Anonymity and Job Security

Jackhass · Post by **Jackhass** » Mon May 29, 2006 3:44 pm

These kind of concerns is part of the reason why I do a G rated fuzzy animal strip...

McDuffies · Post by **McDuffies** » Mon May 29, 2006 4:31 pm

Doublemint wrote:
Dutch! wrote:I hope this doesn't come across badly, but why would you ever want to create or be responsible for something such as this yet not allow your name to be associated with it? I can't understand a reason why that would be a desired option.
Caution, mostly. You might be able to laser off a tattoo, but what a person says on the internet can last forever. Using a pen name (which I'll do now) is more for the benefit of 31 year-old Me instead of 21-Me. I can also one day choose to change my mind if it seems prudent.

And a mighty big "thank you" to everyone who commented here!

It is very healthy attitude to learn to be proud of what you do instead of ashamed, and even if you did something wrong, to shrug your shoulders and not try to conceal it. We all make mestakes and if some people think they're above that, well, they're actually even worse.

Dutch! · Post by **Dutch!** » Mon May 29, 2006 10:26 pm

mcDuffies wrote:We all make mestakes

If you didn't write that intentionally, you should have!

Wishmaster · Post by **Wishmaster** » Mon May 29, 2006 11:49 pm

princess wrote:Pen names are awesome fun. I feel like a war criminal! <3 I've done something terrible and no-body knows.

War criminals are when you've done something terrible and people DO know. When you've done something terrible and no one knows they call you a hero.

Princess · Post by **Princess** » Tue May 30, 2006 2:15 am

wishmaster wrote:
princess wrote:Pen names are awesome fun. I feel like a war criminal! <3 I've done something terrible and no-body knows.
War criminals are when you've done something terrible and people DO know. When you've done something terrible and no one knows they call you a hero.

Correct, That totally doesn't make any sense...I wish I could say I was drunk when I typed that.

PickleGirl · Post by **PickleGirl** » Wed May 31, 2006 12:46 pm

The timing of this topic is too much. A few weeks ago, my boss came up to me and said "do you draw a webcomic called 'Pickle Girl'?" And proud parent that I am I'm like "Of course I do". He happened to be typing in employee names into Google and came across it. Well the comic that ran that day that he happened to see had one of my characters taking bong hits, so I had to answer a bunch of questions about whether or not I'm a dope smoker and reminded me of the "drug free" policy at the office and stuff.

I reminded him that Anne Rice isn't a vampire, J.K.Rowling isn't a student at Hogwart's, etc etc...and not all authors ARE their characters.

I stood behind my work and my name that I put on it. I don't think that legally any employer can discriminate on the basis of a work of fiction that they created. Not saying that some wont tho. Still, be proud of your work and stand behind it.

K

RemusShepherd · Post by **RemusShepherd** » Wed May 31, 2006 2:22 pm

mcDuffies wrote:It is very healthy attitude to learn to be proud of what you do instead of ashamed, and even if you did something wrong, to shrug your shoulders and not try to conceal it. We all make mestakes and if some people think they're above that, well, they're actually even worse.

The authorities are noticably unmoved by people who make illegal mistakes and then own up to it.

If you make a mistake but want to live a normal life, you have to conceal that mistake.

The lesson is to not make mistakes -- or if you make them, resign yourself to not living a normal life.

Shishio · Post by **Shishio** » Wed May 31, 2006 6:19 pm

Just to let you know, in case you were ever planning on putting up a donation button or setting up a store, that Paypal may reveal your real name.

When you send a payment with Paypal, the name of the person you sent the payment to will show up on your statement. For example, if someone were to send you a donation or buy something from you, their statement will say "Payment sent to *your real name*".

I'm not sure if there is a way to change this.

McDuffies · Post by **McDuffies** » Wed May 31, 2006 7:59 pm

RemusShepherd wrote:
mcDuffies wrote:It is very healthy attitude to learn to be proud of what you do instead of ashamed, and even if you did something wrong, to shrug your shoulders and not try to conceal it. We all make mestakes and if some people think they're above that, well, they're actually even worse.
The authorities are noticably unmoved by people who make illegal mistakes and then own up to it.

