Hard to handle: My dilemma with “online identities”

I have a personal problem with titles.  I believe it originated from my military days when it was required of me to address my “superiors” by either their rank or, if they were an officer, “Sir” or “Ma’am”.  Don’t get me wrong…I’m all for respecting others and giving the deserved their due.  However, I’ve encountered enough “title abusers” for me to see the act of using designations in the place of their birth name as anything but ideal.

This leads me to my arguably irrational problem of using “online identities”, the internet’s handle of choice with the unfortunate designation of being title’s “cousin”, or at least, a”known associate”.

Having an online identity can be helpful.  On one hand, they can offer a sense of security for people that want to contribute to an online community but would rather their personal info not be online.  Case in point, a game developer wanting to speak his or her mind without the risk of their employer handing over walking papers.  Also, having a carefully selected one can make creating accounts on websites infinitely easier then running the risk of picking “Chris_Whittington_2348” as your login ID for each one.

As for me, my standard online identity, RocGaude, falls into the later category.  It’s just a means to an end.  There’s nothing wrong with people calling me “Roc”, per se.  It’s a swell term of endearment  that I earned from my wife who is constantly catching me doing my best Angus Young in the mirror.

The only problem is that whenever someone calls me “Roc”, I shudder a bit.  It’s almost as if my hailing by a name other then my own is a cop-out for me somehow.  A cover up, a comb-over covering what needs to be shorn, an act of contempt that makes me no better then, then…YouTube commentators. 

Maybe I’m taking this too seriously.  Using a nickname should be fun, a means to further the escapism of video game immersion.  I mean, sure, it’s cool for some people to shout out “I’m taking damage!  Flank ’em, xXViperShaftXx!!” but when I’m chewing dirt in the digital trenches, I’d rather stick with a more reasonable “Just shoot the green assholes, Rick!”. 

See, I’m the kind of guy that enjoys donning a singular face for the world to see.  Whether you talk with me in person or online, you’re getting the same Chris.  Chris.  It’s a good name…not very unique, but pleasing to my ear all the same.  It’s not like my parents declared me a smite on humanity and named me Chester or something. 

In the SquadCast, we used our online identities as a way of differentiating ourselves from the rest of the world and each other, especially since there are four Chris’s in the group.  They were also relics from our 1UP Radio Board days.  We even entertained the notion that we were sorta like M.A.S.K. or G.I. Joe, covert operatives ready to discover and tackle the world’s greatest lost treasures.  My inner 10 year-old pumped his fist in victory.

On our last episode, we decided to drop them from our intro as a way to give ourselves more credibility, to stand and be accounted for.  I was totally on board and even offered up a “swear jar” if you called someone by their handle.  We were finally ourselves and we didn’t need no stinking badges.

However, once the chest beating had died down, my inner 10 year-old’s heart sunk a little that day.  Gone was the idea that I was on a secret mission to uncover the mysteries of the ancients and that it was time to tuck that notion away in response to reality’s call. 

I guess there was something to like about being called “Roc” after all.

Thanks for reading – Chris

For further discussion:  Bitmob’s decision to have it’s community members use their real names vice false ones is one of my favorite aspects of the site and reflects a maturity that’s sorely needed in the game’s space.  Still, there’s a bit of goofy fun that gets left behind.

As for you, when do you use online identities?  How would you like to see them used?