(no subject)

[sigmaleph]

Some day I want to meet the guy in Chile whose name is similar to my deadname and consequently keeps signing up to things using an email address that I control and he does not. He is a surprisingly constant figure in my life and I can't tell if he knows I exist at all.

Comments

[wingedcatgirl]

There is apparently a man out there with a real name similar to the made-up thing I used as my online handle before I realized I was trans. I've been getting the occasional email intended for him for years, but it wasn't bothersome until a few weeks ago, when he seemingly decided to start signing up for three or four porn sites every week.

I've been idly meaning to completely phase out my use of that email for ages. Guess this is as good an impetus as any.

[contrarianarchon]

Fortunately for me my grandfather got the email with the format my parents suggested before me, so mine comes with a number and therefore zero collisions. On the one hand no mild annoyance, on the other no anecdotes.

(have you considered emailing him? The namespace is presumably not *that* wide?)

[sigmaleph]

seems kind of awkward for all the other people who also have a similar name, especially if we need to disambiguate.

*I* wouldn't answer an email that was like "Hi, we've never met before, is your name [name] and do you use any of the following services:". I don't know what I'd think but "some kind of scam whose particulars I do not understand" would be a conspicuous possible answer

also separate from that repeatedly cold-emailing strangers sounds really stressful.

[contrarianarchon]

That's fair. I once (on noticing that I know ~2 people with the same handle on discord) considered making a server for people-whose-handles-are-archon but didn't end up going through with it. Strangers *are* stressful, though.

(Didn't occur to me that it might be a scam; I'd be straight-up honest about "I'm emailing people with adjacent emails to track this guy down, if you're not him you've probably received some of his emails as well" but like, weird as hell scams exist)