"LOTS of people have socks"

[Behind the Aegis]

39. This is what I would see as a legitimate use....

I was going to write a hypothetical similar to yours and use funny user names because I thought your creations were funny. I was going to cheat and use drag names I know (Hedda Lettuce and the like), but I think it might be better just to use myself as an example, so....

I am known by more than few people as an outspoken Zionist (I believe in a secure and safe Jewish homeland, Israel) and unflinching in addressing anti-Semitism. Those stances have made me more than a few "friends." The problem is when I am addressing another subject I get attacked for having those views. It becomes a distraction. It can be something as benign as talking about photography or pets, two things I also enjoy immensely. So, if I had another identity, I could discuss those likes without prejudice against me because of my stances on Israel and anti-Semitism. I can give a real world (DU3) example as well. I was discussing a nasty homophobic post, but because I am also a member of this group, I was "addressed" by another group member (not this group) who questioned why I was so passionate about homophobia but refused to show the same exuberance for sexism (which wasn't the topic, nor true). Had I not been known as a dirty member of "The Men's Group," it is highly unlikely such a question would have been posed to me in a thread about homophobia.

To me, a second identity, where I used one for certain political stances, and another for other interests, I wouldn't see a problem, as long as I didn't use them to deceive, as in your example. However, given what I have seen here, I feel most people would find it difficult to maintain the different identities, which is why I don't think that sockpuppets should be allowed at DU>