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I have to disagree with the false dichotomy you are presenting wrt to the invite system. Specifically, being forced to reveal your real identity to at least one

I have to disagree with the false dichotomy you are presenting wrt to the invite system. Specifically, being forced to reveal your real identity to at least one other user vs. "inviting people that they don't know the real identity of" which you say means that "the invite system isn't really adding anything beyond making it slightly more complicated to join." There are many people online whose real identities I don't know whom I consider thoughtful individuals more than capable of engaging in meaningful and respectful discourse. I'd be happy to vouch for them in an invite-only board.

slg 7y ago
It is much easier to compartmentalize and hide things online when your true identity is unknown. I have enough karma here on HN, that I am sure I could get someone on Lobste.rs to vouch for me without personally knowing me. But maybe my karma is only high here because I have a cabal of other accounts upvoting me and the mods haven't caught on yet. Or maybe this is my one authentic account and on Reddit I run a swarm of bots that hits /r/politics to support my chosen presidential candidate. Appearing to be a good user on one site doesn't guarantee that a person will be a good user everywhere. Personally knowing someone and having that real life connection to provide consequences is a much stronger deterrent to bad behavior.