I'm a psych student working on my Junior project. Here's my question. Do you think posters here create dual identities to support their opinions? In reading posts here (and other sites) looks like they do. Don't name names; it doesn't need to get ugly. Help. Paper due the 18th!

If you want some interesting takes on this, go to www.bhg.com and post on the "Family Issues" board. This subject has been discussed in length on that board. Also, this board stays fairly focused on travel, and several posters do not care for off-topic posts. Good luck with your research.

Short answer: yes, absolutely. Not all posters, but certainly the ones who get sidetracked from travel info and plunge into controversy.

I will absolutely cop to using different names for different situations. And I'm 100% convinced that there are several others who do the same thing, because I notice patterns in choice of names, phase of controversy, orientation of posts. For a while there was a Fatty McFatty who posted smutty posts on threads about overweight people and not too long after that people with variations on the "Xxx McXxxx" started showing up on other threads with similarly irrelevant but borderline (or not so) obscene posts.

But it isn't just the juveniles who like to throw dirty graffiti at the forums. There are some politicoes who love to hurl rhetoric from one side of the spectrum to the other. There are also much more thoughtful posters who know very well they become targets who "hide" behind more than one nom de plume.

In my case, I stuck to one identity for a while until I got spammed, so I changed and used the "xx.xx" format for my email. But even then, I got tired of having posts that focused on name/person rather than what was written, so I decided the only way to avoid that was not to give any specific name -- just to highlight the thought rather than who wrote.

In some ways, dear student, it's almost more interesting to note who _doesn't_ change names but stubbornly continues to post under the same name, esp. if it seems to be their very own name, and even more esp. if they start to become targets for the inevitable sniping. Those people seem to have a lot of confidence and/or maybe thicker skins, but they also seem to think who they are is as important as what they write.

Reread the last sentence of the former student's post. Don't forget that there are some who are accused of this repeatedly over time, and yet who NEVER post under any other name but the one they own.

If you really want to get an earlfull about one poster in particular who has not only used different identities to post various messages, but who has also resorted to impersonating Fodors' editors, go over to the European side of this Forum and
ask a few leading questions about Rex.
Just be ready to dive into a bomb shelter.

Thanks to those who've answered. Any other help out there?

You know.... all of the above posters COULD be the same person. You just never know... (LOL@diving into a bomb shelter with a Rex question, Bob!). Happy Trails!