Another good reason for athletes to be cautious online

[Sciurus-Rex]

From a recent news story about some people at California Berkeley who created a fake co-ed named Victoria to chat online with Gabe Pruitt, USC's starting guard. Sounds like a pretty good argument for using anonymous IDs, or at least maintaining a proper, civil appearance in everything you post:

On Saturday, at the game, when Pruitt was introduced in the starting lineup, the chants began: "Victoria, Victoria." One of the fans held up a sign with her phone number.

The look on Pruitt's face when he turned to the bench after the first Victoria chant was priceless. The expression was unlike anything ever seen in collegiate or pro sports. Never did a chant by the opposing crowd have such an impact on a visiting player. Pruitt was in total shock.

The chant "Victoria" lasted all night. To add to his embarrassment, transcripts of their IM conversations were handed out to the bench before the game: "You look like you have a very fit body." "Now I want to c u so bad."

Pruitt ended up a miserable 3-for-13 from the field.

[Morion]

A very adept use of psychological warfare!

[Fechter1]

Couldn't that be called stalking, or at the least harrassment?

Don't know the legal intricacies on that one...

[seak]

Not nearly on the same level..but here's more on the subject from the U of MD student newspaper

http://www.diamondbackonline.com/vne.../4418149476b3a

It's a different world and athletes are targets becuase of their high profile

[Sciurus-Rex]

Couldn't that be called stalking, or at the least harrassment?

Don't know the legal intricacies on that one...

Interesting that you'd look for a legal defense against it.

It's simple: Don't do stupid things. Don't fool around with people you don't know and expect to remain private. If you perform in a public forum -- sports, politics, entertainment -- anything you do might rise up and bite you in the butt.

By the time the damage is done, it's a little too late to worry about whether the embarassment was legal.

[Ordway]

Well, IM-ing is something that one might reasonably expect to be private (like a telephone call or an email) so I don't think the athlete in question was being particularly foolish about handling online privacy issues. (Foolish about other things, maybe, but hey, he's an undergrad...)

I've had an online presence for quite a long time, on the net and the web, and I've always used my real name. I know that anything I've ever posted on Usenet or on a web forum is completely public, so I keep that in mind. I never say anything that I'd regret anyone in the public reading.

Online anonymity is a double-edged sword. It can lead people to behave more foolishly than they should, only to find that it's not *that* hard to figure out someone's real identity. Then it's a big "oops, I can't believe I said that" situation.

[hpfencing]

I always use my real name and real ID too. i wish others would do the same.

[smurfette]

I always use my real name and real ID too.

Yes, but you really shouldn't.

[Mr T]

I always use my real name and real ID too. i wish others would do the same.

Yeah you wish.

Frickin stalker.

[Ordway]

Yes, but you really shouldn't.

Why not? It's just a question of having a public presence.

I'm listed in the faculty directory at the college where I teach. I review DVDs for a major web site, and have a bio there. I write articles on other topics for both print and online sources. For all of those, of course I use my real name; I want people to know that it's me who is the author.

It's no stretch to extend that public persona into slightly more casual areas, such as Usenet (when it was actually worth posting in) and web forums.

The distinction is that I don't make public any information that should remain private, like my phone number, social security number, financial information, etc. (I also don't download or install weird stuff, and my computer is nicely set up with firewalls, and besides, I run Linux, which is safer.) But to associate my own name with what I write...? That's not an issue.

The occasional case of cyber-stalking is just an online version of stuff that happens in general... I'm much more likely to end up with a disgruntled student coming after me But I don't go around in disguise because of that!

And as I said, anonymity online is basically an illusion. It's just not that hard for someone to track down all sorts of information about someone, alias or no alias.

[Go? Fencing?]

And as I said, anonymity online is basically an illusion. It's just not that hard for someone to track down all sorts of information about someone, alias or no alias.

The people you generally need to watch out for are the ones who have the ability to find out stuff about you whether you use your real name or not.