Earlier this year, the Sun Chronicle, a small Massachusetts-based newspaper, closed down comments on its website after discussions in the paper’s comment section got out of hand. Now, in order to “encourage intelligent and meaningful conversation,” all posters on the site will have to register with their full name, address, phone number, email and credit card number. Users will have to verify their identity by using their credit card to pay a one-time fee of $0.99 to activate their accounts. All comments will now include the full name and hometown of the commenter.
For those of us who regularly frequent the comment sections of blogs and news sites, the revelation that anonymous comments don’t always lead to “intelligent and meaningful conversations” doesn’t come as a surprise. Some sites, including MetaFilter, already charge users a small fee to activate their accounts in order to ensure that commenters are committed to providing quality content (and to keep spammers away). MetaFilter, however, still allows users to remain anonymous.
Earlier this week, Blizzard – the company behind the immensely popular World of Warcraft and Starcraft games – announced that it would require users of its forums to use their real names when posting to the company’s forums. This, according to Blizzard, will reduce “flame wars, trolling and other unpleasantness” on the forums.
Does Anonymity Only Encourage “Ugly Speech?
According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Eva Galperin, however, it’s wrong to assume that online anonymity only enables “ugly speech.” Instead, she argues, that “behind the veil of anonymity, individuals are more free to surface honest observations, unheard complaints, unpopular opinions.”
What Do You Think?
What do you think? Does the use of real names encourage better online discussions or does it keep users from really expressing their honest opinions? Let us know in the comments (where you can remain fully anonymous).
Tip of the hat to TechDirt for spotting this story first.
