Announcement: sockpuppet given as gift to lurker

January 26, 2005 8:27 AM

Attention: Per this thread, I have relinquished my puppet account, Voice of God.
It is now run by a long-time lurker who wishes to remain nameless. [MI]
posted by me3dia to MetaFilter-related at 8:27 AM (25 comments total)

I picked up Voice of God during the 20-accounts-at-midnight experiment to play off the baby jesus crying in-joke. Some people thought it was mathowie fooling around. It sat fallow for quite awhile, so I jumped at the opportunity to get rid of it -- partly because I felt bad having a snagged a spare account that could easily have gone to a new member. So in the spirit of .kobayashi., Voice of God is reborn.

I've encouraged the new Voice of God to add an email address to his/her profile. VoG has promised to be a good citizen and contribute positively to MetaFilter.
posted by me3dia at 8:28 AM on January 26, 2005

Good to know. I pray that Voice of God might be both rational and active in their new membership.

A little wit wouldn't hurt neither.
posted by chicobangs at 8:32 AM on January 26, 2005

Ah, he's from the Philippines. I'm looking forward to that.
posted by brownpau at 8:46 AM on January 26, 2005

Why am I having so much trouble getting rid of the handle stupidfuckingnewbie?
posted by terrapin at 8:47 AM on January 26, 2005

oooh, can I have that? :)
posted by dabitch at 9:44 AM on January 26, 2005

Sure, just go sign up with it. I was lying. Or trying to be funny. I sometimes forget which.
posted by terrapin at 12:29 PM on January 26, 2005

Lying is a kind of funny.
posted by cortex at 3:02 PM on January 26, 2005

Voice of God ... is now run by a long-time lurker who wishes to remain nameless.

If he wished to remain nameless, he shouldn't have got an account.
posted by kindall at 3:58 PM on January 26, 2005

I heard there's snow some place today.
posted by angry modem at 4:32 PM on January 26, 2005

Also, I'm the recipient of the account KevinSkomsvold was giving away here, so, uh, hi.
posted by ITheCosmos at 5:11 PM on January 26, 2005

Hey, cheapskate! Welcome to metafilter!
posted by iconomy at 5:38 PM on January 26, 2005

What's funniest about this, to me, is that this got brought up just days after I finally got around to deleting my "Here are all the misgivings I had about this manner of access, and here's why you probably shouldn't do it" spiel from my ridiculously earnest (but necessarily so) profile page.

The short of is, as #1 stated in the MeTa thread that resulted in my participation is that for a community to work, stable identities are really really really important (scroll up two from mathowie's comments to see my all-too-long ramblings about these concerns; scroll down two to see the response from quonsar that I so greatly deserved).

I am grateful for the gift that monju_bosatsu gave me -- the ability to post during a time when signups were closed. But it wasn't an ideal way in. Voice of God seems to be handling it well (VoG: welcome!!), but still, for most of you, it's not worth the trouble it causes to do this (and usernames with any serious history really should never be switched under any circumstances). Please don't do it -- you'll be happier in the long run getting in through the proper channels.

(And truly, I am a bit uncomfortable about being the poster boy for this sort of transaction, but I suppose it's too late for that, eh?)
posted by .kobayashi. at 6:14 PM on January 26, 2005

I have to admit I am experiencing a twinge of buyer's remorse right about now. Moral, ethical, and personal dilemmas are starting to set in.

A few points:

1. As has been stated, I have been lurking MetaFilter for a time now, longing to contribute links and partipate in discussions but being unable to do so. Naturally, it was terribly frustrating to be on the outside looking in, to be so familiar with the community yet not have the means to participate in it.

2. When new user sign-ups opened, I went for it. I was only too glad to donate $5 for a site I have gleaned much from. Unfortunately, PayPal proved to be a huge barrier as it would not accept credit cards from the Philippines. I contacted Matt regarding alternative modes of payment (money order, payment via snail mail), but I'm guessing he must've missed it due to the volume of e-mail I imagine he gets every day. The bottom line for me, though, was that I still could not legitimately become a member of MetaFilter.

3. I was poking around in MetaTalk yesterday when I saw this thread and me3dia's very enticing offer. It was a chance to finally be a member of MetaFilter, and I took it. (Thank you very much, me3dia, for your generosity and good faith!)

4. I completely respect Matt and I admire the way he runs this place: light-handed, flexible, but able to draw a line where it needs to be drawn. For the most part I agree with his decisions and understand why things are the way they are in MetaFilter. Otherwise, I would not be so eager to be here. If he frowns upon this, then I shall bow out, no questions.

5. I did not explicitly "wish to remain nameless" (I was quite forthright when I contacted me3dia) but I have to say that in light of related discussions, I have some misgivings now about embracing this identity because:

a. I'm not sure how proper it is for me to have gotten into MetaFilter this way, or whether will be at all proper that I should remain. So if I'm not going to be here for long, especially if the MeFi populace generally disapproves of this, how can I establish myself here?

b. Voice of God, let's face it, projects a certain character. There's a lot of fun to be had with this name, for sure, but eventually the puns will get tiring and the novelty will wear off. On a more personal angle, I have asked myself: Is this me? Can I "own" it?

c. I do, in fact, feel that I already have an established identity because I have consistently used one name (or variations of it) in various spots on the Internet since 1996. Ideally, I would prefer to start and run with that name.

