Are there any circumstances in which a user’s former username should be made public based on matching IP addresses? No personally identifiable information such as the actual IP address or email address or location would be revealed, simply that user @ggoreo is the same person as @goreo.
I think it would be in the best interest of the community to out a certain person’s previous account names, but since it’s easy to know whom I’m referring to, I can’t ask, should we out someone for reason X, since just asking that question at this point would be outing them for reason X.
So I guess there are two questions:
Should users have the expectation that any new accounts they create will not be associated with their other accounts under any circumstances.
If not, under what circumstances should this info be revealed?
One possibility that wouldn’t work in this instance since people already know whom I’m talking about would be to disclose the circumstances and vote on whether to disclose the other username(s).
In a case like this we could convene a panel of 3 or 5 trusted judges and disclose the info to them and and let them decide whether to disclose to the community at large.
Giving the user the option to reveal their other names or be banned has also been proposed, but what would trigger this demand?
I think I’d like to know what his previous name here was, unless there are extenuating circumstances eg he can show he was being unfairly targetted or doxxed under his old name (highly unlikely).
Good faith posters here who’ve changed their names are quite open about it so that everyone can continue previous relationships with them eg SA, so I consider it good forum etiquette.
I guess I’m not for revealing previous user names using mod/admin info. Give him the option to reveal or permaban seems fine for this guy - or maybe just permaban.
I would certainly agree with that if I cared a whit about him as a poster. If I did care or thought it was important to treat anyone who registers like a member in good standing I would go with giving him the option - reveal or ban?
I’m not sure that’s a line we need to worry about. People willing to go to those lengths are generally also going to earn a ban on the merits of their new account. What will he do then? Claim there are eight guys in the same house, and each one of them registered a new account the same day another roommate got banned?
I’m pretty sure I know the answer to this question already but I want to be positive: we’re only talking about usernames on this site, right?
Like I appreciate knowing who people were on 2p2 but I don’t think there’s any obligation you reveal it. And I don’t think anyone who had mod access there should use 2p2 info for any reason here. And obviously mods should not be allowed to reveal an individual’s personal information.
I don’t think users who create a second name here should have the expectation that prior usernames here will stay secret, particularly when that user is skirting the ban line. I think there are definitely situations where either a mod should be able to reveal the user’s prior username or give the user the choice to reveal it or be banned.
I feel pretty strongly that any poster should have the right to permaban instead of any reveal of any info from mods or admins. Anything other than that and the trust of modding/adminning is undermined and I think it will be an actual huge bruhaha with people self-banning and calling admins tyrants if it happens.
The only banned poster we have specifically from this site is the Will guy that posted donkey porn specifically in order to get banned, correct? And he was never a troll on 2+2 or the transitional site iirc. Weird.
The main reason to out someone’s previous account on this site is to establish that the person is a troll who is not acting in good faith.
On the one hand, if someone is an outright troll, then there is an argument that they should just be outright banned. This is especially true if their previous account was also banned.
On the other hand, there is an argument that individual users should decide how much they want to engage with other users and that trolls should be allowed to exist so long as they don’t engage in egregious behavior that results in posts being flagged. If they were simply a bad poster under their old account, they will likely be a bad poster under their new account and you will quickly figure out how you want to deal with them.
