Only once I read a text chain and then that evening I was at a small dinner party and a lady i met described exactly what I read from the OP of that text chain. Of course I did not say anything. But what she posted was not embarrassing. It was just about a concern she had about her mother.

Unless you're posting something private in the relationship forum or something like that, what's the harm of being recognized? I've never posted anything I would be embarrassed about.

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.

I had a coworker asked me a very specific question and then that evening the exact question was here. I am sure it was her. I would never bring it up thought.

I recognized two people. One was someone who kept posting the same thing and then randomly talked to me about it person. And the second person posted something that made is obvious.

I've recognized 2-3 people by their postings. I know these people well enough to recognize details and tone used. No big deal.

Anonymous wrote:How did you recognize the neighbor and the friend, since they presumable didn't use their email in a post?

I have only ever recognized one person on here, someone I have known a long time but had no idea they posted here. I recognized them because they responded to something I posted in a way that made me realize it was them. I never said anything about it. It would be embarrassing to them because of the subject matter.

Very specific personal info in a post in both cases. The topics were also things I knew they were dealing with.

I was interviewing someone for a job and she posted here about whether she should take the job - there were enough specifics in her post that I could easily identify her. I thought it showed pretty poor judgment and wasn’t unhappy when she opted not to accept the position.

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!

I have but so? It’s never been anything embarrassing. People sometimes go to great lengths to change details in their posts or refuse to say anything that might be identifiable even when what they are asking is completely fine.

Paranoia and coincidence.

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!

This isn't me (I don't think) but this is the sort of thing that would happen to me because I rub people the wrong way and it has resulted in people making up really hurtful lies about me and spreading them as gossip.

Maybe it was me, actually. I've only been on this website since 2020, and didn't start reading it exentsively until mid 2021. So I might have just missed it.

How did you recognize the neighbor and the friend, since they presumable didn't use their email in a post?

I have only ever recognized one person on here, someone I have known a long time but had no idea they posted here. I recognized them because they responded to something I posted in a way that made me realize it was them. I never said anything about it. It would be embarrassing to them because of the subject matter.

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!

Once or twice. Someone posted anonymously on this board, and then asked the same question in the same way on an internal message board at work. It wasn't anything embarrassing, though.

I have recognized three people in the last few months. One is a neighbor who is a frequent poster. One is someone I know professionally who used his real work email address in a post. The last one is another friend I knew read here. I wonder who else is lurking!