3 ms·

Anonymity is not just a major factor in vitriolic comments - its also a factor in being able to comment at all. Ive seen on multiple occasions someone offer som

by dman 16y ago

Anonymity is not just a major factor in vitriolic comments - its also a factor in being able to comment at all. Ive seen on multiple occasions someone offer something really insightful on Slashdot as an Anonymous Coward saying something like - "My Employer probably woudlnt want be discussing this publicly". In the absence of anonymity current paranoia about "Intellectual Property", NDA's and employee tracking will ensure that a lot of things worth saying will remain unsaid.

mlinsey 16y ago
Agreed. I also think that Slashdot's policy of starting Anonymous comments at less karma can give most of the benefits of both sides; it would probably work even better if anonymous comments started at say -5 karma. That way, stuff that had to be anonymous but was really useful content could get voted up, but most of the anonymous internet dickwads (to borrow Penny Arcade's terminology) would stay relatively hidden from view.
- tomjen3 16y ago
  If you have a user with good karma, Anonymous Coward comments on ./ doesn't get less karma (at least they didn't back when I was using it).
- rue 16y ago
  For the purposes of this discussion, there's very little difference between joesomenick and Anonymous Coward.
yuhong 16y ago
Yea, I know. If I was posting them, I'd check with the employer as to if it is true and why.