OOAK Table Tennis Forum

An issue raised in Dan's Blog, was about the anonymity of players that we play. Should we name them in person, or should we use initials perhaps, or just ball them opponent X,Y & Z?

As far as the forum is concerned, I believe that members here have the right to remain anonymous if they choose to, so it's always best to call other members by their username, just in case they wish to remain anoymous.

Should you use real names when discussing other players that are not members here? What are your thoughts?

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Difficult call.

If I don't know someone it doesn't really matter to me if the person writing the blog names them or not.

if I play in the same league as the person writing the blog and they don't name someone but describe a match situation or another team then by association there is a good chance I will know who they are talking about even if they haven't named them.

Ultimately I don't think you put anything in a blog that you wouldn't say to the face of the person you played and referred to in the blog regardless of whether you name them or not.

Ultimately, perhaps ettiquete would suggest name names only where permission is given and consider the impact of your blog on others you come into contact with.

Good idea to pull discussion out of my blog

As I said there, I see it more as a courtesy to leave their name out and keep away from personal discussion. Even though in the end it is all publicly available information and it is a public competition. As Debater said, the key is probably to not say anything that you wouldn't say to their face, as it is entirely possible they will read it here, and if they see their name it could cause some tension. No one is going to be happy if they stumble across a TT blog where they are mentioned and the writer says bad things about them But it also depends if you want to keep the people in your competition happy, or stir up some controversy

It probably isn't necessary to post up names, the only time it might help is if another member here is in the same area and might have played the player previously, such as in the case of myself and haggisv, as I'm sure he could provide some insight on the players I have been competing against. But this can always be kept to PM if discussion is wanted.

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Main: Butterfly Timo Boll Spirit ST | FH: Andro Hexer HD 2.1mm | BH: Donic Bluefire MAX

I have seriously contemplated joining the "Personal Blogs" fun with my round robin adventures, with updated weekly results, pictures, videos and all, but most players at our club do not wish to have their matches posted online... Every time I tried to record "my" matches, they insisted that such videos do not end up online.
It's also an interesting fact that only 3 or 4 out of hundreds of our club members even post anything online...

I find it interesting that so many people don't with to have their matches posted online, do they give reasons for it? Maybe they are a bit self conscious of their TT skills and are worried about who might see them

I am just looking at it from my personal point of view, where if someone wanted a video of a competition match that I was in, I wouldn't mind if they put it online afterwards. I have got nothing to hide

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Main: Butterfly Timo Boll Spirit ST | FH: Andro Hexer HD 2.1mm | BH: Donic Bluefire MAX

I would expect that match results and discussions, especially those in personal blogs, are balanced, i.e. you present a fair analysis of both victories and losses. Sometimes the results will go your way and sometimes it will go against you.

This issue is made more complex by the fact that certain clubs already publish detailed accounts of games, including naming players. I think this is standard practice and examples exist all over the Internet, but we're generally only aware and indifferent of this fact when it concerns 'elite' players.

So where do we draw the line?

I can accept that we must adhere to the terms and conditions of a particular forum, such as this one (and I'd be interested to know how that exactly applies here), but what's the difference between disclosing details of a game, for example, against William Henzell and Simon Gerada compared to a game between John Doe and Jack Buck?

This really is a concern in a number of different areas, but one that is made clearer by understanding a few basic facts. 1) The reporting is fair and balanced, i.e. devoid of slander or misrepresentation, and 2) It is not used for commercial purposes without consent.

The reason I find this issue important is to try and minimise confusion. This might be a purely personal issue for me, because I do get confused with descriptions full of As, Bs and Cs playing against Xs, Ys and Zs. And when you add that the event was held in 'my local club' on Monday and my 'other local club' on Thursday, clarity suffers even more.

But, like I said, this may only be my problem and one I am happy to deal with.

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Weapon 1: Andro Kinetic Supreme Hinoki/Zylon OFF-; Andro Hexer HDs (FH 2.1/BH 1.9)
Weapon 2: Ross Leidy 'Smokey'; Friendship 729-5s
Club1: Daylesford - since 2010
Club2: Ballarat - since 2011
Blog: A Naked Bear

Respect is the keyword. I agree with most of you that we should seek permission first before posting names, video etc. And be respectful when posting comments. I have observed in this forum that respect is one of the norms among forumers here. And that is one reason why this forum rocks.

