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.
We made it to 52 comments without a direct insult until the first attack, made by a guest at 11:41… Love the stats, by the way, curious how long you spent researching that.
Oh, one more thing… I ALWAYS put my name to every thing I do! Why you ask? Because if you believe in something then take a stand for it! Not one time I posted any anonymously! I always stand behind what I write!
Charlie Chaplain entered in Charlie Chaplain look alike contest. He came in third.
The What
Someday this war is gonna end…
Bxgrl has it right on!!!
I think people should be honorable and stand behind what they say, not attack anonymously. But would registering really change anything more than the name at the bottom?
I’m kinda old fashioned, in the if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it style.
There needs to be an HR rep for these blog comments! Post a policy.
I find comments by many registered users to be offensive. Forcing everyone to register will not keep people on topic, make them less offensive, limit personal attacks, or stop any of the other problems.
The only problem is that “lower volume of higher quality” would mean less advertising revenue for brownstoner, something he is probably loathe to risk now that the site has grown so much.
I liked registration when it first started, because it gave everyone a concrete identity and made them accountable for their comments. It was a smaller community then, though, and Brownstoner seems to want a larger site where more people drop in and out, instead of a smaller group with an unhealthy interest in brownstone Brooklyn (wasn’t that or something similar the original tagline for this site?)
If you are focused on the larger site, it becomes more important to limit the spammers and post size, and post and enforce some basic rules of discourse. Censorship be damned – without some moderating oversight, this site is becoming like Curbed, where everyone vies to post the most sarcastic/nasty comment and adds nothing intelligent to the discussion.
Daveinbedstuy and Biff Champion are registered and they produce 60% of the garbage on this website…
“The only reason I prefer having others logged in is that it makes conversations in comment threads easier to follow.”
Exactly, that and G-forbid we might want to start dialogs in multiple threads with known posters, no just that darn guy “guest.”
Add the registration again, please!
Pipecock, you would likely be surprised at some responses to your last question…