The Question and Answer Board

[janice shell]

You know, I really think you should add a "previous aliases" page to everyone's profile.

Most people change aliases just because they've decided they prefer another name, but of course some do it to deceive. We've all seen enthusiastic pumpers of failed stocks suddenly disappear, only to reappear (perhaps) with a new alias.

There are other forms of deception as well. Yesterday on one of the boards I follow a "new" poster suddenly turned up. He claimed he'd just discovered it, asked a few questions, and then went on to dispute the answers he got (which of course is fine) and to talk up the stock extravagantly.

I checked his profile. He'd posted more than 5000 times on that board. I thought about that. As it happened, he's also an assistant moderator of the board, so figuring out who he'd been before wasn't exactly rocket science.

I guess he'd forgotten that his new handle would show up on the list of moderators.