News Sites Rethink Anonymous Online Comments

[SecularMotion]

Source: NY Times

From the start, Internet users have taken for granted that the territory was both a free-for-all and a digital disguise, allowing them to revel in their power to address the world while keeping their identities concealed.

A New Yorker cartoon from 1993, during the Web’s infancy, with one mutt saying to another, “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog,” became an emblem of that freedom. For years, it was the magazine’s most reproduced cartoon.

When news sites, after years of hanging back, embraced the idea of allowing readers to post comments, the near-universal assumption was that anyone could weigh in and remain anonymous. But now, that idea is under attack from several directions, and journalists, more than ever, are questioning whether anonymity should be a given on news sites.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/12/technology/12comments.html

[Vincardog]

1. They can outlaw anonymity on the web as soon as they quit quoting 'anonymous' sources.

Or 'High Ranking Pentagon' or 'White House' or 'Administration' sources or "Some People Say".

[Hardrada]

2. That official anonymity has always been a fascist ploy.

[LanternWaste]

3. If the result hearkens back to the...

If the result hearkens back to the days of printed letters only, showing the author's name and hometown, I would imagine that the civil tone of responses will greatly increase, and that the sub-literate name calling will decrease due to the lack of courage many people have as it pertains to their own convictions.

[jberryhill]

4. It used to be the norm on Usenet

There was every bit as much of the same spectrum of opinions when everyone on the internet used their own name (circa 1985).

[EFerrari]

5. That would be welcome. I don't even check the comments sections

at news sites any more because they're usually disgusting.

[LanternWaste]

13. When I began earnestly reading the newspaper...

When I began earnestly reading the newspaper during the second half of high school, I generally enjoyed reading the letters to the editor as they would allow me additional perspectives on subject at hand. These days like you, I don't even glance at them anymore as they have become little more that socialist- this or fascist- that.

[karynnj]

16. There are gains and loses - but I think it may reflect a maturation of internet comment

There have been some prominent influential Daily Kos bloggers who now use their names. If you had to use your name and address, in addition to decreasing the name calling, you would likely take the pains to more completely think out what you want to say, word it better and say only things that you are willing to stand behind.

I have occasionally used my real name on some sites, but I also think that a downside is we will lose some excellent commentary from people, who live or work in areas where their liberal views if attached to their name would cause problems for them and their families.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. Anything to shut up the racists

I will heartily support!

[onehandle]

8. Amen. nt

[pinboy3niner]

10. Amen! nt

[high density]

7. Will using the "real" name fix anything?

Wall St Journal publishes names in the comment section of their site, yet they're filled with the same amount of nonsensical garbage as the other news sites.

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. I know that personally I would be less likely to post slams against wingnuts

If I have to use my name and the wingnuts can figure out where I live, I will choose my words much more carefully.

[havocmom]

9. Only way to enforce identification for posting would be to end open posting forums at news sites

Newspapers/news sites don't have the resources to adequately monitor and screen comments. They sure as hell don't have resources to do background checks on registered users to make sure identifications are valid.

It's so easy to set up a reasonably believable id online from which to post with anonymity. There would be no way to ensure real identification.

[Uncle Joe]

12. I agree, if they can't properly monitor their forums, they should stop using them.

I see this attack against anonymity as a ploy by the corporate media to regain their top down power over the peoples' voice, it's all about control.

[Quantess]

14. Remember when Yahoo allowed comments on articles?

Yahoo was infested with racist trolls. I'm thinking in particular of Hurricane Katrina.

[Regret My New Name]

15. Ahhhh.... The yahoo message boards

I'd say 90% of the posts on there were trolls or people being suckered into an "argument" with trolls.

[AngryOldDem]

17. One local paper's site I visit rarely allows comments anymore.

And I can see why, after reading those comments on stories that do accept them. Sad commentary, I think, on the state of discourse, as well as on the cowards that hide behind keyboards.