The Blog: Anonymous Comments

There's something we've debated for a few months now, and that's whether or not to allow anonymous comments on the blog.  And it's probably fair to say that the Big Tupper series has brought this issue to the forefront.

For me, it's actually not a very hard decision to make. Anonymous comments aren't always constructive, and many times are disrespectful.   It's ok to be against any idea. but I find the lack of respect reflected in anonymous comments a drag. I guess we want the best of both worlds: a place to deal with serious skiing related issues, like Big Tupper, and an online community that is built on respect.

It's a funny thing. You're really not any less anonymous when you use the NAME/URL feature or even when you register with one of the profiles.  But somehow when people pick names and post under those names, the Road is a better place.

The problem is that the way the blog software is structured, if we eliminate Anonymous comments we also unfortunately eliminate the NAME/URL option. For some reason Blogger (Google) considers the two options equivalent and lumps them together:



Many of our most devoted and valued blog participants use the Name/URL option to comment. We really don't want to make it harder for them.

This screen cap represents the options you have when posting on the blog. This particular image was taken when I was signed in so it has my Google screenname on it:



I always use my Google profile, since I automatically sign in, when I'm working on Harvey Road.

So the profile options outside of Anonymous or NAME/URL are:

Google: https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount

Live Journal: https://www.livejournal.com/create.bml

Wordpress: http://wordpress.org/support/register.php

TypePad: https://www.typepad.com/secure/services/register

AIM (AOL): https://new.aol.com/productsweb/Controller.jpf

OpenID: https://www.myopenid.com/signup

If you don't already have one of the profile types above, it's my opinion that the easiest to use are the Google, AIM, or Open ID profiles. The others are really set up exclusive for bloggers, and if you don't have a blog or want one, why bother with the extra stuff you have to fill out or blow off.

Here's what I'm after... it's a roll call of sorts.  Who'd be willing to go through the minor hassle of getting a profile? What's your opinion of Anonymous comments on the blog? Are they worth it? Let us know what you think.

If you want keep it simple - pick one. Harv, if you make me get a profile to comment:

• I'll never comment again.
• I'll do it, but CURSE your name through the process.
• No sweat, consider it done.

In case you are wondering, the Blog and the Forum are different software packages and registration processes. Anonymous comments aren't an issue with the Forum, we can dial it in precisely - no anonymous comments, and registration is SIMPLE.

idk, anonymous is really no different or more secretive than any other screen name. I didn't notice any rude comments in the posts of any of the anonymouses in the Tupper blog section. just people trying to make a false issue out of it. The only problem I saw was there were too many Anons commenting and couldn't tell who said what. Was there more than one Anon or were their the same person? I just wonder if a change were made would it hamper the posters. Would it get like SkiADK and people would give up trying to post?

Eitherway, it's your call Fearless Leader. You must cut the first tracks.

Congrats, Harv. If you are having this issue, it is merely a result of your successful site and having content that people care enough about to make an issue out of it. :)

That said, I can't speak from experience as aside from trying to decide what is spam and what is not spam, I have not had that issue on my site which only requires a name and email for a comment. All comments by non-regulars are moderated though, so that provides me a filter if I want (never used it aside from controlling limited spam).

Any ways, from a usability perspective, I like the current setup for commenting. MC^2 forces users to use an ID, I got a AIM ID for that but it is still a major hassle to log in. It didn't stop me from posting in that case, though. I guess it all comes down to this question: would requiring an ID (that can still use a fake name) actually result in less junk posts? Or would people that really have nothing better to do than be offensive on the internet (I actually haven't even seen the comments this post refers to, for the record) simply just get an ID and make the same posts any ways?