf]

I can see the point of their argument if you were using the name friendship_u506 (one of many alias of a current spamming arsehole infesting Yahoo Groups), but the mere point of you taking the time to communicate with them means you are not a spammer and if they were so concerned they could have moderated your posts temporarily so you could prove the fact.

There are always ways around things like this, the moderator in this case is a fuckwit.

And another major bitch is Yahoo taking so long to kill spammer accounts, refusing to remove spam from mailing lists and refusing to reappoint moderators to abandoned mailing lists that they become spam targets. And than the morons have to nerve to lock your account when you ISP bounces back Yahoo spam that Yahoo's lax system allows and you are penalised. People will start abandoning Yahoo for more user friendly services.

[moonbeamsfanfic.livejournal.com]

No, I'm definitely not a spammer. :P But I don't think that was the problem. It was an adult fanfic group and they needed an age statement. I was expecting that, and fully willing to assert I was over 18. Then the mod sais she needed my real name to verify my age. I don't agree with that policy.

I do agree that Yahoo itself is wonky. But then, look at how much trouble I've had with Hotmail over the years? Unless Gmail cleans out all its kinks, we're running out of options here...

[pheral.livejournal.com]

completely, utterly in agreement.

[moonbeamsfanfic.livejournal.com]

I figured you would be. ::smirk::

Homicidal whumping tendencies aside, you and I are a lot alike. You're like my evil twin! *eg*

[pheral.livejournal.com]

evil, moi? shirley not. >:P

i always wanted a twin. hoorah! ::tips an ear to the wolfie::

[maymorning.livejournal.com]

Also agreeing. I never use my real name. Some people do think my real name is Seren, but it isn't. I've never known a yahoo group that absolutely insisted on real names. Forget 'em.

[moonbeamsfanfic.livejournal.com]

There's obviously enough like-minded people out there who agree it's a stupid policy, so it's a wonder why they're still using it?

Then again, that particular group did have over 300 members who obviously have conformed...

::mind boggles::

Yahoo Groups are...

[(Anonymous)]

highly over rated. The whole place is hard to navigate, I can almost never get to where I want to go without major annoyances. I also almost never go to Fiction Alley anymore for the same reasons.

Skehawke, TheInkPen.net, Phoenix Song (http://www.phoenixsong.net/index.php), ToujoursPur.com (if you favour the Black Family), even Sink Into Your Eyes (http://www.hgnetwork.co.uk/siye/) is better and easier to explore.

Re: Yahoo Groups are...

[moonbeamsfanfic.livejournal.com]

Oh, I do visit all of those sites for my daily dose of HP fic, I assure you. Finding enough Remus/Sirius fic is not the problem! (Granted, I could always do with a bit more Padfoot and Moony -- but that's a whole other issue. ;P)

Anyway, this particular Yahoo! group was for a dfferent fandom entirely. I'm involved in well over 50 fandoms, some heavily and some only in passing, and can always find something in one of my many fandoms worth reading. It's just that some fandoms are more sparse than others, and finding good fic can be difficult. In this case, the Yahoo! group actually is the best source of continued new fanfiction for the otherwise dead fandom I was seeking.

Alas, I shall simply have to do without... or be happy with what old stuff is still available elsewhere on the web. Which is fine by me. :)