As someone who is in a similar age range as Nick, I thought I would offer up some perspective. A lot of people my age think that all their facebook photos won't be seen by their future employers. I'm really surprised by all that they think is ok to post online. There is also a rather large belief that what they do in college doens't matter because their dad has this degree but he works in a totally different field. I've heard this from a ton of people in my dorm building. I'm very surprized about how many kids think that their online life is totally separated from real life, and that nobody will ever see or find out about this life.
And then there is the online community. Most of the sites that people my age will visit are much like that IGN forum. It is, quite frankly and pardon my french, an unspoken competition to have the biggest e-*****. People literally compete to have the highest reuptation, or be the most known on the forum. I'm not gonna lie, I used to be like that, and I also used to be a lot younger and dumber (and if you searched for it I'm SURE you'll find a fair amount of examples of this.) Then add in that flying/building (small) planes isn't a terribly common interest, especially among this age group. Most of the people in this age group are much more interested in video games, the opposite gender, and consuming far too much alcohol and making an even bigger fool of themselves (and then sharing this with the internet via facebook)
That said, here is my take on this. He got an interest in flying. He read up a lot on the subject -- I did the same thing. He then found out about the van's RV kits and found a build log. He thought about joining some forums like this, but felt too far out of place and embaressed to join. Or maybe that was just how I felt joing these sites. Thats how I end up being a lurker (also would help if I had a plane I was building...) Now, he was also on IGN, and being young and dumb (a bit of an assumption here, but judging by his age I don't think its too much of a stretch) he thought about talking about those kits there. He then realized he could do that, or 'build a plane' and get a ton more attention, and if he is real lucky, people will talk about him in threads he doesn't post in. Attention is a much desired commodity among this group. So he decided to go with that. And he kept doing it. He may have realised he was trapped. He could out himself and be a stuck between a rock and a hard place, or he could keep with it and hope for the best. And so I think he took the second route. And considering the views most people have on the internet, he probably figured if it didn't work out the damage couldn't be that bad.
I'm pretty sure he realises it wasn't a good idea. Like I said before, I used to be young and dumb too, and every year I look back on myself and am surprised how much I've grown up and sometimes am embarasessed at the kind of person I used to be. Heck, there are a couple of sites I'm afraid to go back to because of dumb things I said. I'm sure he has learned a lot from this. And I feel a bit awkward saying this, but I feel like some people in this thread have a bit to learn about jumping to conclusions so fast. It seems weird to say this to people that are most 2 to 3 times my age, but I was surprised how harsh some of the replies were. Maybe I'm wrong. I very well could be, and if I am I'll fully admit it. But I don't feel as though being young and dumb means he is a threat to national security. Yes, he was wrong in a MAJOR way, but I feel as though Mr. Jensen did a very professional job in talking to Nick, and made him learn a lesson from it that he will remeber. Its the idea that following him around reminding him of this every time he posts on a forum is a horrible idea and would cause him serious pain. Just think if you made a huge mistake flying and someone followed you around and reminded you of it everytime, even if you've fixed the problem and learned from it. That is what life is after all, a huge learning experience. We've all made mistakes, and I'm sure glad that I don't have people reminding me of mine everywhere or I'd probably be a social outcast and scared away from the aviation community. Its these mistakes that have taught me just how bad judging a book by its cover is. I try to hold my judgment until I have enough to make an informed decision. I try to speak on positives and not insult stuff because I don't know who falls into that group. No English major bashing because as much as the College of Engineering makes fun of them I don't know if that person I just met could be one. I won't talk about how stupid I think video games are because other people like them a lot and I'd be insulting them. I will offer up constructive criticism, but again, I try to do that in a positive light. Telling someone that they may want to reconsider an idea for reasons X, Y and Z is a lot better than verbally assaulting them know their idea is horrible and a failure. I've learned pretty much all of those from mistakes. That's how a lot of learning is done. I've also found that something as simple as pumping someone two gallons of gas into their gas container can be something that is enough to put a huge smile on their face that will keep them warm walking back from the gas station. Which someone like that seems trivial to us there are a lot of people that are incredibly grateful to get that.
FWIW, I used to be an impersonator on a forum too. Not to this extent, but when I was in 7th grade and on a woodworking forum (yes, I did actually buy a table saw in 7th grade haha) my dad didn't want me to use my first name or the fact I was young, so I ended up named Jim and would make sure everything was from the perspective on a dad, not me. Then I turned 16 and felt really guilty about this lie I was living and I posted a thread and came out as in fact being 16 and my name was really Alex. I'm very glad looking back that they were so nice and understanding about it, because I'm still an active member there and still love to do woodworking just as much.
So yes, his actions were very out of line and totally unacceptable, but pouncing on him for it probably isn't the best approach. I'd like to also publicly thank Mr. Tom Webster for flying me home a couple weeks ago, because now I'm hooked on flying for sure (those young eagles flights I had when I was 11 and 13 didn't hurt either) and am dead set that I HAVE to build an RV. Its people and actions like that that help this community to expand/stay alive.
All that said, it is now 3:30 AM and I need sleep. Sorry that my writing is probably hard to read, I can try to edit it to make my points more concise if you folks want. My writing isn't terribly easy to read and goes off on a lot of tangents until I edit it a few times...
edit -- Also, as far as protecting yourself, both this thread and the one you linked should be fine, even more so if Mr. Reeves gives you the IP logs for the two accounts which will show that its not one person with two accounts.
