Category Dramatic Identity

For a list of all Dramatic Identities, click on the title of this page.

A DramaticIdentity is a temporary hat you put on when you assume the role of another (nonhuman) entity, allowing it to speak on the topic at hand. For example, the ChryslerComprehensiveCompensation project has "spoken" at various times on Wiki, as have SixThinkingHats. Think of a DramaticIdentity as a role in a play: for a short time you might play the part of Eliza Doolittle or King Lear. Dramatic identities are best used sparingly.

Using a DramaticIdentity is not meant to be a way to maintain identity while remaining anonymous. That would be a pseudonym, the use of which is discouraged on the WikiWikiWeb. To continue the play analogy, the audience should be able to learn your RealName in the playbill. For this reason, please do not set your UserName to a DramaticIdentity.

Ward seldom chimes in, but on another page related to this topic he says:

: This site prefers no name whatsoever. But if you must sign, please sign with your own real name. Thank you. -- WardCunningham

Some guidelines:

Please use a DramaticIdentity only in appropriate contexts. For example, LinuxZealot might write "I don't want to use MS's products, but I must because it's mandated where I work" or "I'm happy to use OpenSoftware, but even so it often suffers from X". Posts such as these help us to understand how a Linux enthusiast might think about a related topic. Conversely, using WikiGnome to take a position on the topic of legalizing drugs would make no sense (although someone once did just that.)

Please don't set your UserName to a DramaticIdentity. Who you are is different from the hat you're currently wearing. If you prefer to remain anonymous, don't sign; if you must sign to keep a ThreadMode conversation intelligible, use AnonymousDonor or AnonymousOnPurpose. However, if you're relying constantly on anonymity or pseudonymity, consider looking for another wiki where you'd be more comfortable posting as yourself.

Dramatic identity is used here on the C2 as a means of expressing a group of concepts without interjecting persona. It's a way for a number of people who think alike on one particular matter to "buck up the side" without getting in the way of other discussions that might be occurring simultaneously. There are plenty of issues we discuss here where one Wikizen may be in complete agreement with some particular set of Wikizens, but whose views on other matters differ greatly. The use of a dramatic identity allows all of us to participate in certain matters in a more-or-less anonymous fashion.

Pseudonym is more for hiding some particular individual's identity at all times. We have contributors who claim to have good reasons for doing this. In general the Wikizenry allow the use of pseudonym to slide under such conditions. It is far more likely that these individuals' need for anonymity is perceived rather than real; in this age of Google one can't actually hide one's RealName identity for very long.

So, we end up with a fuzzy distinction between the need for DramaticIdentity and that of pseudonym. Is is doubtful that the word "need" even applies in this context. Both provide a convenient mechanism, however, and for that reason alone both will continue to be used on the C2.

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