Taking the Pulse on Anonymous Commenting
We’ve been getting more and more requests from readers to eliminate anonymous commenting. (The topic has also been on the front-burner because of a certain article this week.) There are clearly major flaws with a system that allows commenting without accountability, but doing away with it carries its own set of drawbacks in the form…
We’ve been getting more and more requests from readers to eliminate anonymous commenting. (The topic has also been on the front-burner because of a certain article this week.) There are clearly major flaws with a system that allows commenting without accountability, but doing away with it carries its own set of drawbacks in the form of diminished information flow, opinion and overall energy on the site. We’re curious to know how the community feels about the issue so please take a moment to fill out this survey and chime in below.
Thanks,
Mr. B
p.s. Just to clarify, just because you register, and comment under, a username, does not mean that your true identity is on display for the world to see. It means we can easily block a disruptive commenter, or contact him/her by email about bad behavior. It also means that other readers can begin to associate comments over time with a particular online identity, theoretically improving the ability to carry on discussions.
Biff,
I agree the registration process does create a barrier to slow down those who enjoy making offensive comments and that limiting those would be great for the site.
I just worry that converting from an “open” to a “closed” discussion environment would throw out too much good with the bad.
I think reasonable people can disagree about this, and it really depends on your tolerance for internet jerks v. your desire to get as many viewpoints as possible.
Apparently registration was tried in the past and it didn’t work out. Maybe it would be different this time?
I’d probably register if required, but I only post 1 or 2 times a week anyway…
Cheers,
2:34
Dave,
Your precious Biff does it all the time!!!
2:55, yes, it’s easy as pie to create a new identity, but one would really have to be unbalanced to want to say something so outrageous that they would then feel the need to have to create another email account and another identity to hide behind. Plus, one can recognize new identities from old ones. After awhile, when you see someone like, say Putnamdenizen comment, love or hate him/her, you know that he/she likely isn’t going to run off and create a whole new identity after posting one controversial comment. If that was the case, I would be on my 1,000th identity by now.
denton, you’re an idiot.
it was YOU yesterday who said that the 369K 1 bedroom in Windsor terrace was useless without a second half bath for “entertaining”
you are the perfect example of a registered user who holds absolutely ZERO validity in my mind.
denton, did you have to tell them that?? I think there are countless people here who could never have thought of that on their own. Now you have ruined it.
And I’m not being facetious!!
Register. If you have something to say, put a name behind it. Stand behind what you write.
I agree that it will cut down a lot of the racist stuff.
I’ll admit when I really want to say something nasty I fire up another browser and log in as ‘guest’
lol.
It does not force accountability in ANY way. If you want to say something outrageous and not be held accountable for it later, just create a new identity, use it to make outrageous comment, then don’t reuse that identity again.
Easy as pie.
There are a lot more registered users among all the discussion threads today. A lot of names I’ve never seen before as well.
BrooklynLove, I agree with you and disagree with 1:59’s statement that “Internet identities…will produce zero accountability.” How many times have posters thrown back at you, me and most other logged in posters past opinions we’ve stated? That’s the accountability to which I refer. Despite what others say, whether or not one uses a real name or a pseudonym, signing in forces one to own up to / be responsible for their comments, which is how it should be.
2:34, I agree with you that it’s easy to create multiple registrations, but by requiring it, I still think you would see a decrease in racist, homophobic, sexist comments which are easy to post under a guest login by those sick enough to want to do so.