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Enjoy the game. It is a never ending learning experience once you play and keep the ball on that 45 sq ft of space or should I say half of that space.

I may need to rethink the way I write my blog posts, as thinking about it now, it is probably confusing as anything with the way I try to keep anonymity of the players involved.

Perhaps I need to work out a anonymous but clear naming convention to use, or just use first names

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Main: Butterfly Timo Boll Spirit ST | FH: Andro Hexer HD 2.1mm | BH: Donic Bluefire MAX

Those who always refused my requests fall into one of the two categories:

1. They think they will look terrible online regardless of how well they can actually play.

2. They think they can play better without a video camera recording every single one of their movements.

I do think that when the discussion involves photographic or video material, permission should be sought. If it's a real pain-in-the-butt, you could talk to your club about their policies and make sure that any photos or video is done with due respect to everyone concerned. I mean, you could imagine how out-of-hand it might become if everyone started setting up cameras. But I do think you can always find ways of doing this that suits everyone involved, i.e. discretion is the key when setting up or operating such gear.

I am surprised that so many people are against being filmed. Have you offered to give them a copy? This might sweeten the deal.

Gee, the more I think about it, it kind of all comes down to trust.

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Weapon 1: Andro Kinetic Supreme Hinoki/Zylon OFF-; Andro Hexer HDs (FH 2.1/BH 1.9)
Weapon 2: Ross Leidy 'Smokey'; Friendship 729-5s
Club1: Daylesford - since 2010
Club2: Ballarat - since 2011
Blog: A Naked Bear

It's more of a personality issue... Since I am the tournament director of our club, I do have the authority to film any match I want... That said, I enjoy excellent rapport with all our members, so I will not post anything online against their will. My gut feeling is many of them do not want complete strangers online looking at them playing. I have tried to convince them in every nice way possible, but they would plead with me by saying "Oh come on, Will... Don't embarrass me...""We can watch it together afterwards but PLEEEEEASE don't post it online..."

So basically it does come down to them being self conscious/shy. I suppose if they are willing to let you video it in the first place, you might as well respect their wish to not have it put online. It does all seem a bit silly though, it's not like you are secretly videoing them doing something embarrassing, they are just playing TT

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Main: Butterfly Timo Boll Spirit ST | FH: Andro Hexer HD 2.1mm | BH: Donic Bluefire MAX

I'm one of those video conscious individual . I play better without the camera rolling.
Back to topic, I think it's ok to post video without naming players and making offensive remarks on a public tournament ( is there such a thing as "private tourney"? ).

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Enjoy the game. It is a never ending learning experience once you play and keep the ball on that 45 sq ft of space or should I say half of that space.

Only in underground illegal Table Tennis clubs that we aren't meant to talk about

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Main: Butterfly Timo Boll Spirit ST | FH: Andro Hexer HD 2.1mm | BH: Donic Bluefire MAX

As one of the bloggers, I routinely will not attempt to identify most opponents. As is the case for a lot of comps, the results (for the team plus the competition table & individual standings) are in the public domain on a website, so I have little problem with reporting results, even if I were to manage an 11-0 game. I have reported myself being done 0-11 in a game in the final of our club championships and that is not on the web as far as I know.i

The vast majority of who I have played this year are not members here, nor known to members here, nor are many members in my area of a certain capital city of a particular state in a country somewhere in the southern hemisphere that may or may not be English speaking. Is that anonymous enough?

I have to some extent identified my team mates, however not by name.

Where I have played people probably known to members here in the past, and the point of what I have to say is not negatively about them, I will identify them. Hi Pinky!

When I relate things that are not positive, eg poor sportsmanship or whatever, I definitely attempt not to identify the person involved. For example, some years ago I had a less than happy match, umpired by an international referee who remains nameless, that I have related elsewhere.

Are we anonymous in our unanimity, or unanimous in our anonymity?

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