Sigfiles
I'm fascinated by the fact that so many people on this list
include their degrees in their signatures. In all of my years of list-wandering
I've never seen such a thing before.
In all my dealings with academics
over the internet, I've always found people "flashing their degree badges".
As a matter of fact, I never thought anything of it until just now when I
read these posts. In my opinion, it's not really a vie for credibility, as
much as just saying who you are. "Hi my name is Doctor so and so", it's a
proper title. I don't see anything wrong with it
You know, I started doing this when I first started out on the
lists that have to do with psych. It seems to be
protocol over there. . . rank ordering.
Use of the title is an acceptable part of the professional life
that many of us lead, and is expected in a number of interactions. Lack of
a title is not viewed by any of the professionals I know as signaling a less
worthy opinion or comment. However, if I hold forth on matters which demand
a level of expertise, you would we well advised to know if I possess that
expertise
Gail - deleting her sig. file for this post
Why is detection of status important?
I've been on lists that were just starting up, even professional lists (of
various professions), and this degree-flinging is new to me. I find that
it impersonalizes contact, which is the last thing I'm looking for in a mailing
list.
Here is my professional sigfile. It tells the world that I am
gainfully employed and what I do for a living. The star was the only graphic
I could produce easily using a UNIX line editor, so it tells the world, that
I am highly computer literate, even in a hostile and primitiv
environment.
I know quite a few people locally who couldn't go through a
single introduction without refering to themselves as "Doctor" this or "Doctor"
that. That is their choice. I think that if you went through the work to
get there, you retain bragging rights thereafter.
I have been a fan of sig. files for a long time. I pay attention
to them and often amuse myself by completely analyzing and discecting a person
based soley on his or her internet signature. I can't think of a better use
for intellect.:-)
I am on a couple of groups where listing of
academic degrees and affiliations is almost
unversal. However, for many of those individuals making contacts with other
academics is a matter of important professional concern. Getting to know
the right people can put bread on the table, and listing those degrees may
help. In a sense, they are trolling for business.
Making a buck with a PHD can be difficult. I don't begrudge the effort.
people without signature files are so highly evovled that they can't be bothered
with such things.
I guess it seems to me that the respondents to this most interesting
thread can be divided between those who are at
least moderately pleased with who/where/what they are and thus don't mind
announcing it to the world and those who aren't.
I've found it a rather interesting discussion and have enjoyed
seeing how other people feel about things like signature files. I've also
learned something from it. Now if I see somebody signing "PhD" on e-mail
and I know that that person is in psychology, I
won't be as likely to wonder what kind of ego problem the person has. I'm
serious about that. This time last week, I would have assumed that such a
person had serious insecurities.
Imho, there's something seductive but fundmentally misleading
in the notion that we're all just plain folks chatting around the
campfire.
In graduate school, I once worked for a consultant who consistantly
had his name on all the firm's materials as: "Dr. Pissant Schlmiel, Ph.D."
(Name changed to protect me if he's still alive and somehow on the Net.)
He *was* a pissant, and this over-usage was typical.
I have been meaning to change my sig file since our first discussion
of the issue, and never got around to it. Now the whole thing is back and
it's still the same. How does procrastination fit into this whole thing?
Laziness is a powerful force . . . eh.
whether it's pottery, degrees or leather jackets. it is difficult
to escape ones own vanity.
A long signature makes you look like a complete
newbie; if we wanted to read your business card,
we'll find it on your home page, thanks. Here's a hint: the longer one has
been on the Net, the shorter one's sig tends to be. Many old-timers are able
to keep it to one line.
It's probably OK to add a URL these days, which can probably
share a line with your e-mail address. But really, I have no interest in
looking at rows of asterisks, ASCII graphics, snail-mail addresses, voicemail
numbers, political affiliations, names of children or pets, business slogans,
etc. There's a place for all of those - the World Wide Web, on your home
page.
I've been playing with the sig file off and on for a month or
so. . . I wanted to see how it felt to diminish the sig file. I recognize
that I may be compensating in my sig file for a perceived need to be respected.
If this is so, I want to explore alternate behaviors to see if I can learn
something about myself.
Return to Index