No Identity, No Profile

Henry Hinds wrote:

I am curious to know what people here think of a very common phenomenon, translators who register on the site and do not reveal their identity; that is they hide behind a pseudonym (some of which are quite infantile or silly) and/or fail to provide any profile or concrete information on themselves. I believe that anyone acting in good faith and interested in the field should be welcome to participate. However, it is also my opinion that the above phenomenon does not reflect professionalism and detracts from a serious image for the site to the detriment of those of us who are serious. In addition, I can only see it as a self-imposed handicap when these persons attempt to get work assignments, for who wants to hire someone who is unidentified and anonymous?

Another related matter might be false registrations and profiles, which I think Proz tries to eliminate, but it is not always easy. The solution I propose could help there also.

But in the first case, I think it would be a healthy practice for Proz to require registrants on the site, free as well as paid members, to properly identify themselves publicly by their true name and create at least an accurate though minimal profile including certain basic information. This could be done by allowing a certain grace period that new registrants would have to provide documentation to Proz by mail.

Maybe some have reasons for not identifying themselves, such as avoiding creditors, bill collectors, ex-spouses, law enforcement, etc., or maybe they fear being stalked or harassed which I don't think is much of a problem. Plus, just being in existence means that now and then scammers will attempt to contect you; you just reject them. I do not consider any such reasons to be valid. If you don't want to be identified, then just don't register.

What do colleagues and Proz think of this proposal?

Texte Style wrote:

I'm proud of what I am and my achievements but not of who I am. My gender, colour and nationality, which is how most people will identify me in real life, are nothing but geographical and biological hazard.

One thing I really like about the Internet is precisely that you can interact with people without them knowing who you are.

Sindy Cremer wrote:

Some people find it annoying. Some find it unprofessional. Yet others switch from finding it disrespectful to no big deal in two days' time.
Whatever sentiment the use of pseudonyms invokes, I think what we should not forget is that Proz.com is not Facebook. This is not a site where you try to gather as many friends and followers as possible to build up whatever social image you'd like to create for yourself. This is a site by and for professionals - or at least, that's what it's supposed to be. If your aim is to have 'fun' in communicating with people, well, that's simply not the purpose of Proz. That said, if your only aim was to have fun on the site, then why be annoyed by the fact that people use a pseudonym?

If potential clients don't want to consider working with people who use a pseudonym (which I know is not the case) then that's their business. Between peers I see absolutely no reason why someone should tell me what they are and who they are. It is simply none of my business. If I wish to work with someone or want to refer them because my own schedule is overloaded, then ALL that I'm interested in is whether or not they can do the job. Their name is of no importance.

Aside from the fact that I firmly believe that people should be allowed to defend themselves against stalkers in any way they feel is appropriate, I don't see any reason why 'people with no info on their profile and who are active in the Kudoz area' should 'merely tell us whether they are male or female'? (Let alone HOW that should be done: 'my suggestion is as follows and by the way, I am a man'???)
The purpose of Kudoz is clearly defined on its front page: "The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases."
Ergo: you ask a question, someone answers. I challenge anyone to disagree with me that the only thing that really matters in that context is whether that person is qualified to answer your question. Whether they have their entire Christian name and all their titles, bells and whistles spelled out as their user name or just a simple pseudonym, whether they are black or white, male or female is totally irrelevant.
What DOES matter is whether the profile behind the name or pseudonym tells the truth about native language, fields of expertise, etc., and we all know that that is more than often not the case. But that is not the subject of this thread.

Phil Hand wrote:

Of course if I was going to enter into a business relationship with anyone here, I would need a bit more information: a name (either personal or company name), a phone number and maybe an address, a little bit of corroborating evidence. All that would be true whether I had their real name at the beginning or not.

While we're just interacting on the forums and Kudoz, I'm happy to judge everyone by their words only. I think that sincerity is pretty easy to detect (most of the time). As I recall I've had interesting and enlightening exchanges with pretty much every participant in this thread. I would say that I "know" you all as much as I need to for forum purposes.

Henry Hinds wrote:

Well, there you go, Texte, a non-gendered pronoun! But seriously, I don't consider gender, color, national origin, religion and other such factors to be relevant. I do value people's honesty and openness, especially when I myself risk (risk?) honesty and openness. I guess I don't have stalkers because people realize that the mug shot there is actually me, plus now I am well into my seventies. and I admit that I was younger when it was taken.

Yes, the Internet does offer people an opportunity to remain anonymous and masquerade, which is not so easy in real life. It also offers many opportunities for dishonesty, which are being exploited every day. Unfortunately the telephone (junk phone calls I get constantly from unidentified people) is also being much exploited. So my mistrust of those anonymous remains, but as long as no money is involved, it is not much of a concern to me.

Mind you, I have never said (and strongly resent the implication that I have ever said) that it was terrible about Oso being a woman when others thought she was a man. All I said was 1).- Oso was not the person he/she represented him/herself to be, and 2).- It is a shame that the person involved chose to be a fraud when she probably could have made it on her own merits. I think many of us truly loved the persona she created, and I'm sure we could have loved her real self as well had she been honest.

Why don't you check out the post and see?

The good thing is that I have been able to stimulate a lively discussion and the fact that we don't all agree certainly makes it interesting.

Sindy Cremer wrote:

Some people find it annoying. Some find it unprofessional. Yet others switch from finding it disrespectful to no big deal in two days' time.

Sindy Cremer wrote:

If your aim is to have 'fun' in communicating with people, well, that's simply not the purpose of Proz. That said, if your only aim was to have fun on the site, then why be annoyed by the fact that people use a pseudonym?

Sindy Cremer wrote:

truth about native language, fields of expertise, etc., and we all know that that is more than often not the case. But that is not the subject of this thread.

Andy Watkinson wrote:

....

Yaotl, your idea is impracticable and undesirable, apart from misguided, sorry.
...

Yaotl Altan wrote:



Why? ID cars can be easily scanned. As a matter of fact, we could scan 2 ID cards in order to decrease the ptrobabilities of counterfeit them. Then we would send them via e-mail to Proz.

Texte Style wrote:

Some people are capable of listening to others and acknowledging that they perhaps hadn't seen things from the others' standpoint before saying what they think.
I personally appreciate people who can hear other points of view and factor new information in. It's a sign of being open-minded, generous and empathetic, these are the sort of people I wouldn't mind buying a pint for down at the local. Cheers Michael and Henry!

Texte Style wrote:

Does it say anywhere in the regulations that we're not allowed to come here just for fun?

Texte Style wrote:

it's precisely those who only want fun and don't look for work here who have pseudonyms

Texte Style wrote:
oops I got rid of the beginning of that sentence, but here you've put your finger right on the one point that is important for those looking for work here, and even those who simply want to be taken seriously in these fora and in Kudoz

Yaotl Altan wrote:



Why? ID cars can be easily scanned. As a matter of fact, we could scan 2 ID cards in order to decrease the ptrobabilities of counterfeit them. Then we would send them via e-mail to Proz.

Lincoln Hui wrote:


I do not recall having to submit proof of identity when I registered for the ATA, or indeed for professional organizations in other fields.

There is a difference between a regulatory body and a professional organization.