Do You Ever Feel Paranoid About Your Posts and Anonymity? JFF

Not really, in all of the years I've been on here I've only had O. unbalanced person try to "stalk me" outside of this site. I won't give details here but PM me if you'd like some tips and tricks and info on that.
I think people are wise to maintain some degree of anonymity on any site like this.
And the nut jobs---can't fix that--there will always be nut jobs!
(I guess I'm just fascinating, right?)
I've met some really nice people through this site. Quite a few in person.
I think most users of MP are nice, normal people (like I said "MOST"!)

No. I list my real city but a nickname for myself. There are a few people I do know on here so I keep that in mind when I am posting a question or response.

Also, there are SO many moms here and who've been here for years like I have and I feel like I know them.

yes, because I have done random Google searches on sensitive subjects and Mamapedia threads came up in the search reults. I used to feel sort of insulated on this site, thinking if someone hadn't signed up, they had no access. Not true! Any random google search will bring up all of our answers, questions, profiles.

Nope. I don't post something I wouldn't say to your face.

My husband can access my Mamapedia account. Again - won't say anything here that I would NOT say to him.

I have friends here. A couple of them have asked me to ask questions for them and I have. If you aren't willing to say it to their face - you shouldn't post it anywhere. Even a diary - as the "hit by the bus theory" goes - it can and will be found - so if I am not willing to say it to their face? It's not going up.

I've had a crazy one on here. Oh well. I'm glad I take up soo much time in her head. Means she's thinking of me!! YAHOO!!! LOL!

I changed from my real name to a nickname after I heard of some crazy mama stalking someone on here. I don't have a common first or last name and I own an insurance agency so if you google me, all my info pops right up!

I do have several MP friends on Facebook also. I don't tend to candy coat things and am pretty true to my real self. However, I do try to be *nicer* in my replies now. =)

Nope. If I didn't want people to see it/know it, I wouldn't post it!

Ya know how people say you wouldn't say that in the real world, I do. Anyone who knows me could read anything I have posted here and they wouldn't raise an eyebrow. It does not bother me at all that someone could figure out who I am by what I post here.

If crazy people are going to attack you they are going to attack you. They will find a way. Meh, maybe putting all this out there it will be more challenging to stalk everyone else. :)

Occasionally I get that feeling. Especially since I write a lot about work and hope that none of my tenants would realize it was me. I use a different city than where I actually live in hopes of throwing them off my trail :)

Well, luckily a lot of you folks live in Texas so I never have to worry about seeing you. :)
I have never told anyone about the name of this website, so not too worried about people I don't know finding me.
The only person on here that I am friends with on facebook has never met me in person and we live close by. I think if we were ever to meet I wouldn't be too embarassed. I think of it as talking with my girlfriends, and I would talk about the things I talk about on here with them.
L.

yup almost all the time, even the dumb just for fun quesitons that i ask, and all the questions that i answer geez Seriously we warn young kids not to give too much info out over the web but i think i'm guilty. can't give up mamapedia though.

Nope.
I don't actually 'know' anyone here and if we passed each other in the street, neither of us is the wiser.
It might do my sister a world of good if she saw some of what I've written, but she's queen of her own special universe and I don't really care what she thinks anyway.

Yes. I do.

I changed my name (from my real first name to what i have now) and my hometown (from where I live now to where I grew up) when I saw more than a couple people on here who live in the same city as me...b/c I live in a pretty small city and have a very unique name!

Even though I have not posted anything negative about anyone...I have posted a couple questions about my husband's ex-wife and our stepson issues and I would hate for it to get back to her so she could be even more all up in my business....like I said, I have a VERY unique name and it would be TOO easy to know exactly who I am and who I am talking about if just one of her friends got on here!

Yep. I've worried from time to time, especially when I've had to vent and threw someone under the bus doing so. It was actually a close friend of mine who told me about the site, and then never stayed here, herself....or at least I don't think so. (Hi, B if you're reading this!)

The other concern I got is when I actually DID meet a mom from the site in person while at work. I recognized her name (and then told her I knew of her from here). (Hi M!)

I also remember someone asking (over a year or so ago) if our opinions of other MP posters changed when we didn't like what we read about them or their answers. I thought, "Hmmm. Someone is paying attention to who says what!?!?!" And since then, I've paid more attention, and obviously have seen the friendships that have built among many members.

I'm now on FB with at least 4 MP moms.

That has made me more aware of what I do say, similar to FB. I do kinda miss the good 'ol days of saying whatever I wanted or asking about anything I wanted to. I skip out on many of the very personal questions now. :)

No, not really.

I rarely post about bigger concerns or troubles, mainly because I have a few select women I would ask directly for advice. Or, if I need confidentiality, I have a good counselor I see occasionally.

Nothing personal, but with the exception of a few women on this site who I've met, no one here really knows me or my family situation, which is complicated to say the least. Plus, my profile links to my blog...it's not that hard to figure out 'who' someone is from that.

I do feel this way--- really because people misunderstand some times and I would feel so bothered to know some family or friends thought the wrong things --- and would maybe tell some one or others .

In my opinion, if we're lucky, life is long.... the downside is that sooner or later life comes back at you. I do not think there is anonymity on any site. Great question!

yup. my psycho "stepmother" would hack into my father's emails and intercept our correspondences. there are definitely times i hope to heck she hasn't found me on here. she's just crazy enough to do it, if she ever caught wind i used a site like this. but i know she hasn't because she'd be causing holy terror in our family if she had. she's not one to be sneaky - it would ALL COME OUT. plus i only speak the truth, and my feelings on the truth...so in the end i shouldn't have anything to worry about...right?? (ha!)

(and i deliberately don't link this to my fb for that purpose, as well)

Yes - I changed my screenname (FreckleMama) just a month or so ago b/c I was posting a lot about my friend. Figured freckles were more anonymous than my first name.

YES! I had several family members tell me about this site but none of them stuck around. I have posted very personal questions with info I don't want floating around in the family...

I may have asked before, my only question is whether or not the questions are posted on facebook and can those without a facebook account see them?

I don't want my account here linked to facebook because I wouldn't want my friends and relatives to see what I've posted.

My husband once set up an account here for himself- and chose not to tell me what nickname he used. Not that I've really posted anything that bad about him, but it kind of bothered me that he could go see all the answers I've ever written. He got bored after a couple of days and hasn't been back since, but it has made me more conscious that what you put online can come back to haunt you.

All the time. There are posts I'd like to join in on and share a family story, but I don't because I'm afraid a family member might figure out who I am even though they probably couldn't.

I list a different city... of course, I have lived there, but it's not where I am now...

although, anyone who sees my posts wouldn't be very hard-pressed to figure out where I actually live. lol.

I DID get caught once though... that was a fun confrontation... lol.