Comments on: Anonymity and its abuse

By: Robert Blum

Robert Blum — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 21:48:19 +0000

Oh, I can imagine the reasons I have. I'm just thinking that it's being abused too much, sometimes. If you paid close attention, you might also notice that I'm thinking about the issue. I was asking for counterexamples. In civilized circles, that's called a dialog. Of course, for an anonymous drive-by-flamer, that's hard to understand.

Also, in case you missed it: The post is not anonymous - my name's right on top of the entire blog. I am standing by my words. When will you?

By: truth machine

truth machine — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 21:13:24 +0000

Whoa, what happened to your brain? You've always been a staunch proponent of anonymity, but suddenly can't even imagine any of the reasons you might have? Since the anonymity of this very post is surely not for the purpose of shielding any crime, your claim that that is the only reason is absurd on its face. I have my reasons for not putting my name on my posts to the web (after having done so on the internet for decades before T B-L changed the world), and if you think really really hard you might be able to imagine some of them.

And "How can those people not stand up and protest this abuse of their sites?" ain't too bright either -- those people did protest, and in some cases even decommissioned the sites.

By: llamatron

llamatron — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 21:54:59 +0000

Anonymity is a double-edged sword, and will always be actively misused by a small but loud (and generally foul) subset of users.

All I can do is offer up the obvious examples; whisteblowers who could lose their jobs and risk threats of violence; political dissidents, most particularly in the middle east, China, and Russia; any people who for one reason or another have an opinion which is legal, but which would impact on them negatively if it were linked to them. Hell, even gays and atheists could have a strong need for anonymity online in the wrong locations.

By: Anonymity in The Blogosphere « Digital Father

Anonymity in The Blogosphere « Digital Father — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 03:04:41 +0000

[...] A lot of folks are speaking on this topic:Groby UnpluggedSeth GodinIncentive IntelligenceThe AgitatorFiat LuxO’Reilly RadarDIONEAClimb To The StarsThe View From My Feet… and many, many more. You’ll have no problem finding supporters. Unfortunately, just like a quarterback reading blitz, the cowardly anonymous commenters run for the sidelines. [...]

By: pauldwaite

pauldwaite — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 23:00:14 +0000

People’s business is, well, their business.

But once you speak, you’re communicating. What you say is other people’s business, unless you’re intending for no-one to ever hear it.

Part of that is letting them know it was you who said it.

Some people would like to shed anonymity, but can’t: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/22/AR2007032201882.html

The answer to “fear of repercussions” is to remove the repercussions. I can’t see how you can do that without open, honest communication.