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Meta question: Why does HN allow throw away accounts? It seems to go against the idea of "internet karma".
by erelde 10y ago
Meta question:
Why does HN allow throw away accounts? It seems to go against the idea of "internet karma".
- rmc 10y agoBecause sometimes people feel free to talk if they are anonymous. By calling the account "throwaway*" it tells people that this person is a regular and delibrately using a pseudonym
- throwawasiudy 10y agoyeah I always make it obvious, no point in trying to pretend you're some guru.
- ceejayoz 10y agoBarring deliberately putting "throwaway" in the username, how would you propose HN's code determine between a throwaway and a normal brand new account?
- erelde 10y agoSome subreddit have rules based on the account age. I'd like to add, that I don't think I judged it in my wording. I've made throwaway accounts, but never on sites where discussion between users is the focus. I just don't really understand.
- throwawasiudy 10y agoWhenever I'm going to say something bad about anything more important than toilet paper I create a throwaway. Even if the posts give you karma (which my throwaways are pretty universally positive karma) it isn't worth the downvote brigades every time the haters see you and occasional death threats. throwaway accounts very much tie in with the concept of free speech and the open internet. If I don't want my personal safety tied to a few paragraphs of ranting there shouldn't be an issue with that. I should be able to speak my mind without fear of recourse. Nobody is more interested in "internet karma" than the Chinese govt at the moment. Haven't you heard of the "online credit score" they're implementing? Everything you say and do online is tied to your real identity and has wide ranging effects on your well being. Needless to say there's some suggestions that this may affect free speech
- erelde 10y agoI'm not against throw away accounts, I adhere to the idea of free speech anonymity provides. But if HN was a video game with a karma mechanism, I'd make it so users can't get around that central mechanism...