Dear anonymous...
Just as webinars are not quite the same as a face-to-face workshop, online conversations are less satisfying than diner chats and backyard fence conversations. Aside from the lag time between comment and reply, and the absence of facial expression and body language, a lot of people neglect to introduce themselves. That would be you, dear Anonymous. On NCPR blogs and at other visitor comment locations, fully 45% of the conversation is posted by you.
While creating a certain air of mystery has its appeal, and some people have legitimate reason to conceal their identity, I can't believe that nearly half the people who comment need to do so anonymously. Or is it one person typing maniacally through the night? Who can tell if Anon 9:14 pm is the same as Anon 3:27 am?
Why does it matter? Folks who follow the conversation need to be able to tell one voice from another--even if they don't know who it actually belongs to--so they can reply specifically and intelligibly. So please, unless you want to be not only unidentifiable, but indistinguishable from all the other unidentified, don't click "Anonymous" on the comment form. Instead select "Name/URL." Name can be anything you like, from "G" to "greatsatan2012," and the URL (web address) can be nothing--it's optional. Just as with "Anonymous," you don't need to register anywhere or log in to use this option. And for those of you comfortable with using your real name, please do so. I always do; it makes things more friendly.
Dale Hobson, NCPR web manager
posted by Dale Hobson @ 3/11/2010 02:00:00 PM
40 Comments
40 Comments:
you created the monster, deal with it.
-anonymous
I have 4 other people using my computer, some use their name, others don't. Does that make their comments any less worthwhile?
Thanks, Dale. I just did not know that I could select "Name/URL."
Anon 2:51:
Not at all, we get nearly 1000 anonymous comments a month, and on average they are as worthwhile in their content as anybody using a real name or a pseudonym. My beef is that they are not as usable-- they make the thread of conversation hard to follow. When my daughter was in grade school, she had 7 girls in her homeroom named Kristen--same problem.
My preference is for real names, both on line and over the diner counter, but I respect people's privacy, too. In the diner I can at least say Hey you--yeah--you with the hat. Online I can't see the hat.
Sorry. Would get fired, potentially. Won't even use a CB-radio handle.
Anon 3:22--
I absolutely get that. But how is your employer to identify you from posting with a randomly selected initial, or as "Oz--the Great and Powerful?"
That being said--if you are concerned with your employer identifying you with your comments online, you should definitely not use a computer at work, or one supplied by your employer to post anything. Many employers monitor work traffic in a way that can identify you regardless of whether you use "anonymous" or any other handle.
Also anonymous posts, along with all other posts, are identifiable to a the source computer's IP address. If your comments become material to a legal action, your privacy would not be proof against a subpoena or warrant seeking the owner of an IP address from your internet service provider, or ours.
I'm not going to participate anymore. So the next time you see anonymous its won't be this anonymous poster.
This is anonymous signing out. Now go figure which anonymous I was.
I have just written my last comment.
Until some posters understand that should be some level of blogging etiquette, I choose to remain anonymous.
Not so as to feel empowered to use condescending language. Not so as to vent my emotions by calling those with other views stupid, and worse.
But others here have who have never had a lesson in self-control, think that venting on others while hiding behind their own anonymity makes them feel superior - well....
Until this blog gets civil and not so much the wild-west of opinions, it's better to stay in the shadow of anonymity.
This is the anonymous who just signed out for the final time. There is one s too many in my final post.
As Sam Seaborn said in a episode of The West Wing, "When I write something, I sign my name."
Of course I'm retired and the only person my opinions irritate is the wife.
A-freakin-men.
You don't have to even use your name in any fashion. You can call yourself J or MetsIn2010 or democratsdrool or whatever.
In a system where you can make up any nickname/handle/id you want, there is NO reason for ANYONE to comment anonymously.
And Anon 3:52, it's precisely that anonymity that causes the "wild west" atmosphere you bemoan. Complete anonymity makes it far too easy to be a jacka** to people due to its complete lack of even the tiniest modicum of accountability.
This is precisely why many people hold the blogsophere in contempt. They think it's just a bunch of boobs libeling each other while cowering behind the veil of complete anonymity.
heh, heh, heh, you said "boob"
I don't read many blogs yet it seems to me that this one is fairly cordial. Being able to identify each of the posters helps us readers understand the various points of view. I don't want my online comments to have any backlash in whatever small public life I have, therfore when I do comment I use the same alias so that the rest of you can make some sense of my comments - or dismiss them as you wish.
I agree.
I think you should not allow anon comments, at least have people sign in under a specific screen name.
Wait. Why is it necessary to have an ID attached to an idea? An argument made in anonymity forces the reader to wrestle with the idea, and the citations, and not the person (or avatar) who's doing the arguing.
