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.
Someone made this comment a couple days ago and I thought it was worth posting here because I completely, 100% agree….
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I post, usually to offer information or advice based on my experiences, though very occasionally I can be just a tad sarcastic (though someone once replied that they loved me for one of them, so the comments must be apprecited by someone or someones). And no way do I want to create a login – I wouldn’t post if I had to.
This is why: I see the login thing as creating an identity of sorts, maybe the actual poster’s personality, but sometimes (it sure seems) some sort of made-up personality made just for posting on this site (or this and other sites.)
I find the identities annoying – I want to read (and post) information that stands on its own and isn’t connected to a personality, a name, or that person’s previous history of posts. (Sure, there are some guest posters who are annoying, but it is easy to disregard them.) I like information, analysis, and opinion for its own sake, not based on the who the poster is (or is pretending to be – which is all you can really say for an anonymous login anyway.)
I agree that with required logins the site would turn into a converstion between a few boring people (as other websites with comments I read have) and lose whatever usefullnes the comments and forum sections currently have.
What everyone here should realize is that if do not pay for your own ip address then your address may change at anytime. This would be the case if you get basic Time Warner internet service or from any other similar isp. There’s really no way to block someone consistently by ip address.
best comment yet today Pipecock!!!!!!!
Are you people serious? ” I think anonymous commenting should be eliminated.” How are you going to do that? It is the internet; we are all anonymous. Do you think my name is really Pipecock?
no system is perfect but i think eliminating anonymity helps more than it hurts.
I am actively searching for a house in brownstone brooklyn. I look at houses every weekend. I am constantly talking to brokers, architects, my lawyer, mortgage brokers friends in finance, any plumber/electrician/etc I meet. I also come to this and other websites regularly for information. Only on this website, with easy anonymous posting, do I share the information I gather during my own search. If I have to log in, I won’t comment.
I’m not bragging, saying I know everything you need to know. My point is that there are many people like me. We are people who for 3 months to 2 years (ugh) will be actively engaged in a hunt and will therefore have info to share. We are different and therefore have something else to contribute than the people who spend time on this site because it’s their hobby.
From the time I’ve spent here I have gathered that these are people who just like to talk about these kind of properties. For some they are engaged in an ongoing rehab, for others it’s related to their work, but for many it’s just their thing. Many of these people seem to log in and make this part of their social life.
I’m sure there are plenty of people like me, on the hunt, who have registered. There are probably even people who come here regularly as a hobby who do not login. I just think there is some correlation between logging in and purpose in using this site. I think, therefore, that forcing registration will cut out a portion of the posting population that has something unique to offer.
As of right now, I rarely comment on Brownstoner due to the fact that there are so many morons on here hiding behind guest accounts.
I’ve noticed that, in general, named posters are less likely to troll, to post racist / homophobic / sexist etc and ad hominem attacks, and to spend more time defending their points of view, as opposed to merely running their mouths. On the other hand, anonymous posters tend with much more frequency to post garbage.
I think that requiring registration would lead to a lower volume of higher quality discussion. In other words, quality over quantity.
I would register if registration worked properly.
[shelltoe]
Not surprisingly, I vote for requiring registration. I believe the advantages (as stated by others above) far outweigh the disadvantages. Greater accountability for comments, increased hesitance to attack others, ease of tracking who said what are biggies and I think it would increase the interest and neighborhood feel and certainly not drive away true fans of the site, both current guests and bold typers.
“I spayed coffee over this one!” You just made Bob Barker proud, fake What. Good one, Nokilissa!