Suggestion For Encouraging Full Disclosure Of Company Bias

While I like the idea, I think John does a good job on calling out the extreme cases.  There was a post a few weeks ago where John called out a rep who was trying to hide the fact that he was in fact working for the manufacturer.  Sometimes some of us don't want to let their employers know how much time we spend on IPVM, and "Undisclosed" keeps us posting away :)

He does do a good job.  This would be to lessen his need to do that by providing a clear, unambiguous way to comment undisclosed with disclosed manufacturer.

On the other hand, seeing John rip into the occasional red-faced manufacturer who thinks that Undisclosed means “hidden from John” represents about 6% of my total enjoyment on IPVM, so I’m ok either way :)

I work for a manufacturer and am very careful to keep bias in check.

There are lots of things I would say about the industry in general that I am certain my company would not want associated with their name. I am very thankful to be able to post here on occasion without that issue.

I think this would rarely be utilized.

Unless you are a manufacturer that has a ton of logins it would be fairly easy for your boss to find out who posted the comment. And I assume that a large percentage of the time that when you post undisclosed you do it so it wont come back to haunt you by your employer. And if thats the case you probably dont want your company name disclosed in the first place.

You know what would be really cool for fun but will never happen. If you could have a monthly budget of "Disclose the Undisclosed" You are allowed 3 DTU's for anyone who has something sarcasticly snotty to say about you. Now that is a feature that would be utilized!!!

Unless you are a manufacturer that has a ton of logins it would be fairly easy for your boss to find out who posted the comment. And I assume that a large percentage of the time that when you post undisclosed you do it so it wont come back to haunt you by your employer. And if thats the case you probably dont want your company name disclosed in the first place.

Here’s the thing though, there is almost no overlap between the primary use cases:

Therefore, you would show your manufacturer name only in cases when promoting your company’s product.  In which case you probably don’t mind them being able to figure out it’s you.

“Mouse over” is a little 1990s thinking. I would say 75% of the time I am reading these blogs it is on my phone.

I actually have to be reminded by John Honovich to use Undisclosed to CMA sometimes.

I wonder if he's ever gone back to switch that on for me, lol

My favorite line to hear from him is: "are you trying to get fired?" It lets me know I'm haven't been drinking the Kool-Aid.

i'm not sure I understand the OP.

I post as Undisclosed a lot - though I sometimes use my own name.

However, whenever I post something in a string related to the company I work for, I will always post as my real name.

Even in a string that might be disparaging my company for some reason, I still know that if I work for the company that I am defending in such a string, that my relationship to the company should be disclosed - because to not do so seems unethical to me.

imo, the only reason to post Undisclosed in a string about your own company is if your company has a policy in place that prohibits you from posting on IPVM.  And if that is the case, the OP's suggestion might place these posters in peril of their identities being deduced by the very company which has prohibited them from posting.