May 10, 2012

I was wrong about anonymous comments

Peter Bray Inspiration, Social influence 4 Comments

Around 5 years ago I wrote an article for a well known print magazine where I advocated the need to allow anonymous commenting.

I talked about the fact that allowing anonymous comments created greater good than the perceived harm that resulted. I talked about the fact that we had to put up with negative anonymous comments because of the liberty that anonymity affords.

I now put my hand up and admit I was wrong. I was very wrong.

I had a hope that people would use anonymity to enact positive change. I had hoped that in the 5 past years there would be countless examples of anonymous commentators making enduring contributions to society that they could otherwise not have made had their identities been known.

The truth is that this hasn’t happened. As a study in human behaviour, we can only conclude that given the option of having an anonymous voice, the negative vastly outweighs the positive. Quite simply, allowing anonymous commenting isn’t worth it.

Those that advocate the need to continue to allow anonymous comments, just have a look at your favourite sites over the past few years and compare the number of thoughtful, constructive anonymous posts with the number of negative ones. Insulting, negative, unjustified comments far outweigh their counterpart.

On balance, I can’t see how a factual argument to allow anonymous comments can be sustained without accepting that they achieve more harm than good. And I believe it is time for publishers to make a stand and enact change. All we need is a publisher to lead, to show that they care about the greater good, and I think, given the times we live in, that the rest will be inspired to follow. I still hold out for at least this positive aspect of humanity.

http://about.me/joetalcott Joe Talcott

I think anonymous comments empower the dark side of individuals, much in the same way that automobiles do. People behave differently in their cars than they do face-to-face, often in the most rude and belligerent ways. Often completely out of character for that person. There is no shortage of the negative in this world. We should look for ways to reduce it, not empower it.
Peter, thanks for sharing your change of opinion and for the case to support it.

http://www.sputnikagency.com Peter Bray

Thanks for commenting Joe, I agree we need to look at ways to reduce the negativity not empower it. Hopefully the thinking may catch on, you never know!

Douglas

What a load of twaddle. You just have to learn to read through a different type of filter. Every time you read an opinion you have to read between the lines. An anonymous comment’s lines are constructed differently– they lack the benefit of background information to inform your approach and are bereft of the limitations instituted by self-consciousness. So you take the sincerity with a great walloping of salt and pay closer attention to the sort of mindset and cultural trends that might have produced the text, sincere or not. Then you consider the prejudices that might have informed the conclusion that you have come to.

Are they constructive? Generally not. Are they a contribution? Often yes. Destruction can be a revealing process.

I’m not sure how you’re fitting publishers into the equation, though. My view is that they generally censor rigorously, to the extent that even legitimate statements from a firm identity can be denied. Resultantly, established media bodies are being abandoned by the public.
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