If you make a mistake but want to live a normal life, you have to conceal that mistake.

The lesson is to not make mistakes -- or if you make them, resign yourself to not living a normal life.

Obviously, that's not the kind of mestakes I was talking about. I was saying that you shouldn't hide mistakes because you're ashamed of them of afraid of what some people might think about you. If you're trying to hide mistakes because you're afraid of prosecution by law, that's a whole different issue.

Blackaby · Post by **Blackaby** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 2:23 am

The only prospective employers who´ve bothered to look me up on the internet have simply found my obsession with hentaicles amusing. I don´t think it´ll be a problem, unless your comic is about really fucked up shit.

Post by **Kisai** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 2:31 pm

Everyone has been looking at the comic side and not the job side it seems.

From a job perspective, especially that of a teacher. If you are someone who writes about sex, porn, pedophilia, rape, incest, etc, then they could just pass over you when it comes to reference checking time.

My real name shows up in google, under only three things, none of which could be traced back to CG. My alias of "Kisai" however is shared by a city in Japan, a saint and a quite a few asians.

If you are really concerned about what people think of you, then you are in the wrong business. Only celebrities should care what people think of themselves, everyone else is not important in the eyes of the world. The reason I say that is because children often use celebrities as role models, and people like britney spears and lindsey lohan aren't people I'd want children looking up to for role models.

On the other hand, if what you write about is rather tame, and you put a pen name on it, it doesn't matter at all because there is no reason to trace it back to you.

Ghastly, for example get's his fame the same way South Park does, by considering nothing sacred and just doing. Anyone who has drawn an adult comic strip (mainly with sex, expressed or implied) becomes famous among the ones who are obsessed with it, and becomes a hate target among religious fundamentalists. Oh dear, why are religious nuts caring what someone thinks of them, oh boo hoo, all is fair if you make yourself a target.

So, don' t make yourself a target. If you don't want attention, don't do it. If for some reason your comic becomes famous and someone at work makes the connection between it and you, and your job is at stake, it will probably make it uncomfortable for you at your place of work.

Cortland · Post by **Cortland** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 5:17 pm

PickleGirl: I recommend you ask your boss why he has nothing better to do on company time than to Google employee names at random and read their web comics. Or maybe you should take the issue to the boss above him (if any).

McDuffies · Post by **McDuffies** » Fri Jun 02, 2006 3:08 am

This brings us to interesting issue: would you like ME to be your children's role model?

Robin Pierce · Post by **Robin Pierce** » Fri Jun 02, 2006 3:44 am

who WOULDN'T want a pantie stealing orange cartoon cat as a child's role model. ... hm.

Dutch! · Post by **Dutch!** » Fri Jun 02, 2006 3:58 am

Kisai wrote:Everyone has been looking at the comic side and not the job side it seems.

From a job perspective, especially that of a teacher. If you are someone who writes about sex, porn, pedophilia, rape, incest, etc, then they could just pass over you when it comes to reference checking time.

Probably should read 'they SHOULD just pass over you when it comes to reference checking time'.

Johndar · Post by **Johndar** » Sat Jun 03, 2006 9:42 pm

Dutch! wrote:
Kisai wrote:Everyone has been looking at the comic side and not the job side it seems.

From a job perspective, especially that of a teacher. If you are someone who writes about sex, porn, pedophilia, rape, incest, etc, then they could just pass over you when it comes to reference checking time.
Probably should read 'they SHOULD just pass over you when it comes to reference checking time'.

What if they are writing about all that stuff in a negative way? like against it. You never specified that.

Anywho, you should tell us what kind of content your comic will have. People are aloud to voice their opinions in anything they write, unless your doing something against the law in ur comic, say, pedophilic material or promoting hate crime. Other then that, it shouldnt really matter.

Dutch! · Post by **Dutch!** » Sat Jun 03, 2006 9:52 pm

Well, let's say that if someone's gonna pass you over because you're AGAINST all of the above, then, well, do you really want to work in a place like that?

YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT!!!