Alts.

[Le Jacquelope]

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.

That's 100% bad business decision to drop you from further publication if your stuff is selling already. If they're foolish like that then you have bigger problems than this immediate one; it might be wise to consider another publisher.

 

[Liar]

This is an alt. Anything but my real name and picture is a deception anyway.

I created a fake girl profile once and posted random sillyness on the GB as a social experient, to see if I'd get hit on by pervs. It was dissapointingly easy.

 

[damppanties]

There are some people who would like to interact in different ways, have different personality characteristics at different times, depending on their mood. It's not false, it is just a different facet of a personality that is more pronounced at one particular time, so much so that it ends up defining a person.

I think a lot of us have an image of most people on this board and would have a problem relating to a person if they're kind of like quicksilver, changing moods frequently, or do not act according to the image we have of them. So, alts. I don't know if that makes any sense, but that's why I think people have alts. At least the ones who are honest about it.

Apart from that, novelty. Wouldn't you like to live your life as someone else and see what it's like?

It gets deceptive when you're close to someone and their alt is interacting with you and you don't know it. Other than that, I fail to see how it affects people negatively, unless you're going around bombing stories or fighting on the boards with an alt.

 

[Trinique_Fire]

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?

Why do these threads keep popping up everywhere? My first instinct is to say, if you want to know what it's like to have an alt, make one.

On the other hand, more seriously, my reasons for creating one (most of you know me as she_is_my_addiction, aka Sima) were pretty personal. I had a lot going on at the time that I didn't want revealed, and so to protect a lot of people's feelings, including my own, I created a new name to lay low for a while. Now, Trini's my pen name, my nickname.

It's powerful to hide behind a name and a made-up personality to become someone we're not...someone we desperately want to be. *sad smile* Technology has made it too easy for us to hide and lose our sense of self in a way...

 

[English Lady]

There are some people who would like to interact in different ways, have different personality characteristics at different times, depending on their mood. It's not false, it is just a different facet of a personality that is more pronounced at one particular time, so much so that it ends up defining a person.

I think a lot of us have an image of most people on this board and would have a problem relating to a person if they're kind of like quicksilver, changing moods frequently, or do not act according to the image we have of them. So, alts. I don't know if that makes any sense, but that's why I think people have alts. At least the ones who are honest about it.

Apart from that, novelty. Wouldn't you like to live your life as someone else and see what it's like?

It gets deceptive when you're close to someone and their alt is interacting with you and you don't know it. Other than that, I fail to see how it affects people negatively, unless you're going around bombing stories or fighting on the boards with an alt.

I think that's kinda sad, really. that people just don't feel able to be all their different personalities under one name. I can see how it might happen, though.

 

[deepest_throat]

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 wanted a new name. As to why people act entirely different and use alts- I don't get it either.
Maybe there are a lot of mentally ill people here with multiple personality disorders and a lot of alts don't know they are alts. That would explain a lot about some people here.

 

[minsue]

I can understand posting stories under various names for various reasons. I can also understand changing one's name for posting on the boards as a one time thing, due to some sort of problem. What I just don't get, and find rather sad, are those who feel the need to regularly post under different names and make a game of trying to hide who they are from others. The whole thing of pretending to be new to the boards, replying to your own posts (under a different name), and all the other pure manipulative dishonesty that some people go through just strikes me as utterly sad and unnecessary. I'm with Joe, I don't get it.

 

[impressive]

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*

Sweet, run one in IE and the other in Firefox. You can be logged into both at the same time. (That's what I do with Ms. Brio.)

As for alts ... I don't have the energy to cook up another persona for the forums (i.e., social purposes). I have, however, posted poetry and stories under an alt & will probably continue to do so.

 

[English Lady]

Sweet, run one in IE and the other in Firefox. You can be logged into both at the same time. (That's what I do with Ms. Brio.)

As for alts ... I don't have the energy to cook up another persona for the forums (i.e., social purposes). I have, however, posted poetry and stories under an alt & will probably continue to do so.

Oh I, I could do that I suppose Thank you!

 

[Guest]

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*

Nope. Most don't, actually.

There has been an unexpected amount of agreement in the past few days.