As you can see, I feel quite torn. :)

I am glad to have a voice at all, though. Hello, MetaFilter!
(Ignore the loud booming.)
posted by Voice of God at 9:31 PM on January 26, 2005

This entire concept reeks of self importance.

Who cares?

Voice of God, let's face it, projects a certain character.

No it doesn't. You are projected you ego onto something that is etherial at best. And then asking us to go along.

Christ people, Metafilter is not life and anyone that acts like what happens in here has any sort of impact because of a strings of ASCII characters is delusional.

This isn't life nor is it a substitute for life. This is a passing fancy, like that knitting project you worked on in the 7th grade but never finished. Stop pretending.
posted by Dagobert at 10:40 PM on January 26, 2005

Ohh! It hadn't occurred to me that there might still be lurkers out there who want in, but can't use paypal. We should have auditions to compete for free accounts. I'm willing to contribute the loose change in my couch.
posted by theatrical matriarch at 12:23 AM on January 27, 2005

this is my newbie , with whom i am well pleased.
posted by sgt.serenity at 6:10 AM on January 27, 2005

Wow. I didn't realize usernames had the same market value and reverence as black-tar heroin.

VOG, three years ago you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a membership here. The fact that only 5 bucks stands between lurking and participating should be a reminder that it isn't to be taken that seriously. Although I respect your reverence, ease up a bit and have fun here. Welcome!
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 6:52 AM on January 27, 2005

Welcome, VoG, and ignore Dagobert (it'll be good practice for ignoring the many other people around here who take it upon themselves to piss on anyone who comes within range). I well remember how exciting it was to finally get in. And special kudos for taking the trouble to add an e-mail address on your user page, something many n00bs don't bother to do.

Note: The vaguely insulting term "n00bs" used specifically and solely for those new members who insist on remaining unreachable.
posted by languagehat at 7:05 AM on January 27, 2005

Yes, yes, and because it was buried in my comments before, I'll say it once more: welcome VoG! Glad to have you here.
posted by .kobayashi. at 7:16 AM on January 27, 2005

Dang paypal. Welcome in anyway despite their best efforts to stop you VoG.
posted by dabitch at 8:04 AM on January 27, 2005

5. I did not explicitly "wish to remain nameless"

I said you wished to remain nameless because you didn't include a name in your profile, which I took to indicate a preference for a level of anonymity.

a. I'm not sure how proper it is for me to have gotten into MetaFilter this way, or whether will be at all proper that I should remain. So if I'm not going to be here for long, especially if the MeFi populace generally disapproves of this, how can I establish myself here?

I mentioned my extra account on my blog last year sometime, and I got several inquiries, which I ignored or turned down ultimately because membership was closed, for reasons similar to what .kobayashi. refers to. Now that membership is open again for a fee, I felt it was a good opportunity to help someone who might not be able to pay for one reason or another. Not that you're a charity case, but I felt more comfortable giving the account away to you now than I would have when it was the only way in.

The fact that .kobayashi. is a well-respected member of the community should indicate to you that this isn't that big of a deal.

b. Voice of God, let's face it, projects a certain character. There's a lot of fun to be had with this name, for sure, but eventually the puns will get tiring and the novelty will wear off. On a more personal angle, I have asked myself: Is this me? Can I "own" it?

Indeed, don't be concerned about the name. It could be taken as referring to a deep, authoritative voice, not necessarily religious. Besides, we rarely take usernames at face value here -- I mean, while angry modem is often angry, we all know he's not a modem, or he'd be making shrieking sounds all the time and someone would've replaced him with DSL by now.

In terms of "owning the name" and overcoming the potential connotations of VoG, of course you can do it. At this point, VoG is a blank slate, minus the couple of jokey comments I've made with it. Establishing a persona of your own is as easy as participating in the community.
posted by me3dia at 9:16 AM on January 27, 2005

If you are Ken Nordine or James Earl Jones, "Vocie of God" is entirely appropriate as a MeFi handle.
posted by kindall at 11:51 AM on January 27, 2005

What next? Fred Fenster?
posted by Dean Keaton at 12:03 PM on January 27, 2005

launguagehat why do you equate criticism with pissing on anyone within range.

By that logic, you just pissed on me because I am in range.

I just think a lot is being made of nothing and am at a loss as to why.

Groupthink indeed.
posted by Dagobert at 11:15 PM on January 27, 2005

Thank you for the warm welcomes, everyone. However, after much consideration, I accepted an offer of sponsorship from an American friend and have decided to return Voice of God to its creator.

After all the issues that have been uncovered in these threads, a recycled account just didn't sit right with me anymore. .kobayashi. is a very special case, as he has proven. I, personally, would be held back by various issues (one of them being identity). It was a tradeoff: would I rather have a voice, any voice, by any means? What if the obstacles were taken away? Yeah, I would still prefer to go through all the proper channels.

I apologize for all the hoopla.

me3dia, thank you for your generosity and good faith. I still promise to be a good citizen and contribute productively!

To part, here's a piece of advice for Dagobert that may lead to his future happiness: unclench!
posted by Lush at 8:17 PM on February 8, 2005