Anonymity Online

[Edd]

Not sure if this has been discussed here. Facebook says there should be no more anonymity online:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/27/randi-zuckerberg-anonymity-online_n_910892.html

I don't think I agree. Cyberbullying is a very bad thing I'm sure. Maybe there's a solution to that which would involve restrictions on kids but I think alot of honest exchanges online would be lost. Some of the funny would be lost also and that would suck.

 

[deadheadskier]

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I think it's a front. Facebook probably wants anonymity to go away such that they can sell more 'real' information on people to marketers.

 

[Glenn]

Funny, I was just about to post something like this....

I've noticed a few blog sites now require commentors to comment with their Facebook accounts. At first, I thought that was a bit odd; maybe it was so people could use an existing account vs. yet another log in and password. Then I was listening to one of my car podcasts. The site that put on the podcast was rolling out a new version of their website. In order to get into the Beta site, you needed to log in via Facebook. They found that when people used their "real" name, they were a bit more diplomatic about posting comments. Made a lot of sense to me.

I visit a number of forums. I'll either use the username I use here, or another one that's a bit less obvious. But I have often thought, when a flamewar erupts, "Wouldn't this be a lot different if people had some skin in the game?". I think a lot of folks would think twice before they roast someone if they had their real name up there, vs hiding behind a screen name.

 

[Geoff]

I use my real name everywhere on the web and I'm still an A-hole.