Have you ever recognized someone from real life on here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I have been recognized by a parent who has a kid in the same activity as mine. A very niche one. Thank goodness I was appropriate and didn't diss anyone, as this involved the instructor, and other students!

You were smart not to diss anyone, or go off the deep end, then pretend you were "joking/kidding". That doesn't work in the real world. I recognized someone because repetitiveness/fixation is part of their mental illness (putting it nicely). So it is sad, yet inappropriate, at the same time. Know when to take your meds.

[Anonymous]

Yes, twice, both times in the relationships forum. The first time, we eventually confirmed with one another. I never said anything the second time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There was a woman heavily involved in a mom’s group I was in when my kids were babies. This was a few years back, but she was the subject of discussion here on DCUM. It was interesting to observe, as she seems to rub people the wrong way, but there were some outright lies being told about her on here. It was like watching a rumor come to life in real time!

i wonder if i know the person you are talking about -- in ledroit park/bloomingdale?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's familiarity bias. Or in other words, thinking that your world is the whole world. In actuality, we are not as unique as we think we are and there are many, many more people exactly like us (or our friends) than we realize.

There are 5.4 million people in the DMV. A fraction of them are on this site. Statistically, the odds of you accurately recognizing THREE people are almost impossible.

When I post here, I change details to anonymize myself. So anyone who thinks recognize me is actually just projecting someone they know onto the persona I made up.

Nah. In both instances, there is no way it wasn’t them based on the way they then responded to comments. The one is a very frequent flier and I know the tone they use in writing. The other situation was so specific.

[Anonymous]

I will admit to posting several times and hoping that the person I was complaining about actually read it and recognized herself.

[Anonymous]

Yeah I found my ex’s posts and divorced her because of her disgusting lies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will admit to posting several times and hoping that the person I was complaining about actually read it and recognized herself.

I think you are probably not the only one who does this.

[Anonymous]

But none of you have actual
Confirmation? You just assume, and you could be 100 perfect wrong.

[Anonymous]

Yes, several members of ACPS PTA and PTAC post here and on FB forums related to ACPS. They forget to tweak their language and they post the same drivel in both spots so it's easy to ID them.

[Anonymous]

Yes - mostly when I see a post on here and then an identical one on a large parenting listserv I'm on. When they're verbatim, it's not hard.

I once saw posts calling out someone I know IRL, who was very (very) active on various parenting FB groups during covid. That was creepy.

I also realized someone in a mom's group I was in was the same person I'd been on a TTC thread with - and she's easily recognizable in other forums, too. Again, a case of her posting a very specific story here and then the same one on FB.

[Anonymous]

There was one pretty unhinged teacher posting here during covid who was easy to ID based on the information she disclosed and social media profiles.

[Anonymous]

Yes. They posted the exact same story here and on FB. I was sorta shocked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, several members of ACPS PTA and PTAC post here and on FB forums related to ACPS. They forget to tweak their language and they post the same drivel in both spots so it's easy to ID them.

It’s funny. “Drivelers” seem completely unable to tweak ANYTHING about their language and just repeat the same things over and over. You’ll even find that on DCUM in a meta sense: people who keep starting the same thread on the exact same topic and are easily recognized because they’re so fixated on certain details.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes - mostly when I see a post on here and then an identical one on a large parenting listserv I'm on. When they're verbatim, it's not hard.

I once saw posts calling out someone I know IRL, who was very (very) active on various parenting FB groups during covid. That was creepy.

I also realized someone in a mom's group I was in was the same person I'd been on a TTC thread with - and she's easily recognizable in other forums, too. Again, a case of her posting a very specific story here and then the same one on FB.

Yeah, I have seen this, too. When the posts are very close in time and the language is the same, it's really obvious. Like someone will post on here asking about a specific school related to the DC lottery, and then the same post will pop up on our parenting listserv, asking for the same feedback. I don't judge -- obviously I'm on the same threads on DCUM so I don't see anything wrong with it. Though admittedly I would not do this because I do think other people would judge. So I make some effort to make my DCUM posts more anonymous than that.

There was also as situation where a woman I know socially appeared to be posting about similar issues/events here and on Twitter. She has a distinctive way of writing and interacting with others, though not completely unique (she is one of the kiddo/hubby people). But I am pretty sure it was her because it would be something like: she'd retweet something on Twitter with a comment, and then 20 minutes later someone would start a thread on here with a link to the same tweet and a very similar/almost identical comment. And then the OP's replies in that thread would just really sound like her. It happened a few times and at first I assumed it was a coincidence but eventually I decided it's almost definitely her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, several members of ACPS PTA and PTAC post here and on FB forums related to ACPS. They forget to tweak their language and they post the same drivel in both spots so it's easy to ID them.

It’s funny. “Drivelers” seem completely unable to tweak ANYTHING about their language and just repeat the same things over and over. You’ll even find that on DCUM in a meta sense: people who keep starting the same thread on the exact same topic and are easily recognized because they’re so fixated on certain details.

This definitely happens on DCUM, but some of you who think you can spot it are wrong sometimes. I've started threads on here and then been immediately accused of "posting multiple threads" on the subject even though it was definitely my first time posting about it. But I've learned that when someone is convinced you are another poster, there is basically nothing you can say to dissuade them, even if you tell the to check with Jeff.

There are some self-appointed DCUM sleuths who are not as clever as they think they are.