But it's cute that you think most people already do.

 

[Darkniciad]

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 . . . .

Exactly. I just want to keep a dividing line between the two for my readers. I get enough complaints when I'm not writing stories for the character one of the camps wants, without having them see that I'm starting to write other stuff on the side.

If they check my website, they would know, as I crosslink all my websites and mention things going on under different pen names during updates, but most won't check that either.

 

[gauchecritic]

My alt was homage to a pretty neat kind of mixed up guy that doesn't post any more (although someone stole his ID after he left).

I use it to answer posts in a very particular way, which isn't anything like answers I give in this persona. I don't want the two combined, as there is a particular kind of mental process I go through when using the alt.

I think most everyone knows my alt. and I've noticed different answers/conversations during discourse when using it. There are some that don't know and it's highly amusing (for those that do) if I'm taken to task as that alt.

 

[damppanties]

You think you as gauche aren't pretty neat and mixed up already?

 

[oggbashan]

My alts

I invented jeanne_d_artois because oggbashan was expected to write a particular type of story. I tried writing as jeanne from a woman's point of view.

Several people in the AH saw through the disguise but some didn't. Jeanne did get some *interesting* suggestions as feedback despite her declared age.

I came clean about jeanne on an April 1. Some people saw the joke. A few were offended for which I apologise. Now my signature states that oggbashan is also jeanne_d_artois, and jeanne's states that she is also oggbashan. Both of us are also Fag-Ash_Lil, a character in one of jeanne's stories. I created Fag-Ash so that no one else could use that alt here. So far Fag-Ash hasn't written any stories.

Jeanne still gets propositions that oggbashan might find impossible. Some people don't read profiles.

Even I get confused and post as og when I'm signed in as jeanne.

Of course oggbashan is also an alt but it would be very simple to trace who I am in real life because I have given so many clues. Those who have met me in Yorkshire and Bournemouth know my real name. It might be slightly embarrassing if oggbashan was 'outed' but no more than that.

og the alt

Edited for PS: I find having a known alt useful in a minor way on the candles site. I can light a candle every day for Moonlight Elf and Vana, one day as 'Og' and the next day as 'jeanne_d_artois for Og'. That way I know that I always have at least one candle burning.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

I don't have an alt and I don't get it either... and I don't know most people's alts, either... I didn't know Dark had one, or Gauche... I knew about SIMA/Trini, and Og's and Imp/Brio... I didn't know Bel had one... I was really annoyed to find out that the soon-to-be-winner of Survivor this year is also an alt of someone who won before... wtf!?

I can *sort of* understand splitting up different genres when it comes to alts... if you primarily write romance and have a huge fan base and all of a sudden want to write gay male... but I don't think you necessarily have to split a fan base... not all of my stuff is well-received by all of my readers... some like the audio, some like the incest, some like the more serious stuff... but I write what I want, and don't cater to readers. *shrug*

Someone suggested doing the reviews under "alts" too, so our stories wouldn't get slammed, and I wasn't for that, either... whatever I have to say here is what I have to say... I'm not gonna hide behind some alt to do it. And the replying to your own posts thing.... omg do people really DO that? Am I so naive and clueless!?! Crazy... *shaking head*

 

[oggbashan]

...And the replying to your own posts thing.... omg do people really DO that? Am I so naive and clueless!?! Crazy... *shaking head*

jeanne_d_artois does sometimes answer oggbashan's posts in the frivolous threads and vice-versa. I see it as an 'in' joke because the AH know they are the same person (if they have signatures turned on).

Og, er, jeanne_d_artois er, whoever

 

[jeanne_d_artois]

Was someone talking about me?

jeanne

 

[TheeGoatPig]

jeanne_d_artois does sometimes answer oggbashan's posts in the frivolous threads and vice-versa. I see it as an 'in' joke because the AH know they are the same person (if they have signatures turned on).

Og, er, jeanne_d_artois er, whoever

Or if we are paying attention (which I hardly ever am )

I don't have any alts here, as I have no need for them, though I do on other forums. I don't see the purpose of have two characters to hide behind with my writing. If I deem something worthy of being released, I'll just release it under this name, no matter how different it is to what I normally write.

