Alts.

[Joe Wordsworth]

Someone raised a really good question to me, today... and I know I've talked with some privately about this, because I really don't get it:

Why do people have alts? More pointedly, why do some people have alts that they keep quiet about? Isn't it kind of deceptive?

 

[cloudy]

I have one alt, but "she" is named for a character in one of my stories, and in "her" sigline, it clearly states who she is.

They can be deceptive, sure, but not always.

 

[slyc_willie]

I've been thinking of creating an alternate Lit identity under which I would submit more 'edgy' material.

Those of you who know my writing would probably be able to figure out my Alt.

Still, writing under a more 'anonnymous' identity would keep my other fans from cringing from the darker work I would submit.

Haven't done it yet, but I have a feeling I will . . . .

 

[Joe Wordsworth]

I just don't get it.

 

[slyc_willie]

Think of it as wanting to explore your dark side in all its gory detail . . . but you just don't want everyone to know it's you.

You can revel in anonymity. If everyone knows who you are, you squirm in the spotlight.

 

[Belegon]

I think it's just another way of exploring the fantasy...but when it comes to the AH and our interactions...

Joe... don't faint now... are you sitting down?


I completely agree with you. I have an alt I created for writing. To test a theory and to see if a story not by "Belegon" would be received as well. I tried to use that alt on the boards, mostly with the idea that I wanted to have a way of saying things that could not be traced to me. (not by other AH'ers, by people in my immediate physical environment.) After almost two years, that alt does not even have an avatar. I couldn't get into using the alt.

I don't get it. Not my thing, and it bugs me sometimes when someone has an alt and I don't know it.

 

[Minervous]

.....

 

[Joe Wordsworth]

Joe... don't faint now... are you sitting down?

This is sort of beside the point, but people keep making a production out of agreeing with me...

I take it for granted that most people already do, they just don't want to publicize that.

*end sidebar*

 

[slyc_willie]

A perfect point, Minervous.

We are all, to a degree, anonymous anyway. we reveal only what we want to.

Creating an Alt is both a way of hiding and a way of liberating ourselves.

 

[Belegon]

This is sort of beside the point, but people keep making a production out of agreeing with me...

I take it for granted that most people already do, they just don't want to publicize that.

*end sidebar*

dude, no offense or anything...

don't. I very rarely agree with you.

just sayin.

 

[Joe Wordsworth]

dude, no offense or anything...

don't. I very rarely agree with you.

just sayin.

If you say so. Doesn't change anything, though.

 

[Joe Wordsworth]

Perhaps to express different voices or themes?Because they are looking for unbiased comment on their writing?Yes. But Lit is, after all, a site where everyone is using a pseudonym in the first place. Why should this be a problem?

For writing? I can kind of see it. But for the boards? Meh.

 

[slyc_willie]

This is sort of beside the point, but people keep making a production out of agreeing with me...

I take it for granted that most people already do, they just don't want to publicize that.

*end sidebar*

Whether or not we agree with you is beside the point. You posed a question, and we're answering.

If you don't 'get it,' that's just you. There are many variables in mind when creating an Alt, I think. A writer who mainly posts romantic and loving wives stories, then suddenly gets the urge to write a non-con, might do well to create an Alt, if only to preclude their fans from being turned off by future work.

 

[Darkniciad]

My reason is simple. I post all my experimental work under my Alt, which is mostly real world based stuff. It keeps it divorced from the main body of my work, which is almost exclusively fantasy. If I had thought about it, I would have put my LST3K series under Les Lumens too, but the idea didn't occur to me before I started that series, so it will stay under Dark.

I've been straightforward with it since I created the Alt, so no deception here

 

[Huckleman2000]

I understand the desire for anonymity. That's why I post as Huck, and not *****. Even the email address I registered with is one that I may check once a month or less. I use it for discussion forums, and that's about it.
It's also why I don't usually communicate via PM, unless there are times when the thread discourse has just gotten too weird to untangle in a public post.

For me, the whole point is that I have a persona where I can say pretty much what I think, within the rules of civil discourse. This is me, for good or ill. I don't have to worry about relatives or co-workers or friends or acquaintances and their reactions. I can spout off, I can argue, I can comisserate. It's like a neighborhood bar, if you will. I value the familiarity, but I don't want to deal with it all as if we're related.

That's not to say that I don't feel true affection for many people here in the AH. When people here go through difficult times, I feel deeply about it, and when people have victories, I feel lifted.

If I had money to spare, would I lend it to any of you? Probably not. At least, at my current level of intimacy; and I'm mostly not looking for a deeper level of intimacy here.

I'm looking for a place where I can be myself, express what I feel, and where the negative repercussions of that are trivial enough that I don't get too upset.

As I've explained in previous posts, I've been an actor, and roleplaying is fun to do under controlled circumstances. In real life, it seems no one else gets the script you're working from, so trying to construct an open-ended character gets out of hand soon enough.

