OT: Message boards without anonymity
I was just reading this post on Engadget:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/07/editorial-facebook-single-identities-and-the-right-to-be-anon/
Basically, it ponders whether message boards would be better or worse without anonymity. (The means by which this would be accomplished would be a requirement that commenters link to a Facebook identity).
Since this is really the only board I ever post on, I though I'd ask: what say you? Would you post if you weren't anonymous? Even if you don't have a Facebook account, and ignoring the obvious loopholes, would that concept in abstract be beneficial or detrimental to the mgoblog community? Would the reduction in controversial viewpoints and comedic vitriol be offset by the presumed increase in quality and accountability?
Employers could google us and realize that we spend all day here and only pretend to do actual work.
And I approve of any time spent here.
What company are you an employer for and may I list you as a reference when I apply there?
May I also request to be placed under your direct supervision at the time that I am hired?
I'm one of the few posters and non mods who is willing to stand on my name.
Accountability is a good thing. I am willing to stand publicly behind anything I say.
Having said that, I can live with the fact that many posters are emboldened by their online identity to say things they wouldn't say otherwise. Whatever.
Also, I can understand that HS coaches, Michigan athletes, Football Alum, Ath Admin staff, et al, have a legitimate need to be anonymous. I'd much rather have their input from the inside, anonymously, than not have that info.
The bottom line is that I want good content about Michigan sports, regardless of whether it comes anonymously or behind a name. Think about it. We know Drew Sharp's name, and Rosenberg, and all the Detroit MSM, and many with ESPN. We judge their work by how good (or bad) it is, and the fact that they are public doesn't automatically make their content better. Some of them are STILL royal jerks, even under their byline.
I would include anyone in the education fields into your list. Students and parents can at times enjoy impressing their morals/virtues onto you. Mr. Chunkums and normal person chunkums are not the same animal.
"Accountability is a good thing. I am willing to stand publicly behind anything I say."
Is this why your avatar is a picture of your wife?
It would take much of the fun out of message boards. Anonymity is perhaps the reason many people choose to participate rather than just reading.
are you insinuating that you don't have a beard and you don't smoke cigars???
O he definatley smokes cigars. Ha.
Wait, you're not Charles Woodson then?
Well, personally I am completely open about my identity. My name is actually Evenyoubrutus III and my own picture is my avatar. I'm not ashamed.
Do you mean Braylon?
Whoa, whoa, whoa. I might be able to accept the concept that aaamichfan is beardless....but don't tell me he doesn't smoke cigars. Let us keep some of the illusion.
If anything, I'm probably more restrained here than I am in real life. Trolls are also entertaining/annoying enough without me having to see their douchey Facebook photos.
I'd rather just ponder the trolls sitting in their moms basement singing along to their old NickleBack and Creed CDs while trolling than reading about it on their profile.
no longer sit in the basement. We now sit in our condos we bought on a short sale watching Deliverence on our new 50 inch 3D LCD TV.
Bryan (surprise!) is actually my real name, but I don't think I want to go as far as sharing my last name with all you creepers. Then again, I no longer have a fb account for you to stalk.
I am named Bill and I am bald, so beyond that you probably could care less, and I don't know that I want to share more either.
Eh I like the fact that I can post on here and don't have to worry about students tracking my every action. As an educator I like the way it is.
That would be the end of my posting career, seeing as how I don't have a FB account, nor do I plan on getting one.
Hell no.
Funny story. One of my neighbors down the street was out walking his cats today. Yes, you read that right. He walks his four cats without leashes and keeps them together by using a high-pitched "here kitty kitty" voice. Probably the most adorable thing I've seen so far in 2011 (except for that picture, of course).
Wow that is pretty crazy. I can't believe they listen to him.
to say "adorable", and mean it.
You are no longer anonymous to me. I am that neighbor
So you're a 90-year-old man with one arm?
You didn't see the tuna he had in his socks..
I don't mind being related to what I say. But all's it takes is the first whack job to track someone down and do something really bad and ruin it for everyone. Though I guess media types survive, so the medium might too.
Can you imagine trolls sending you countless messages on FB? No, there needs to be and cut-off, since basically anyone can sign up on a message board and view stuff.
Good messages boards have good mods. The reason they get a bad rap is because of all the crappy boards out there that have crappy self-righteous mods who feel like it's their glory.
Good message boards have NO mods.
Ask Nate Volk how he feels about the anonymity issue.
.....I would downvote the answer though.
It's better anonymous for career-related reasons, as stated earlier. But I would have no problem meeting up for a tail-gate or sports event with some people from this board. My anonymity is not absolutely important, I just don't want my idendity readily available to everyone, like it would be if a facebook account were required.
While I obviously don't mind having my name in my signature, I only access sites such as MGoBlog from home because they do track this stuff at work, and because I do have a job that has public interface for a large regional employer, I try to keep it mostly tame and kind of guarded. Same goes for the FB account, especially as I have people from my company as friends there.
Pretty sure I'd be dead or at least in a lot of trouble. No thanks.
I'm for whatever arrangements allows me to live vicariously through CRex.
Forget knowing who people are. If you want to kill a message board, just go with a "points" system. And then have all the Scouties migrate over to it.
Your name is so fitting.
But the flipside to that is money, and success for the site in general. Kind of a catch 22.
because then none of you know if I'm Lloyd Carr after a few martinis, or not.
Not being anonymous is decent hedge against people behaving boorishly and with rudeness towards others. It isn't a cure all, but it's a great idea across the board. Reality is that it is on each person's honor anyways so there is no way to enforce it. Look no further than the 5 different twitter accounts for movie stars, when the movie star doesn't know how to turn on a computer.
And since I do keep my MGoBlog level at a fairly healthy, not-productivity-killing level when I'm at work (exceptions: OSU week and CC week) I personally wouldn't mind if I lost my anonymity when I posted. I think at a lot of boards where anybody can post, like ESPN or any mainstream media website, attaching a FB profile would help curtail the "trolls" they have - if they cared to. And I don't buy that that's a complete loss of privacy either - FB privacy settings make it pretty easy to share differing levels of personal information with specific groups and people.
But on a site like MGoBlog, which has less reach, strives to police out "trolls," and does a fairly good job of cultivating thought provoking comments, I think the only effect would be less posters. Besides, I find it kind of fun to try to figure out what my friend's MGoBlog username's are.
I cosign this comment. Also, works well with the some people don't have a facebook problem. On forums like this, where people would really care if they have they ability to post, they can post. On websites like Yahoo and ESPN some people might be a little annoyed at first, but I doubt anyone would really be that bent out of shape if they couldn't post comments on the articles.
I am very careful about what websites I link to my facebook account, more because I don't want them posting stories on my wall everytime I do something on the other site than because I don't to be held accountable for what I'm doing on other websites. So, I probably would not post here at all, something I rarely do anyways, if I had to link my account with my facebook account.
On a humorous but only slightly related sidebar, in my computer ethics class the other day when we were talking about privacy my professor said: "Privacy is like your virginity, once you lose it, it's gone and it's never coming back."
I wouldn't mind, as I don't post anything that I'd mind anyone I knew seeing. That said, anonymity is probably for the best.
Assuming that you go the GVSU, I can make a reasonable guess or two.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Kass.
But seriously, I'm not that concerned about strict anonymity. Anyone who regularly follows this blog could probably unearth my identity without too much effort. However, i would NEVER link my name to this (or any) blog; I'm looking for a job, and the idea of a prospective employer discovering my man-love for Lloyd Brady makes me a little uneasy.