The salient anonymous comment speaks more effectively, in many cases, than one with a phony name attached. Because the reader can only evaluate content, and not a perceived character.
Totally agree with Anon 8:20. Why, in a marketplace of ideas, does my name matter? I write the most milquetoast comments, comment very occasionally, and would not comment at all if I had to leave my name. It may be lazy, but I like to give my two cents worth, without defending it to the death, without pouring time and energy into it. I don't have time for checking the Inbox more than once a day, so can't do a back and forth on whether my beliefs, or comments, make me an enlightended citizen or a drooling knuckle dragger. Sterotypes be gone- focus on the words, and paws off my identity.
and the immaturity is equally spread on both the right and the left of the political spectrum.
I'll give it a try.
EVH
Anon 8:20 pm and 8:40 pm--
I disagree with mervel when he proposes that anonymous comments should be banned. People may have good reasons to remain anonymous and I don't propose to second guess those reasons or to block them from the conversation. Ideas should stand on their own merits, regardless of source.
However, these ideas are presented as part of a conversation. Since it is perfectly possible, without registering or logging in, to remain anonymous through using an initial or a pseudonym, I am only encouraging people to use some kind of means of distinguishing one voice from another, in order to make that conversation easier to follow. My goal is not to wind up with no comments labeled "anonymous," but to cut that number back from the current 45%, through the voluntary action of people who comment here.
Anonymous said...
" Sorry. Would get fired, potentially. Won't even use a CB-radio handle."
March 11, 2010 3:22 PM
----------------------------
Most of the posters here are most likely detecting the astroturf quality to the "anonymous" handle. A political IED.
A NOOB attempting to portray a vast groundswell of public opinion.
-----------------------------------
Anonymous said...
" you created the monster, deal with it."
-anonymous
March 11, 2010 2:35 PM
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The gentleman asked only that you help make the conversation less stilted. If the admin asked posters to wipe their feet upon entering most would say sure, no problem.
One anonymous poster would object.
No donut for you.
--------
Anonymous said...
"Sorry. Would get fired, potentially. Won't even use a CB-radio handle."
March 11, 2010 3:22 PM
--------
If your boss would fire you for posting at work then the implication is that you are breaking rules of employment, trolling on the company dime. Easy to spot but hard to combat.
Like a virus. A troll, maybe.
Anonymous helps his or her own cause not a whit.
Tee Pee on bushes the morning after a juvenile night.
Anonymous posts once are understandable and expected but the prolific poster who refuses to differentiate himself for the sake of constructive conversation is representative on one thing only. Its not pretty.
You bring shame to your position. Most of us just want to know the personality we converse with.
If you are unwilling to give a handle, you might as well get stuffed.
Deal with it.
I think certain "anonymous" persons are misunderstanding the point. Maybe a different tack.
This has nothing to do with your real name.
It makes it easier to have a conversation.
If you are concerned, keep your "name" in the same topic, and change it for another. That way, at least if you respond multiple times in one subject, we may be able to see where the thinking is going. This isn't a witch hunt, and Mr. Hobson is not trying to drive anybody away.
EX: I am "ME" and you are Mr.Red
FALL FOLIAGE
ME: Golly, I like maple trees.
Mr.Red: Tamaracks are better.
ME: Why do you think that?
ANONYMOUS: Tamaracks remind me of Alaska.
Mr.Red: I enjoy their more yellow colors in the Bogs around Saranac Lake.
So, if Mr.Red stayed Anonymous, how would I know which Anon. was going in which direction if I wanted to find out more about the topic, their personal stories about Tamarack trees, etc?
THEN, in another topic, the person who posted as "Mr.Red" could post as "Olive." No one is the wiser, and the conversation is easier to follow.
In some of the more intricate political conversations, it gets tough to put together lines of thought when there are multiple "Anonymous" all making excellent and sometimes differing points but other readers can't link them together.
That's it.
EVH, I apologize for having called you AstroTurf, troll, virus, NOOB, disingenuous, political IED, anonymous and late for supper.
I'll refresh my screen next time before casting aspersions.
Thanks for your forgiveness.
When you can sign your posts absolutely any way you chose, with nicknames, handles, a single letter or number, there is plenty of reason for doing so and absolutely none for not doing so. Aside from the obvious link between anonymity and increased incivility, there's another issue: it's simply hard to follow someone's line of reasoning over the course of multiple comments. It ceases to be a conversation and becomes a series of individual comments: note-and-run I call it. The special election, particularly with all the outsiders defending Hoffman and smearing Scozzafava, was the nadir for such anonymous drive-by-notings. Even if you sign your posts nothing more than 'B' or whatever, you are still de facto anonymous, but at least others can try to understand consistency (or lack thereof) in your reasoning and logic. They can ask follow up questions or clarifications.
