I was watching the Today show and there was a debate about whether or not people should be allowed to leave anonymous comments on various websites and forums. A couple of people thought that it might be a good idea to have to sign into websites(such as news and polling sites)using your Facebook or LinkedIn accounts to keep the commenters from leaving hateful and offensive comments anonymously versus more productive and informative ones that they will be held accountable for. A few sites already have this as either a mandatory process to commenting on certain posts or as an option including Youtube and the New York Times website, which has a verified commenter option given to intelligent and polite frequent commenters by invitation only. These verified commenters can leave as many comments as they want without moderation.
If a lot of websites started asking for verification of identity before you could leave a comment would that really stop hateful and idiotic comments from plaguing the internet or would it simply stop a lot of people, including polite and intelligent ones, from giving their opinions for fear of being found out or judged by friends and employers that may come across their comments?
Would the information we give be used against us or shared?
Do you think it would be a good idea for more sites to use a verification process in their comments sections to create a friendlier and more productive web where people can’t hide behind their anonymity or would it lead to more privacy issues and less comments altogether?
Youtube videos are filled with comments, whether it may be positive or negative. I believe you must sign in to your google account in order to post a comment on youtube, but even more so if you click on any video what you will most likely see are “trolls.” Its no surprise that most comments on youtube (while not all) are filled with hateful words, discrimination, racism, and the like. If sites were to use verification methods in order for the world to know who you are when commenting, I do not believe it will cause any privacy issues since we pretty much have been signing in for almost every site that requires user verification in order to post a comment. Whether a post or response is anonymous or not I do not believe will have an effect of what is said, and there will always be that one person that will troll the internet, its just how the cyberworld works.
I think that today in our society we are always unsatisfied. People should not be afraid of posting comments and speaking their minds but of course there are people who take advantage of that and start trolling. The weird thing is that I agree and disagree. Whenever I watch videos on youtube, for example, beauty gurus, there will be people who praise that person and then there are people who would say the most horrendous things, and for what? That is just our world!
People who are mean spirited will find anyway to hurt someone online. Sure they feel power by staying anonymous but even though I hate to admit it, can we argue that it is freedom of speech? Then of course you guys might attack me by saying that somehow in a conniving way I support bullying but that is not my point at all.
This topic is difficult for me to answer specifically because I have no idea how I feel. I don’t want be naive and think that once people have no power to stay anonymous online everything will be just peachy, with butterflies flying around. It is something that I think will never change, unless in the near future our computers will be tracked and automatically when you post a mean post to someone you get arrested.
I don’t know. I wish the world would somehow change, but technology won’t change us, only we the people can change us.
this post was probably one that caught my attention the quickest, There have been countless news sites as well as entertainment sites on which i saw comments that people leave and next to their name you see their facebook picture, on the other hand if you look at Yahoo! Answers people link their email accounts which could easily be faked with fake names and identities. I’m not entirely sure if that would be referred to as fraud or not because though some of the comments left are truly despicable it is also a way to speak your mind and ask questions without giving away who you are, that kind of privacy and ability to protect yourself is something we really value. Generally its a confusing topic with both pros and cons.
I think that people are more comfortable leaving their comments on different websites and forums anonymous because some people do not want their identity all over the web. Also, as you stated in the blog there are a lot of people that like to belittle other people’s ideas just because they feel that they have the freedom to do so on the world wide web. To answer your first question, it would depend on how strict that verification is because there are ways around verification such as using a made up account with a false identity. On the other hand if, it may make most people think more morally when they are answering or re-posting on an actual comment.
I think it would be a good idea for websites to use a verification process for the comments section because it allows people to see and know who they are directly talking to, while giving the section more of a mature feel.
For me, being anonymous on web is now almost impossible. Online activity always leaves a trail and always can be tracked down. Furthermore, internet even screens and filters the information we receive. The “Signing in” feature just makes people aware of the fact that their comments are not anonymous. In a sense, their previous comments were already not anonymous before “signing in”.
I don’t think that depreciating anonymity would not discourage people’s participation on the web because People already know that they are giving up anonymity or privacy for convenience. We know that Google collects our search history and Facebook scans our profile to sell ads – But we still use them.
This is something that it’s going to create alot of buzz if they actually make it mandaroty to verify your identity before you post a comment. Although we have seen countless kids being bullied and harming themselves because of what anonymous people post on facebook or youtube, others are going to argue this with the freedom of speech card. It is a very complex topic that comes in hand with the new technology driven world we live in.
I’m updating my post with some more information that I just found on the same topic. I found an artcile on govtech.com that came out yesterday and apparently there was an actual bill proposed before the Illinois Generaal Assembly to eliminate online anonymity but it was withdrawn because of major criticism from analysts arguing that it would violate our First Ammendment rights and keep certain benefits of anonymity from helping the people that it’s trying to protect i.e.: whistle blowers etc. Some analysts feel that this verified commenting thing will be the way of the future for the internet, thought some argue that it may take decades before the internet holds all commenters accountable. I myself think that it should only happen for select sites such as facebook, news sites, youtube and maybe some other sites that most people use but that there should be certain anonymous forums where people can be free to say what they want and not face any backlash for their opinions.
Anonymity online reminds me of a famous quote by Oscar Wilde, “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.”
The hateful and idiotic comments you may come across online should be seen because someone out there may wholeheartedly believe and think this way. Removing the ability to be anonymous online is a form of self-censorship. I think a description Focault gave of the effects of a system called the Panopticon best describes this form of self-censorship; “knowingly being watched, the user assumes responsibility for the constraints of power; they then begin to censor and monitor their own actions and fall into a subjugated role in which they are their own oppressor.”
http://www.govtech.com/Anti-Anonymity-Bill-Will-Die-But-Anti-Anonymity-Will-Not.html
I do agree with you for the most part Anthony but I do think some sites could do without the ridiculous and hateful comments.
What about posting under a pseudonym? Is that any different from posting anonymously?
This is an interesting debate. On one hand, I think it’s a great idea to weed out the hateful and rude comments which would also ideally control the online bullying problem. Many people wouldnt say hurtful or stupid things if they knew that they would be able to be tracked down. On the other hand, I would say this is a violation of our rights to be able to say what we want and not have to be identified and have friends and co-workers see our every move and thought we share online. Personally, I think it is a good idea to need to be signed into a website but there should be move options instead of facebook, linkd in or google incase some dont wish to make one of these accounts just to leave a comment on a news site.