Should Anonymity be allowed on the board?

[jmk59]

No. Sort of. I thought the policy of the old board was simply perfect. Good concept and good execution. You can be anonymous and happily read and post and do whatever you want in total privacy, until you decide you want to post something controversial or inflammatory.

That means that anonymity is completely within the control of the member. Want to be anonymous forever? You can. But not if you want to be confrontational. I think that's a fair tradeoff.

One of the big knocks on chat boards is that anyone can be brave from behind a keyboard. Having to put your name down is just one small thing that says you have to be willing to stand by your controversial or slamming comments. I don't think that's too much to ask. It's kind of a way of life for me.

And it is so easy to defeat search engines, I can't see how that can be a factor at all. Jo@nn K!ine. As to the very good point about OTHER people using your name in inflammatory posts, that would be easily addressed by a board rule - simple to understand and enforce - that says you cannot use a first and last name in a post. Or at least not without the engine-defeating mechanisms.

I think the registration process that requires valid info is a good improvement in terms of overall security. But I also think the board lost something when that became enough.

So ... how do I vote? Not quite 'no'. Not quite OK to put info in Profile area - why can't someone that posts only non-controversially have the option to stay completely anonymous?

Guess I'll vote 'no' as my closest choice.

J.o.a.n.n

[Matt]

Originally Posted by jmk59

No. Sort of. I thought the policy of the old board was simply perfect. Good concept and good execution. You can be anonymous and happily read and post and do whatever you want in total privacy, until you decide you want to post something controversial or inflammatory.

That means that anonymity is completely within the control of the member. Want to be anonymous forever? You can.

Actually, if I recall correctly, on the old board even if you wanted to be confrontational, you didn't have to expose your name to anyone other then Leon. On the new forum, no one's name is unknown to Leon.

[jmk59]

Matt,

I think on the old board there were some exceptions, but it was largely "put your full name by your posts unless you are well known". I think there were some occasions/reasons where Leon would be okay with a person that requested only Leon to have the info, but the predominant practice was to require full name unless you were known.

I do believe that was better than having everybody on a only-Leon-needs-to-know basis.

J

[jmk59]

nm

[Matt]

Originally Posted by jmk59

I think on the old board there were some exceptions, but it was largely "put your full name by your posts unless you are well known". I think there were some occasions/reasons where Leon would be okay with a person that requested only Leon to have the info, but the predominant practice was to require full name unless you were known.

That does sound familiar - I must have mis-remembered. It was so long ago.

[mark evans]

In my judgment, the current rule as applied by Leon strikes an appropriate balance between the competing interests. My personal preference, however, would be for folks to make known their full names if, for no other reason, than to facilitate meeting other hobbyists.

Mark