I'm with you, Bill. I think anonymity causes more problems than it solves. I'd like to think that I live in a society where even if someone knew my name, where I lived, etc., I would be safe because the police (and my neighbors) are there to protect me. That may be naive, but the alternative--rampant paranoia--is just too detrimental.
Also, I'd like to think that someone evaluating someone's behavior on the internet could take into consideration the person's age or condition. We do this in real life all the time. Obviously, I wouldn't consider it a huge thing if some child was writing nasty things, though I'd expect the kid's parents to do something about it when it came to their attention. Likewise, if someone posted a bad message and then later recanted, or confessed to being drunk, high, extremely angry, etc., I'd be inclined to ignore or forget about it, though of course if it happened again I'd be very skeptical.
I've heard of cases where professors weren't hired specifically because of what random people posted about them on rate my professor. That's a clear example of where the anonymity has terrible effects. Whistle blowing is one thing, but you generally need solid evidence for that, anonymous or not. Anything else is really just libel.
In any case, requiring real names on these forums probably won't have any real effect if clok is right about it being so easy to bypass. There will no doubt be a lot of John Does. And even if not, there are plenty of idiots and a-holes out there who would still feel anonymous enough to post their sputum for all to see.
I was enjoying the fireworks on the 4th in a big public park. There were thousands of people there, mostly families with their children. Yet there was a group of teenagers behind me who were acting terrible. One kept yelling out "Mother f****!" Another was rolling a ball down a hill and hitting the back of people sitting further down. It was clear that someone needed to tell these kids to shut up or go home, but no one did. And that's what worries me a lot more than whether anyone knows their names.
I'm with you, Bill. I think anonymity causes more problems than it solves. I'd like to think that I live in a society where even if someone knew my name, where I lived, etc., I would be safe because the police (and my neighbors) are there to protect me. That may be naive, but the alternative--rampant paranoia--is just too detrimental.
Also, I'd like to think that someone evaluating someone's behavior on the internet could take into consideration the person's age or condition. We do this in real life all the time. Obviously, I wouldn't consider it a huge thing if some child was writing nasty things, though I'd expect the kid's parents to do something about it when it came to their attention. Likewise, if someone posted a bad message and then later recanted, or confessed to being drunk, high, extremely angry, etc., I'd be inclined to ignore or forget about it, though of course if it happened again I'd be very skeptical.
I've heard of cases where professors weren't hired specifically because of what random people posted about them on rate my professor. That's a clear example of where the anonymity has terrible effects. Whistle blowing is one thing, but you generally need solid evidence for that, anonymous or not. Anything else is really just libel.
In any case, requiring real names on these forums probably won't have any real effect if clok is right about it being so easy to bypass. There will no doubt be a lot of John Does. And even if not, there are plenty of idiots and a-holes out there who would still feel anonymous enough to post their sputum for all to see.
I was enjoying the fireworks on the 4th in a big public park. There were thousands of people there, mostly families with their children. Yet there was a group of teenagers behind me who were acting terrible. One kept yelling out "Mother f****!" Another was rolling a ball down a hill and hitting the back of people sitting further down. It was clear that someone needed to tell these kids to shut up or go home, but no one did. And that's what worries me a lot more than whether anyone knows their names.
Matt Barton, Managing Editor
Location: St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA
Email: matt@armchairarcade.com