I have to agree with you TT 100%. Not been able to get to the club mtgs at the moment I myself find this forum a lifeline and feel as if I am still part of the Hudds Bird Club.
But as you rightly say why would people want to hid there id unless they have something to hid. I myself get suspicious of people doing this and like you would have to re consider using the forum if members increase and carry on hiding there id.

Hello all, I have nothing to hide and so have altered my user name and added my email address. Just finding my way on this forum thingy at the moment. Only get to go out birding when work permits me, usually on saturdays. My favoured location is langsett area and will try to post some
sightings in the future.

Just seen the postings re anonymity.  I need to clarify this.  When I acted as administrator for the website I automatically made the email contact address open to all who joined the forum.  Then, some time later, I thought well maybe some people didn't want their addresses on-line, even privately, so made them hidden.  This is now my current practice.  I'm not sure what the best course of action is.  I can quite easily open them all up.  What do members think?  If you can alter it at your end, then fine maybe there isn't a problem. 
DaveH

Having started this thread in the first place you will not be surprised to know that I am very much against anyone withholding their identity on this forum, in my opinion it simply cannot encourage trust and openness amongst members of this forum.

One of the most enjoyable things about the forum for me this year has been the fact that I have met quite a few members, in person, who regularly post on it, surely we all agree it's nice to be able to put a name to a face?

I find Brian's comment on this topic a little strange, in particular the identity or lack of it in respect of NR (Northern Rook or Norman Rossington, surely he too hasn't returned from the dead unlike John Darwin!), why should the future of this forum be jeopardised by revealing a name, how are you supposed to interpret a comment like that?

Over 80% of the comments on this forum are posted by less than 20% of it's members, and all of these members have had no problem revealing their identity to date, to me that is conclusive evidence that if you are genuinely interested in birding in our area and promoting this forum you should have no qualms about revealing your identity to all members of this forum and if you are not then go elsewhere!

firstly, i hope what follows doesn't appear twice as I've done a reply once and lost it. anyway - prepare to be bored and i hope the 2 messages say same thing.

i think a few things are getting mixed up but

1 those who didn't know dave h would anomymize email addresses might feel a bit aggrieved at the tenor of some of this thread - as might dave h who states he's nowt to hide, and why would he. Of course, I'm lacking in any such finer feelings so feel free.

2 as far as i can see, the issue of this being a private forum is a red herring as i believe 'netiquette' (uugh) means it's commononly acceptable for folk to hide their ID on the net on whatever kind of forum.

3 it seems contradictory of some to complain about adopting the above bit of nettiquette whilst readily adopting false names as forum members,, presumably in line with the same netiquette (emotive word "false" - but then so is 'hide ' in context.). how come one's right and other wrong? yes,  folk can look at my email address if they wanna see who i am, but  i don't think my opinions are so ace as to expect to put em to the trouble. certainly, i can't be fagged working out who all the folk are - maybe i should but i bet i'm not alone - if folk are so keen on being open why don't we just join using our real names? probably  didnt think about it because that's not 'expected'- see above comments re nettiquette - same 'rules' alow me to abandon spelling, grammer etc in a way i used to think unthinkable (think unthinkabl: ERM - ISNT THAT AN OXYMORON:-))

4 as you birders know, it has always been the practice of regional and national ornithological bodies to 'preserve anonymity' - see any british rare breeding birds panel report or bbrc annual report etc etcc. they do this when there's a need to avoid hassle for birds or people. i suspect many of us never queried this - mainly because we don't get many rare breeding birds in the area or have rarity/twitching-sensitive sites. blackmoorfoot isn't such a site in my view by the way. I know hbw annual report doesn't put my initials against some Sch 1 breeders I've reported - presumably because disturbers/eggers could find out where i bird and locate sites. persoanlly, i think eggers can and do use keepers and cryptography to locate nest sites and, let's be honest, no site in the area is flooded by the hordes of active field birders in our area. but i've never raised any of this - cos it's not a big deal. anyway, i think nat/reg bodies preserve confidentialty, not anonymity tho they confuse the two and so...

5 my default line is, everyone should be   on here using their real name  - but but but - there are always exceptions. the following is all true. in my job i was held hostage a 100 miles away for 5 hours by angry 'client's without anyone knowing .  nobody taught me conflict management doesn't work if the main agressor is pie-eyed and [i]cross-eyed![/i] eye-contact? forget it. A convicted child abuser threatened my family cos i told a court he was a serious danger to the public. he calmly told me where i lived and explained the route my dtr (then 13) took to school. my missus can regale you with the jolly tale re when the house had to have an immediate home-to-police station alarm fitted when her life was threatened for doing similar work: all sounds dramatic I know but, maybe Brian A's underdog person has similar reasons - i don't know. I am just saying some reasons can't be broadcast to all and sundry. we've moved and our kids are grown and gone, all above happened B4 internet - not sure how safe I'd have felt otherwise. i assumed David H vetted reasons for anon request and made a reasonable judgement. alf's idea would assist, but some circs might be beyond even that sensible suggestion

6 however, i don't think anonymous sightings can  ever   become part of HBWC's permanent record, be it paper or electronic.  the net/IT means lots of good things for birding .  but the info services/net are full (and i mean full) of dross from folk who can't ID birds but insist they can or think they're beyond providing a description, either brcause they don't want to or because they think any photo will suffice (most won't if ID is tricky).. there's been an explosion in this approach in last 20 years. we need to know who is claiming what and then folk can build a reputation for reliability (and get credit too).  anonymity precludes this. so the recorder at least would need real names.

7 rules/regs and practice evolve. we'll agree something eventually - but not everyone will be happy - if so, no-one is forced to post/report to HBW. however  I'd urge folk to keep at it. british ornithology is 90% an amateur science (still). the birds need you to keep reporting them - even if the processes ain't 100% tidy.

8 can folk be clear when they mean member of forum rather than member of club (I know some are clear). i don't think we have any anonymous members of HBWC.

lastly, i accept all above is my own view, however strongly i feel about it I don't expect folk to agree.

end of essay - i must do summat useful instead of gettin fat in front of PC.

cheers

Mick Cunningham


ps I know my email address doesn't always give full name

A comment on this debate. The questions about names and e-mail addresses are separate, so aren't there are two issues to consider?

Anonymity of both sorts on blogs has been mentioned. This often leads to scurrilous (and often funny) comments but these are open sites (though some are moderated) and, without the anonymity, these and other comments, might well not be posted. Are we in the same position, being a closed forum? Are there items that some member dare not post in these circumstances for fear of some untoward consequences for him/herself or the birds?

I think the experience of committee members, whose names and e-mail addresses appear on the membership card, is that there is no hassle - and we're talking here of something which a member of the public could see. In the case of the forum, there is more security.

Although the drift of my thinking is clear, I certainly haven't a closed mind on the matter and will put it to the next committee meeting, due to be held in Feb, for further discussion, if there is a request for it.

I shall follow the debate if it continues.

Michael Rayner