Have we talked about alts? Are they OK to have?
Hi,
I have but two accounts on Reddit; one for posting stuff I make, having fun discussions, and maybe small debates about stuff that doesn't matter (games, movies, etc.); and another for political discussion/debates, because sadly, my progressive views (and admittedly abrasive tendencies when the party I'm talking to is themselves abrasive) tend to get me enough negative attention that I've been doxxed twice (admittedly over the course of 12 years, so not much).
Are alts allowed? If so, doesn't that just provide me with another 5 invites (that I will totally not abuse on account I've only used but one of the ones I've got/don't know enough friends to care about leaving Reddit)?
If not, totally understandable-- I'll just avoid posting stuff I make in the event I find myself getting into a political debate.
Thanks for the time/info either way,
Doug
Yes, as long as you're not using them to manipulate site mechanics. From the Code of Conduct:
Gotcha. Thanks for the link!
There are valid reasons for alts IMO. While I'm not a fan of throwaway accounts, I have two alts I regularly use on reddit - one is my primary account (same username as here), and one I use for local subreddits only. I mod a number of high profile and controversial subreddits, and reddit is known to go fucking nuts over the most trivial of things. Doxxing is a real threat, so I use my alt to avoid it as much as possible.
For the most part I'll post any opinions on my "main" account, but things that are specific to my location or personal life never get attached to it as I don't want some psycho from the metaverse showing up at my condo on a random Friday night.
Yeah anytime I discuss personal stuff I always muddy the details whenever they don't really make a difference (ex sub sister for brother, 38 yrs old instead of 32, etc).
Sad it took me so long to worry about my digital footprint.
If Tildes is able to be, even partially, the type of community it hopes to become then I think alts won't be quite as necessary as they might be at reddit. I could see a need if you were to get involved in discussions that would reveal a lot of personal information and being able to separate that from your more cultivated online persona - but I'm really hopeful that I won't need an alt for online safety or protection within the community.
Even if tildes itself never becomes that kind of place, many of the people here are using the same username as their reddit username, and that's a big part of how people gather personal information. I know I'm going to need to go back and scrub my post history when this site goes public because of it.
Well, yeah. But the reason of alts is not to protect yourself from merely the community, but also from other communities. I treat this account as basically being connected to my real world name, because it kinda is. Thus, I'll not say or discuss some things I would want to. Either because I don't want my real life peers to know those things (the facts or opinions are secret to me), or because I don't want to get doxxed over some of these things (think a political radical finding an opponent's real name and possibly employment info). Neither of these things implies the adversary I'm protecting myself from is part of tildes. The problem can't be solved by fostering a good community; alt-accounts are a better option.