In other words, it can become a real dialogue, rather than just a series of posturing, preening monologues.
Let's try that again
Typical lefty.....now he wants to take away our right to privacy. isn't that a basic constitutional right? let me guess....you approve of card check?
Anon 2:40 pm--
If the "he" you mean is me, Dale Hobson, you haven't read the post at the top of this comment thread or my follow-up comments. If you mean someone else or one of the several different anonymous posters to this thread, the confusion only serves to illustrate my points.
Dale, really? Really? Being in the media (even it is the left leaning bias media) you know that the Anonymous option allows people to be brutally honest and forthright without feeling repercussions from bosses, neighbors or media types.
Anon 9:20 pm--
Please read the post and the follow-up comments I have made in this thread. I have no problem with people posting anonymously or doing whatever they feel protects their privacy. Being anonymous is fine. I'm just suggesting that everyone doesn't have to be the SAME anonymous--so that people can reply and follow up and understand what each other's views actually are.
If you feel that people might be able to penetrate a pseudonym, or an initial, use a different one for different posts.
And I'm not telling anyone to do anything they don't want to do. Keep on posting as anonymous if that's what you want. I'm just trying to get the number down from the 45% figure that are posting with the same name now. It's confusing--it's not just me saying so--and there is an alternative.
For those who are posting as anonymous because they didn't know that there was an option that could still protect their privacy, I am telling them about a perfectly good tool on the comment form that can both protect their anonymity AND let participants in the conversation know which voice is which. It does not require you to register or log-in. Call yourself anonymous14--whatever.
test
Up yours, Pastitsio.
And what's a NOOB, cooler-than-thou Internet slangster?
Dear anonymous;
Did you assume I'm posting to you?
Starting with "Until some posters understand that should be some level of blogging etiquette, I choose to remain anonymous."
It starts at home. Waiting for others to be polite is no way to go through life, try being polite and firm in your convictions as an alternative to drive-by brutal.
Others will react to your intellect rather than your ninja like death ray.
"what's a NOOB"
A NOOB is a poster who collects anime vids and jpop lyrics yet still believes themselves to be smarter than everyone who disagrees.
A NOOB comes off looking less smart than nearly everyone.
That's a NOOB. Some say it's nearly the same thing as a BOOB.
gnite
I do not think that word means what you think it means. From the Urban Dictionary:
"A noob or n00b is someone that lacks intellegance or common sense, most people think that noob is a word used only in the online gaming world, but in reality it is becoming an ever popular word with teenage society.
a noob could be simply a level 100 running round shouting ''WTF DO I GO!?'' or someone calling someone else a noob and then getting hit with a brick, anyone can call anyone a noob, but normally they are noobs themselves"
Not being a teenager, I understand why I didn't understand. And the last sentence resonates here.
"anyone can call anyone a noob, but normally they are noobs themselves"
Not being a teenager, I understand why I didn't understand. And the last sentence resonates here.
March 14, 2010 4:47 PM
------------
"Dear anonymous" ,
The article urged readers to identity themselves with something resembling a tag so as others could converse with an actual personality and as you have avoided taking the article seriously I'll do you the same consideration.
"Dear anonymous" is the title of the article.
Did you miss that NOOB?
Urban Dictionary defines a
"Know It All", as someone who, ignores the FOREST FOR THE TREES and resembles YOU.
Dear anonymous,
ohhyaayayaaya
I UNDERSTAND NOW BECAUSE IT'S IN ALL CAPS.
"Anonymous Anonymous said...
I UNDERSTAND NOW BECAUSE IT'S IN ALL CAPS.
March 15, 2010 3:01 PM"
DEAR ANONYMOUS,
ARE YOU KIDDING?
I READ THE ARTICLE.
THE ARTICLE IS A DIRECT APPEAL FOR CONSTRUCTIVE COMMUNICATION IN OUR SOCIETY.
POSTING ANONYMOUS BITES DERAILS HONEST COMMUNICATION.
POSTING ANONYMOUS SHORT CIRCUITS HONEST IDEAS FROM BEING CONSIDERED IN LOGICAL DISCOURSE.
AGREE OR DISAGREE.
I agree with anonymous. Anonymous is not always right (or left?), but anonymous says it all for me.
Thanks to Dale, for offering a practical suggestion that is simple to implement and use.
Certainly would clear up confusing postings by that "anonymous" character who can sometimes come across as being schizophrenic.
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