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Usernames on Reddit do not require even an email address. For that reason, I find it hard to muster up even a modicum of concern for the sanctity of 'authorship

Usernames on Reddit do not require even an email address. For that reason, I find it hard to muster up even a modicum of concern for the sanctity of 'authorship' and 'attribution' for individual users. For all I know, every comment on Reddit but my own are generated by a very clever computer. That congress sees fit to investigate Reddit comments and news websites find credibility in re-posting them are separate issues that absolutely deserve discussion. But the editing of "Fuck [username]" posts...

marcoperaza 10y ago
Many people post on Reddit under their real identity. Now it is madness to do so, as a malicious Reddit employee can frame you as having said anything.
- intopieces 10y ago
  This has always been the case. It has always been madness to post on user forums under your real identity. In the 'viral era' -- the age of mobile broadband, the age where any post you make or photo you send can get the attention of millions and ruin your career before your plane lands [0] -- it's pure madness to expose yourself like this. [0]http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tweet-ruined-justine-saccos-life.html http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tw...
  - sundvor 10y ago
    Reading that is both sad and scary at the same time. White Christmas (of Black Mirror) certainly doesn't look so science fiction anymore.
- mejari 10y ago
  And any user can claim to not have said something, citing this as evidence.
- joshmanders 10y ago
  I find it odd that people who build websites for a living didn't understand that... Like.. They control the data... They have complete access to the database.. Do you NOT think they could edit comments without updating the edited at timestamp?
  - marcoperaza 10y ago
    Of course it can be done. This is about trust in the people running Reddit. In any operation, people can lie, cheat, and steal. You win the trust of customers and users by proving that you don't.
    - intopieces 10y ago
      That anyone trusted the people running reddit -- a free platform that sells users' attention and therefore relies on manipulating them for their business model -- is the real cause for concern in this story. "If a website is free, you're the product, not the customer."
- dabockster 10y ago
  >as a malicious Reddit employee can frame you as having said anything So that means I can go back to posting random 1960s Spiderman memes everywhere? Awesome!
- JorgeGT 10y ago
  > Many people post on Reddit under their real identity. Among them, two Presidents of the United States, several ministers / PMs / MEPs, a long list of Hollywood stars... what if a rogue employee impersonates or alters POTUS statements?
  - tomjakubowski 10y ago
    Obama has a Reddit account, /u/PresidentObama. Which other President of the United States has one?
gottam 10y ago
do you think the same about HN? your email isn't even asked for here.
- intopieces 10y ago
  Yes. Authorship, "karma," etc do not concern me. Discussion that makes me think, that challenges my preconceptions, that enriches my understanding of technology or that links me to new skills to learn -- those concern me. Which is why I can't really feel outraged that a nonsense comment was changed into another nonsense comment. Nothing of value was lost.

marcoperaza 10y ago

Many people post on Reddit under their real identity. Now it is madness to do so, as a malicious Reddit employee can frame you as having said anything.

intopieces 10y ago
This has always been the case. It has always been madness to post on user forums under your real identity. In the 'viral era' -- the age of mobile broadband, the age where any post you make or photo you send can get the attention of millions and ruin your career before your plane lands [0] -- it's pure madness to expose yourself like this. [0]http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tweet-ruined-justine-saccos-life.html http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tw...
- sundvor 10y ago
  Reading that is both sad and scary at the same time. White Christmas (of Black Mirror) certainly doesn't look so science fiction anymore.
mejari 10y ago
And any user can claim to not have said something, citing this as evidence.
joshmanders 10y ago
I find it odd that people who build websites for a living didn't understand that... Like.. They control the data... They have complete access to the database.. Do you NOT think they could edit comments without updating the edited at timestamp?
- marcoperaza 10y ago
  Of course it can be done. This is about trust in the people running Reddit. In any operation, people can lie, cheat, and steal. You win the trust of customers and users by proving that you don't.
  - intopieces 10y ago
    That anyone trusted the people running reddit -- a free platform that sells users' attention and therefore relies on manipulating them for their business model -- is the real cause for concern in this story. "If a website is free, you're the product, not the customer."
dabockster 10y ago
>as a malicious Reddit employee can frame you as having said anything So that means I can go back to posting random 1960s Spiderman memes everywhere? Awesome!
JorgeGT 10y ago
> Many people post on Reddit under their real identity. Among them, two Presidents of the United States, several ministers / PMs / MEPs, a long list of Hollywood stars... what if a rogue employee impersonates or alters POTUS statements?
- tomjakubowski 10y ago
  Obama has a Reddit account, /u/PresidentObama. Which other President of the United States has one?

gottam 10y ago

do you think the same about HN? your email isn't even asked for here.

intopieces 10y ago
Yes. Authorship, "karma," etc do not concern me. Discussion that makes me think, that challenges my preconceptions, that enriches my understanding of technology or that links me to new skills to learn -- those concern me. Which is why I can't really feel outraged that a nonsense comment was changed into another nonsense comment. Nothing of value was lost.