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Previous username

i know my previous username was methodcomptech, but, i think i had one before that. if i did, it probably was jstgermain been iBrightDev for a while now. i doubt i will change anytime soon.
 
So if someone changes their name & doesn't want to be associated with the old name, what happens when you go to look at their previous posts?

E.g. if I changed my username today, and someone tried to look at my OLD posts, would it come up blank? Or would it show them up with the old username? Or, alternatively, with the new username?
 
OK, so if someone wanted to no longer be associated with previous posts, they'd need to register under a new username?
 
We don't allow members to register under a new username. Well, maybe in special cases temporarily. But ask first.

If there is some info in an old post you want removed, we can take a look at that. But it has to be something like a private phone number, real name or something like that in order for us to remove it.
 
Since I no longer will change my username... I guess I'm OK in giving out my oldie names.

  • DarkBlood (When I first Signed Up)
  • Iyeru42
  • furnilover
  • CoffeeMonster (Originally was going to be coldReactive)

Now I'm back to DarkBlood, no more of this.
 
I think any username changes should be posted in public. But we don't require it since some would not like to be associated with a previous username (mostly people working for a host). With InvisionBoard any previous usernames are automatically listed in user profiles for everyone to see. Hopefully this gets added to vBulletin someday.
 
Moderators have had an interal list of username changes for years. It's not public since some users change names to avoid being associated for instance with a host they worked with. That is why we have started this thread where people if they want to can list their previous username.

You can request a username change by contacting an administrator (Peo or Jan). We limit how often you can change a username to 12 months to avoid too much confusion for other members.

Discussion of username changes is ok in this thread.

In a bigger sense, this touches the center of my studies of the digital world vs privacy.

"If the incentive is right", this policy would only be a stopgap - one of the fundamental concepts of the digital world is that where people previously could escape past errors through "localism" (being the "Grand Dame of Monowi, Nebraska" and such), with the advent of the real power of the digital and the intense efforts of both Facebook and Google to cast aspersions on UserNames, such "security through obscurity" is becoming increasingly difficult.

I have struck a midway point in my project by keeping the thread history, but generally not unduly chasing after Alumni after they move on to new chapters.

However, such lists of prior user names can be developed from scratch at any time.

This is a source of tension that is "eternal" - it is simply uncollected data only waiting for someone to bother. There is a small sentiment here which I mostly approve of, to let sleeping dogs lie. But it cannot be counted on forever, and it has only lasted this long because of the inherently small dollar volume of the Free Host industry.
 
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