Yes, my full name is unique on the internet. Actually, to find the account, a mere search for pre- and surname in quotation marks does not suffice; the query has to have the format “James_Miller”. Google may or may not change their algorithms; I am sure that e.g. a job recruitment agency will have an appropriate entry in their stalking script.
An empty account leaves a strong impression of “This user came, wrote a stupid comment, got downvoted into oblivion, deleted that comment and never came back” (I didn’t get downvoted during my brief involvement with that account, actually). It is implausible that someone creates an account (on a site like this) just to up- or downvote a comment.
An empty account leaves a strong impression of “This user came, wrote a stupid comment, got downvoted into oblivion, deleted that comment and never came back”
Maybe, but that’s pretty strong wording. I don’t know anyone in my circles, except my brother, who even knows about LW. When I was new, I don’t think I had a clue what “karma” points were nor how “upvoting” and “downvoting” works.
Thus, it actually doesn’t occur to me at all when thinking about possible reactions that someone would automatically (and strongly) think that you came, posted, were rejected, and then ran away in fear.
Even so, again… without the content actually there… I don’t see the strong negative connotation resulting that you fear.
The comment could have been anything.
Lastly, is your name unique in general? Is there anyway to literally tie you to that username and assert, “We are rejecting you as a job candidate because we disapprove of the LW community at large and have high reasons to suspect that you posted something stupid and were downvoted out of oblivion because of an empty user account which resulted from our googling. Have a nice day.”
An empty account leaves a strong impression of “This user came, wrote a stupid comment, got downvoted into oblivion, deleted that comment and never came back”
Or they created an account to reserve their name, but never used it. I vaguely recall there being services that will automatically create accounts for you on many sites at once, to prevent other people from using your name. Which means that if you generate publicly-visible evidence that you’ve used one of those services, then having empty accounts will no longer reveal anything. (People would have to notice that you’d done that, of course, but someone would have to be extremely detail-oriented and interested in you specifically to even notice that you had an empty account.)
Yes, my full name is unique on the internet. Actually, to find the account, a mere search for pre- and surname in quotation marks does not suffice; the query has to have the format “James_Miller”. Google may or may not change their algorithms; I am sure that e.g. a job recruitment agency will have an appropriate entry in their stalking script.
An empty account leaves a strong impression of “This user came, wrote a stupid comment, got downvoted into oblivion, deleted that comment and never came back” (I didn’t get downvoted during my brief involvement with that account, actually). It is implausible that someone creates an account (on a site like this) just to up- or downvote a comment.
Maybe, but that’s pretty strong wording. I don’t know anyone in my circles, except my brother, who even knows about LW. When I was new, I don’t think I had a clue what “karma” points were nor how “upvoting” and “downvoting” works.
Thus, it actually doesn’t occur to me at all when thinking about possible reactions that someone would automatically (and strongly) think that you came, posted, were rejected, and then ran away in fear.
Even so, again… without the content actually there… I don’t see the strong negative connotation resulting that you fear.
The comment could have been anything.
Lastly, is your name unique in general? Is there anyway to literally tie you to that username and assert, “We are rejecting you as a job candidate because we disapprove of the LW community at large and have high reasons to suspect that you posted something stupid and were downvoted out of oblivion because of an empty user account which resulted from our googling. Have a nice day.”
?
I don’t see that as very likely.
Or they created an account to reserve their name, but never used it. I vaguely recall there being services that will automatically create accounts for you on many sites at once, to prevent other people from using your name. Which means that if you generate publicly-visible evidence that you’ve used one of those services, then having empty accounts will no longer reveal anything. (People would have to notice that you’d done that, of course, but someone would have to be extremely detail-oriented and interested in you specifically to even notice that you had an empty account.)