this post was submitted on 20 Mar 2024
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[–] [email protected] 36 points 6 months ago (9 children)

I have about 5 or 6 aliases, full blown characters that live in my head, each with different names, addresses and backstories that I use. Even they lie about their personal circumstances sometimes. For example, on LinkedIn, John Longson works at Longson and Longson consulting, but he's the only employee, and he actually just works at a thrift store with a side hustle of selling second hand clothes on etsy under an alias.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

This is good.

I like to use password managers to make up names.

If I am feeling spicy. It is me. Imene Shayma. (A joke. Follow the link.)

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Art Vandelay, Vandelay Industries, we import/export.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

We also would have accepted Rusty Shackleford.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

I heard he was thinking about quitting exporting to focus on the importing.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Lol wtf is the point of linkedin specifically if you don't join with your real info?

You just browsing people's profiles? Friend requesting your other aliases?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago

It's kinda like Facebook now, which is pretty strange.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago (1 children)

What happened to the other Longson?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago

That's the alias he sells under on Etsy

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (2 children)

LinkedIn is one of the few sites where I use my real name. It is for connecting with past and future coworkers, so they get my real identity.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Why not present ones? And how do you know who you'll work with in the future?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Right, I forgot that LinkedIn calls contacts "connection", doesn't it? I meant it in the sense of messaging them.

I have it for talking to past coworkers (in case I need a reference or want to discuss equity or something) and for talking to recruiters when I am looking for a job. My past two jobs I heard about via LinkedIn messages.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

I was being dumbly pendantic. Thank you for indulging me though!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Oh I have a real linkedin, but I have several fake ones for lurking as well.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago

Where's rusty shackleford work?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago

If I need to fudge info, I tend to put it into a password database's "notes" field for easier note-keeping, FWIW.

Not a full-on identity, but bits of info like stated name, address, etc.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

I guess that's one strategy but that's too much work for me. I just pay for unique email forwarding addresses to my main email and use fakenamegenerator.com for filling out fake PII. Also a password manager is key

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Mine are usually just remixes of my ancestors, for example ill just combine two random ancestors names and where one of them was from. Why yes random website I am Shadrak McNulty born in Littlerock Arkansas.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Nice to meet you, Shadrak!