Question

[tinhuviel]

Would someone who wanted to stay anonymous use their own name, but claim to be a fan of said person and not themselves, because the idea of a famous person using their own name and putting it out there would be ridiculous? Or am I just paranoid?

Okay that's two questions. Sorry.

Comments

[rheyamorgaine.livejournal.com]

HUH?

And just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.

[tinhuviel.livejournal.com]

Okay, say I'm famous (shyeah, right). I create a Facebook under my own name, but tell people I'm just a fan who didn't want to create a fanpage because they're so impersonal. People want to know who I am, but I won't divulge who I really am, 'cos I really *am* Tracy. Does that make sense? O_O

[rheyamorgaine.livejournal.com]

Yes but it's crazy.

[tinhuviel.livejournal.com]

True, but you can control who is brought into your inner circle. With fan pages, anybody can be there. I don't know. After the Andy Partridge thing yesterday, now this, I think I'm going insane...and that's a short trip.

[rheyamorgaine.livejournal.com]

Yes but you'll be in good company!

[ladyana5.livejournal.com]

...agreed with rheyamorgaine. take it at face value. be leery, but not paranoid.

[tinhuviel.livejournal.com]

It's hard not to be paranoid when you're a paranoiac. ;)

[ladyana5.livejournal.com]

oh, i hear you! I keep *trying* to not be a hermit, but it's just soooo inviting!

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

It's unlikely or rare, but it's not ridiculous.

They could have taken out the account under their own name, to prevent others from using it, and then decided they might as well use it. Since they'd already thought of the fan scenario...

[tinhuviel.livejournal.com]

Well, we'll see. I'll find out or die trying. Barry did something similar to me, masquerading as a follower in the Temple of the Holy Swarm. That story is a whole other giant kettle of fish. Suffice to say, I persisted until he gave in and told me it was really him. I'll do the same with this person, famous person or no.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Well, if it's rare, that means somebody is doing it.

[nemesis-to-go.livejournal.com]

I could name several bands who have made 'fan pages' on MySpasm/Farcebook by themselves. The giveaway tends to be that the 'fans' are suspiciously well-informed about the band's activities, and there's usually a rather overblown disclaimer to the effect that THIS PAGE IS NOT MAINTAINED BY THE ARTIST HONEST IT'S NOT, NO, REALLY. Any time I see something like that, I get a distinct sense that someone's protesting too much.

Back when Napster was a scandalous illegal file-sharing site, I remember one artist complaining bitterly that these theives were snatching the bread from his very mouth...while secretly uploading huge amounts of his own music to Napster, including demos and instrumentals which could only have come from his own home studio. He then pretended to be shocked and horrified that he'd 'discovered' his own music there after 'a bloke from work pointed it out'.

When I was writing for StarVox an outraged fan wrote in, insisting that I should be sacked after giving his fave band a bad review (actually, the review was only lukewarm - strangely enough, it's the lukewarm ones that seem to cause the most fuss). At the same time I received an email from the keyboard player of the band who heaped abuse on me. By comparing the writing style (same expressions, same typos) and adding in the fact that the 'fan' had emailed from a Hotmail identity which Google couldn't find anywhere else on the interweb, it was pretty clear the 'fan' was also the keyboard player who'd assumed a wafer-thin false identity to make his complaint. We asked him straight out about this, and he...blustered. So we took it as a Yes.

I think half the fan-authored stuff out there is actually written by the artists themselves. In a way I can understand why - someone made a Facebook fan page for my webzine, and while it was flattering they didn't do a great job. The graphics were all wrong, the description of it was wrong, and once they'd made it they never updated it. I should've done it myself and done it right!

[tinhuviel.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this. It makes me feel better about the rampant paranoia caused from the experience I had back in 2000. The page I've to which I've been made privy isn't a fan page, but a personal FB page, where the owner can friend whom "he" wants and accept friend requests after screening. Seems like a pretty safe way to encounter people and still act like "he's" not who "he" says "he" is.

I don't know. It just seems all too hinky to me.