Anyone "spotted" by a friend or acquaintance on MMM?

[retired?]

I am curious if people have had the experience of someone they know spotting them on MMM. 

I have shared MMM with a very few friends and family that I figured would be receptive.  But, if I looked at the cumulative content of my posts I would bet a good number of people could guess my identity.  i.e. if asked "hey, take a look at what this person has written.  Do you know them?"  A decent number of people that know me would probably be able to say "yes".

Has anyone had someone they know say "hey, are you XYZ on the MMM forum?"?  If so, how'd it go?

I have shared some relatively private information in this forum (in exchange for feedback and simply to participate) and wonder a bit if I should be more careful with the details I include.

[Cheddar Stacker]

Following as a very interested observer. My "handle" has been shared a few times. I doubt it's stayed within the 2-3 people that heard it directly from me. Curious if anyone out there knows me.

[retired?]

I haven't shared my handle.  Probably won't do that.  I figure it would take a fairly regular reader to put together the content of my posts and identify me.  But, a little concerned since in giving advice I have listed stuff like previous home towns, topics I studied in school, fields where I worked, current city (?) and a few other bits that might make an observant reader say "hey, that sounds like Bill", and then this reader would know a great deal about me.  Nothing embarrassing, but.........

[HappierAtHome]

Yep - I encouraged a colleague to read MMM and the forum, knowing there was a very high chance she'd recognise my posts. Which she did. It was completely fine, but then I would've thought twice about sending her the links if she was the kind of person who'd hit me up for a loan after finding out ny net worth. Instead she's the kind who's used the site to become even more badass. So no problems.

[BlueMR2]

I am curious if people have had the experience of someone they know spotting them on MMM. 

Yep!

[cdttmm]

I am curious if people have had the experience of someone they know spotting them on MMM. 

Yes. Turns out my older brother is an MMM reader, too. And a friend, who I had sent some links to MMM blog posts, joined the forums and figured out my handle based on proposed local meet-ups.

I haven't posted a lot so the amount of personal info that I've shared is somewhat minimal. And it's not like I wouldn't share that same info with people IRL if they were to ask.

[swick]

Hasn't happen yet. Anyone who knows me would recognize my Avatar pic. I'm a pretty open person so it wouldn't bother me - although that might be why I haven't gotten around to starting a journal yet.

[Spork]

Yes.  A friend was googling something and saw my reply among several.  I've used this nick elsewhere... between that and an answer that sounded like me... it was child's play.

[Davids]

Has not happened to me yet but then again I have never told anyone to check out MMM.

[Skyhigh]

I have been found by friends from other unrelated forums here.

[mozar]

I have not been found but I have found others. For my local MMM group people tend to use their real names and I realized that someone I met through another local group was also in this group. I told her (in front of a bunch of other MMM people) and she was kind of embarrassed.

She didn't tell me her handle though, but I think other local MMMs know what it is. I wouldn't tell a non MMM person what my handle is though.

[plantingourpennies]

A work colleague found some of my/DW's posts on MMM and tracked back to our blog.

Some other people in the office read MMM as well, wouldn't be surprised if it happens again. 

Telling somebody you figured out who they were is cool; outing somebody in front of a group is a dick move.

[Prepube]

I was spotted by a friend who knows my unique combination of three big dogs, which I mentioned in a post where I was probably complaining about their cost.  I don't post my personal financial info here, so didn't worry about it.  She criticized my choice of words in a post where I was not being nice (told someone their post was more appropriate in another type of blog) and we had an awkward moment.

[Jon_Snow]

I've shared enough unique details of my life on this forum that I think it's only a matter of time until I'm "outed". Not sure how I would feel about this.

[2Birds1Stone]

I send many people to this site but I do not wish anyone I know in the real world to figure out who I am here. We talk a lot on here about personal money issues and too many people in my life are the type to think this subject as taboo.

[Professor Ecks]

If I post personal information on here, it is because I am seeking advice from or wish to share something with the type of people who frequent this forum. Therefore, if someone I know in my personal or professional life were to come across my posts here, I would have NO problem with it, because it is more likely than not that they are the type of person I was intending to share my post with in the first place.

[kendallf]

Uh.. <--that's my name.  No big deal.  If you see me IRL, say hello.

[MooseOutFront]

Ha. I like it Ken.

I share pretty freely on here, but bumping into a person from my life isn't a concern. If they're cool enough to be posting on here then we had more to talk about than I thought.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

So far, no. I did have a conversation once with my sister about a relationship problem and she started to tell me about a letter she had seen in Carolyn Hax (awesome advice columnist I turned her on to).

I told her, truthfully, that I had WRITTEN the letter!

[johnintaiwan]

It would be pretty easy for anyone who knows me to figure out who I am from the handle alone. I have actually been waiting to run into someone I know here.

I ended up on this site after following a link from a youtube channel to another of his channels and then finally here. I was able to figure out who he was and thank him.

[Mr. Frugalwoods]

We've made real-life friends because of connections made in the forum.  But I don't think anyone from regular life has recognized us. 

Anyone who knows us in real life would have no problem recognizing us on our blog, so it's bound to happen some day.  Frugal Hound is, shall we say, a distinctive looking animal.

[ketchup]

Hasn't happened, but if someone I knew in meatspace read the forums, they'd probably catch on to who I was pretty quickly.

[ScienceSexSavings]

Not that I know of, and my name and photo wouldn't give any clues, but my posts certainly would! Between my current location, my province of origin and my research topic, it's pretty easy.

[dragoncar]

A naturally mustachian friend asked about my early retirement plan.  I was less than eloquent (mostly awkward) but I didn't think to ask/point him at the website.