 

[Joe Wordsworth]

Whether or not we agree with you is beside the point. You posed a question, and we're answering.

That was a comment based on things aside from this thread--so, yes, obviously I posted a question and obviously people are answering and as I didn't have an opinion on the matter at hand (having alts), it isn't possible to agree with me or not.

If you don't 'get it,' that's just you.

Granted, its just me. That's why I'm asking.

There are many variables in mind when creating an Alt, I think. A writer who mainly posts romantic and loving wives stories, then suddenly gets the urge to write a non-con, might do well to create an Alt, if only to preclude their fans from being turned off by future work.

Again, I can kinda understand for writing--but for forum posting, I don't really get it. I don't understand the motivation to have more than one identity on the boards. That's fairly the crux of my question.

 

[slyc_willie]

Makes me wonder, Dark: why create an Alt if you openly admit that you are also Les Lumens?

of course, the answer may be self-evident, since the vast majority of readers don't even look at the forums . . . .

 

[Minervous]

.....

 

[Huckleman2000]

Makes me wonder, Dark: why create an Alt if you openly admit that you are also Les Lumens?

of course, the answer may be self-evident, since the vast majority of readers don't even look at the forums . . . .

Yeah, that's sort of my thing.
If I'd posted stories as Huck, well, I'm pretty opinionated, for good or ill.

I don't know. I'm here as myself. Expressing myself through postings is a self-revelatory experience.

It helps me to think through things when I have to write about them. The process is good practice for me, from a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy standpoint.

Frankly, when I sit down and start to post here, I have very little preconception of what I want to say. I find threads that make me think about important things, and try to formulate a reasonable viewpoint. Or take a reasonable viewpoint, and try to express it in a way that more people can understand it and make their own choice.

The idea of posting here as a character, while fascinating, is just more mental gyrations. I go through enough just trying to be honest with myself and you all.

 

[elsol]

It's like RPG's; some players only play a certain type, no matter what. Other's will play several flavors; it's just how they're built.

I always assumed AH was like an RPG, without the killing of the orcs (jumping on amicus with both feet doesn't count).

It's just a game... I'm not even close to this friendly in real life so ElSol is an alt to begin with.

 

[Pure]

incidentally, joe, a number of writers, particularly of mysteries and romances have a couple alts--i mean in the real world. often a subgenre is explored with an alt. why not write gay male porn and lesbian porn under the same name. well, i leave that to you...

the other reason you don't seem to have thought of, is that, supposing you piss off lots of people --just suppose. then you submit your masterpiece, which has a few minor flaws. what do you think those pissed off people are going to do? having found the flaws, how do you think they'll vote?

 

[Le Jacquelope]

incidentally, joe, a number of writers, particularly of mysteries and romances have a couple alts--i mean in the real world. often a subgenre is explored with an alt. why not write gay male porn and lesbian porn under the same name. well, i leave that to you...

the other reason you don't seem to have thought of, is that, supposing you piss off lots of people --just suppose. then you submit your masterpiece, which has a few minor flaws. what do you think those pissed off people are going to do? having found the flaws, how do you think they'll vote?

Salmon Rushdie should have used an alt. An alternate face, that is.

 

[slyc_willie]

incidentally, joe, a number of writers, particularly of mysteries and romances have a couple alts--i mean in the real world. often a subgenre is explored with an alt. why not write gay male porn and lesbian porn under the same name. well, i leave that to you...

the other reason you don't seem to have thought of, is that, supposing you piss off lots of people --just suppose. then you submit your masterpiece, which has a few minor flaws. what do you think those pissed off people are going to do? having found the flaws, how do you think they'll vote?

Hell, just my being here as slyc_willie is an alt! I don't share the pseudonym I have used when being published as a sci-fi writer for a reason; I don't want people to know that name on this site.

It is not out of guilt or embarrassment that I keep the two separate; it's merely for politcal/business reasons. I have no doubt that if some of my 'straight' publishers knew I also write for this site, sadly, they just might drop me from further publication.

I'm not ashamed to post stories here, but my agent and publishers might be.

 

[English Lady]

Someone raised a really good question to me, today... and I know I've talked with some privately about this, because I really don't get it:

Why do people have alts? More pointedly, why do some people have alts that they keep quiet about? Isn't it kind of deceptive?

I really don't get it either. I've got my pen name -Victoria Blisse registered here but I've not really used it -simply, because it's too much effort to log out of EL and log into that one *L* It's not an alt either, as I'm just as me using Victoria as I am me using EL. I just wanted to register my pen name basically so no one else could -not that they'd want to, but you never know.

I think some people see these boards as "just some online fun" and don't see the use of multiple personalities as anything deceptive, just as something that is a bit of fun. Look onthe GB there is nearly always a thread about alts and who's alts are whose and how terible it is to have alts and how its synonimous with trolling.It's seen as a cowards way of expressing'emselves over there.

It just seems kinda sad to me, really.

 

[Dontgiveup]

Simply because we can.