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I think a lot of the more thoughtful commenters probably stop commenting when their real name becomes involved. Even if what they are saying is not inflammatory

by imzadi 3y ago

I think a lot of the more thoughtful commenters probably stop commenting when their real name becomes involved. Even if what they are saying is not inflammatory, there is always a chance of making a misstep or just having a bad opinion without fully understanding it. In the modern age, everything is forever. There's no room to evolve. If you say the wrong thing now, you're stuck with it, even if your actual beliefs change and grow, the fragment left behind is what remains reality. The only people who want to openly comment under their real name are people who don't care or who are already intentionally inflammatory.

mattxxx 3y ago
Agreed here. Using a real name is a deal breaker for a lot of people, and as a result you lose their contributions, which hypothetically could be more informed.
supertrope 3y ago
Mark Zuckerberg touted real name comments as the solution to online trolling and bad behavior. Of course he means Facebook profiles to be that identifier. Plenty of local news websites comment sections are clogged with flaming by people who are not deterred by having their meatspace name attached to their comments. There’s a lot of spam from FB comments too.
- sideshowb 3y ago
  Conveniently, real names are more valuable to advertisers, I presume
tech_ken 3y ago
> Even if what they are saying is not inflammatory, there is always a chance of making a misstep or just having a bad opinion without fully understanding it. In the modern age, everything is forever. There's no room to evolve. Is this actually true or is it just something people say? I feel like there's plenty of room for people to grow or change their beliefs these days, it seems like every other day someone in power or in the spotlight says something like "oh that was something I used to believe but I've changed since" and that's kind of the end of it. Rarely do I feel like someone is entirely blacklisted for some opinion they held in their past but no longer hold, unless that past behavior was either abusive or straight up mean. Maybe I'm just not tuned in enough though.
- ryandrake 3y ago
  It's pretty easy for a basement dweller to link a pseudonym to your real name these days, so easy that I just don't bother with pseudonyms anymore. If I don't feel comfortable linking some statement with my real name forever, I just won't post that statement anymore. Does that stop me from hitting the "Reply" button sometimes? Sure, and the community is probably better off because of that. The only thing I worry about is that some belief or comment could be totally benign today, but who knows in 30 years it might be totally taboo. Surely things I've said 30 years ago would get me fired in today's environment of heightened sensitivity. I don't worry too much about that because in 30 years I'll be retired and un-cancelable, if I'm even still alive.
  - GoblinSlayer 3y ago
    How easy? How can you extract more than my city from my pseudonym and IP?
- tithe 3y ago
  A vicious consequence of being blacklisted/cancelled is you're no longer in the public arena to broadcast a change of heart/mind, especially if that belief was incomplete or action criminal. "What's become clear to you since we last met?"
  - tech_ken 3y ago
    Do you have any examples in mind of this? I’m struggling without having something concrete to anchor on
- joe_the_user 3y ago
  It's hard to know how true "the Internet is forever" is at this point. But that doesn't qualify in my mind as "proof you won't get in trouble on the Internet". Especially, I certainly don't want someone else dictating that what I post goes on a specific which can be linked to other things later.
- wavemode 3y ago
arp242 3y ago
I don't comment a lot on some of the "controversial issues" not so much because of fear of any consequences, but because frankly, it's just not worth it. You can carefully construct a nuanced measured criticism of something or the other only to have someone come back with the most extremist interpretation of what was actually said. I feel that "anyone can comment everywhere"-model just doesn't work for these types of discussions without heavy moderation to restrict the assholes; maybe one policy is "less bad" than some other policy, but it's still bad.
david422 3y ago
Another issue too is the possibility for online stalking. Putting out real info means that anybody across the globe who has some sort of vendetta can now track you down.

by imzadi 3y ago

mattxxx 3y ago

Agreed here. Using a real name is a deal breaker for a lot of people, and as a result you lose their contributions, which hypothetically could be more informed.

supertrope 3y ago

Mark Zuckerberg touted real name comments as the solution to online trolling and bad behavior. Of course he means Facebook profiles to be that identifier. Plenty of local news websites comment sections are clogged with flaming by people who are not deterred by having their meatspace name attached to their comments. There’s a lot of spam from FB comments too.

sideshowb 3y ago
Conveniently, real names are more valuable to advertisers, I presume

tech_ken 3y ago

> Even if what they are saying is not inflammatory, there is always a chance of making a misstep or just having a bad opinion without fully understanding it. In the modern age, everything is forever. There's no room to evolve. Is this actually true or is it just something people say? I feel like there's plenty of room for people to grow or change their beliefs these days, it seems like every other day someone in power or in the spotlight says something like "oh that was something I used to believe but I've changed since" and that's kind of the end of it. Rarely do I feel like someone is entirely blacklisted for some opinion they held in their past but no longer hold, unless that past behavior was either abusive or straight up mean. Maybe I'm just not tuned in enough though.

ryandrake 3y ago
It's pretty easy for a basement dweller to link a pseudonym to your real name these days, so easy that I just don't bother with pseudonyms anymore. If I don't feel comfortable linking some statement with my real name forever, I just won't post that statement anymore. Does that stop me from hitting the "Reply" button sometimes? Sure, and the community is probably better off because of that. The only thing I worry about is that some belief or comment could be totally benign today, but who knows in 30 years it might be totally taboo. Surely things I've said 30 years ago would get me fired in today's environment of heightened sensitivity. I don't worry too much about that because in 30 years I'll be retired and un-cancelable, if I'm even still alive.
- GoblinSlayer 3y ago
  How easy? How can you extract more than my city from my pseudonym and IP?
tithe 3y ago
A vicious consequence of being blacklisted/cancelled is you're no longer in the public arena to broadcast a change of heart/mind, especially if that belief was incomplete or action criminal. "What's become clear to you since we last met?"
- tech_ken 3y ago
  Do you have any examples in mind of this? I’m struggling without having something concrete to anchor on
joe_the_user 3y ago
It's hard to know how true "the Internet is forever" is at this point. But that doesn't qualify in my mind as "proof you won't get in trouble on the Internet". Especially, I certainly don't want someone else dictating that what I post goes on a specific which can be linked to other things later.
wavemode 3y ago

arp242 3y ago

I don't comment a lot on some of the "controversial issues" not so much because of fear of any consequences, but because frankly, it's just not worth it. You can carefully construct a nuanced measured criticism of something or the other only to have someone come back with the most extremist interpretation of what was actually said. I feel that "anyone can comment everywhere"-model just doesn't work for these types of discussions without heavy moderation to restrict the assholes; maybe one policy is "less bad" than some other policy, but it's still bad.

david422 3y ago

Another issue too is the possibility for online stalking. Putting out real info means that anybody across the globe who has some sort of vendetta can now track you down.