5 ms·

I'm interested to see if this is part of a movement by Google towards a different notion of community & identity than Facebook. Moot has very different positio

I'm interested to see if this is part of a movement by Google towards a different notion of community & identity than Facebook. Moot has very different position than Mark Zuckerberg when it comes to identity online: http://venturebeat.com/2011/03/13/4chan-moot-christopher-poole-sxsw/ http://venturebeat.com/2011/03/13/4chan-moot-christopher-poo...

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
tlrobinson 11y ago
Google also had a very different position than Moot until about a year and a half ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymwars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymwars
- themoonbus 11y ago
  Absolutely, which is why it's an interesting hire.
Jerry2 11y ago
He backpeddaled from that position fairly quickly. Moot banned Tor use on 4chan, he banned VPN use, proxy use was banned, he added ban-tracking cookies, he added unique IDs, he aded country flags to many boards that didn't want them, etc. He supported anonymity for publicity and did a lot on his site to dissuade its use. When he gave interviews on 4chan, he used to tell everyone that "4chan is not anonymous". About the only thing that's left on 4chan that's "anonymous" is the default username: which is still "Anonymous". You have more anonymity on HN with a throwaway account than you have on 4chan. People also give him too much credit when it comes to community organizing as well. He got lucky with 4chan when he copied 2chan and catered it to english-speaking audience. When he tried to actually create something from scratch, both of his apps failed miserably.
- Mithaldu 11y ago
  There's a difference between anonymity of a user to other users, and tools being used by the administration to track and deny bad actors. Besides, i'm pretty sure HN can track people across accounts as well, and if it hasn't banned proxies yet, then only because they haven't been abused enough.
  - Jerry2 11y ago
    How is using a default name like Anonymous or "Anonymous Coward" (or some other default name on other sites) different from making a throwaway? Making a throwaway might take you few seconds longer but to an admin, it's exactly the same thing. Your IP is tracked in both cases. It's just that "Anonymous" username is EXTREMELY DECEPTIVE since you're NOT ANONYMOUS at all!
    - provingmypoint 11y ago
      OK, here's a throwaway account, for which I had to pick a different user name a few times because of the name restrictions (not to mention a password). You, on the other hand, are not using a throwaway account, so I can tell that you seem to have a rather violent dislike of moot. If this were 4chan, I would have no idea that you made 3 separate posts trying to tear him down.
      - Nonnymous 11y ago
        I think provingmypoint here has a fair point. The cost of registering – even if it's just 3-4 clicks away – is not negligible, and it gives a very different situation by default. I won't discuss the merits of a reputation & voting system, but when everyone has an account, the actual result is that few people are anonymous in practice. And maybe that's not so bad. But on imageboards like 4chan, you will find very few people using names or even so-called "tripcodes" (the closest thing to an account), which means that by default to anyone that isn't a moderator, everyone is Anonymous in a sea of Anonymity. Of course every Internet forum keeps logs of what IP posted what, but as long as it's kept private, that's entirely besides the point.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

tlrobinson 11y ago

Google also had a very different position than Moot until about a year and a half ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymwars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymwars

themoonbus 11y ago
Absolutely, which is why it's an interesting hire.

Jerry2 11y ago

He backpeddaled from that position fairly quickly. Moot banned Tor use on 4chan, he banned VPN use, proxy use was banned, he added ban-tracking cookies, he added unique IDs, he aded country flags to many boards that didn't want them, etc. He supported anonymity for publicity and did a lot on his site to dissuade its use. When he gave interviews on 4chan, he used to tell everyone that "4chan is not anonymous". About the only thing that's left on 4chan that's "anonymous" is the default username: which is still "Anonymous". You have more anonymity on HN with a throwaway account than you have on 4chan. People also give him too much credit when it comes to community organizing as well. He got lucky with 4chan when he copied 2chan and catered it to english-speaking audience. When he tried to actually create something from scratch, both of his apps failed miserably.

Mithaldu 11y ago
There's a difference between anonymity of a user to other users, and tools being used by the administration to track and deny bad actors. Besides, i'm pretty sure HN can track people across accounts as well, and if it hasn't banned proxies yet, then only because they haven't been abused enough.
- Jerry2 11y ago
  How is using a default name like Anonymous or "Anonymous Coward" (or some other default name on other sites) different from making a throwaway? Making a throwaway might take you few seconds longer but to an admin, it's exactly the same thing. Your IP is tracked in both cases. It's just that "Anonymous" username is EXTREMELY DECEPTIVE since you're NOT ANONYMOUS at all!
  - provingmypoint 11y ago
    OK, here's a throwaway account, for which I had to pick a different user name a few times because of the name restrictions (not to mention a password). You, on the other hand, are not using a throwaway account, so I can tell that you seem to have a rather violent dislike of moot. If this were 4chan, I would have no idea that you made 3 separate posts trying to tear him down.
    - Nonnymous 11y ago
      I think provingmypoint here has a fair point. The cost of registering – even if it's just 3-4 clicks away – is not negligible, and it gives a very different situation by default. I won't discuss the merits of a reputation & voting system, but when everyone has an account, the actual result is that few people are anonymous in practice. And maybe that's not so bad. But on imageboards like 4chan, you will find very few people using names or even so-called "tripcodes" (the closest thing to an account), which means that by default to anyone that isn't a moderator, everyone is Anonymous in a sea of Anonymity. Of course every Internet forum keeps logs of what IP posted what, but as long as it's kept private, that's entirely besides the point.