For instance, I am writing a story from the woman's point of view (I find first person so much sexier from the female perspective), and even though I am a man, I will submit the story as written by me, because I wrote it. And I'll laugh when the public coments come rolling in hitting on me

 

[Selena_Kitt]

jeanne_d_artois does sometimes answer oggbashan's posts in the frivolous threads and vice-versa. I see it as an 'in' joke because the AH know they are the same person (if they have signatures turned on).

Og, er, jeanne_d_artois er, whoever

well, yeah, but that's different... I know you're you... and you...

 

[Guest]

jeanne_d_artois does sometimes answer oggbashan's posts in the frivolous threads and vice-versa. I see it as an 'in' joke because the AH know they are the same person (if they have signatures turned on).

Og, er, jeanne_d_artois er, whoever

I think it's very good for you to get in touch with your feminine side, Og.

 

[lucky-E-leven]

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 have found that no matter how many nicknames a person uses online, there is always some measure of deception. Hell, one of the biggest deceptions ever came from a poster that never used more than one name and appeared to all as honest and genuine as they come. I don't like the games played with alts, personally. It clogs up threads, and I have very little time to read anyway. That's more of a personal problem, though. Otherwise, I don't really care. It's taught me to think more about what I say, and has produced a more straight forward attitude from me as to how I respond to posts.

 

[FallingToFly]

I have several alts. I never really try to hide who they really are, I just don't always want to be FtF on the boards because there are a lot of people that if I say something as myself will get offended, but if I say it as an alt, they can look past their opinion of me as Falling and see what I really did say.

I've actually lost count of how many alts I have. I lend them out as well to friends who want to participate in the SRP or regular RP boards but don't want to have a Lit account attached to one of their emails. One alt I lent out to a friend who wanted to co-write a story with me but wanted plausible deniability that he wrote it- it involved a revenge fantasy against an ex gf. No, I will not tell you what that alt is. It's not a nice story, or a particularly good one. Since I have sixteen different email accounts, it's entirely possible that I have sixteen alts and don't remember all of them. I have a couple that only post poetry and a couple that I haven't posted anythign with that I can remember.

Falling is my main account, my main signature. The others are all me, just with different nicknames and displaying a different aspect of my interests. I've never been upset when found out, although I've asked not to have people shout "SO AND SO IS FTF'S ALT!" from the metaphorical rooftops. I'm sure everyone can figure it out on their own, considering that I'm scattered enough to post with one name thinking I'm in another account.

 

[oggbashan]

I have found that no matter how many nicknames a person uses online, there is always some measure of deception. Hell, one of the biggest deceptions ever came from a poster that never used more than one name and appeared to all as honest and genuine as they come. I don't like the games played with alts, personally. It clogs up threads, and I have very little time to read anyway. That's more of a personal problem, though. Otherwise, I don't really care. It's taught me to think more about what I say, and has produced a more straight forward attitude from me as to how I respond to posts.

That is a valid position to take. Whether a persona on Literotica has alts or not, we should remember that all we know about most people posting here, or elsewhere on the internet, is words on a screen.

Who is writing those words? Is it the person it seems to be? Or their partner? Or someone else?

Several of us have met in real life. I have found that the people I have met are very like their Lit personas and I am pleased to have met them.

That doesn't mean that I should treat every person I contact through the internet as unquestionably genuine. The widow of General Whoever of Lagos is still trying to persuade me to help access his Swiss bank account.

A healthy dose of cynicism is advisable.

Og (who in real life is not called Og, King of Bashan, and certainly not jeanne_d_artois or Fag-Ash_Lil but IS a proud new grandfather.)

 

[Joe Wordsworth]

Nope. Most don't, actually.

There has been an unexpected amount of agreement in the past few days.

But it's cute that you think most people already do.

Oh, but most /do/, you'd be suprised what kind of PM's a guy gets around here--it's adorable that you think otherwise, though.

*rolls eyes*

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Oh, but most /do/--it's adorable that you think otherwise, though.

*rolls eyes*

*snerk*

I think we should put up a poll... who agrees with JoeW most of the time? Think we'd get accurate results?