About registering on this forum
Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2014 10:51 am
We try to avoid activating fake participants who just want to post spam on the forum. When we see someone’s requested screen name, we have to decide if it is a real person, or a computer-generated spammer name. If you give as your requested screen name some unpronounceable sequence of characters, like the following:
"rvdgiobt6"
"DVyuKAcbzo"
then you will not be activated. Such random strings of letters are a dead giveaway to those charged with activating potential users that the name is a fake.
It is a little more difficult for us if you use more-pronouncable screen names, but which are not readily recognizable as a name or a real word, such as “AHeermath.” On the other hand, such screen names may simply be legitimate words with which we may be unfamiliar (like Don's Greek word, Paidion). We sometimes risk activating such unrecognized words, and it turns out fine. However, we have to make some difficult guesses.
Even more difficult to discern are screen names that seem to incorporate a real person’s name with a few characters added at the end, like:
"BrenneisOn"
"MaryTc"
"JoshuaOt"
I usually tend to accept these as genuine, though I made a recent mistake in activating such a user and it turned out to be a spammer clever enough to use a real-sounding name.
The best way of getting a new username activated is to use a real-sounding name, or recognizable word or phrase.
"rvdgiobt6"
"DVyuKAcbzo"
then you will not be activated. Such random strings of letters are a dead giveaway to those charged with activating potential users that the name is a fake.
It is a little more difficult for us if you use more-pronouncable screen names, but which are not readily recognizable as a name or a real word, such as “AHeermath.” On the other hand, such screen names may simply be legitimate words with which we may be unfamiliar (like Don's Greek word, Paidion). We sometimes risk activating such unrecognized words, and it turns out fine. However, we have to make some difficult guesses.
Even more difficult to discern are screen names that seem to incorporate a real person’s name with a few characters added at the end, like:
"BrenneisOn"
"MaryTc"
"JoshuaOt"
I usually tend to accept these as genuine, though I made a recent mistake in activating such a user and it turned out to be a spammer clever enough to use a real-sounding name.
The best way of getting a new username activated is to use a real-sounding name, or recognizable word or phrase.