- Arianna Huffington said: "Trolls are just getting more and more aggressive and uglier and I just came from London where there are rape and death threats. I feel that freedom of expression is given to people who stand up for what they say and [are] not hiding behind anonymity. We need to evolve a platform to meet the needs of the grown-up internet."
Gah. It isn't the anonymity that is the sole cause of people acting horridly online. It is a small part of what enables them to do so but it isn't the whole story. Different communities foster different types of comments. HuffPo isn't quality web. Most of their stories are clickbaits - links with exceptionally written headlines to intrigue users to click and read the top 10 bullshit lists.
What happens is that the users who prefer these types of links aren't the users who enjoy reading, learning, and sharing the knowledge. They are bored Facebook users who prefer a slideshow of images or a list of mediocre advice over long form articles that require actual use of their time and mind. The quality of content on your news site or blog has a tremendous effect on the quality of comments.
Similarly, the quality of existing comments is a huge determining factor of what new visitors expect and how they chose to act on the site. If you visit 4chan, you see the sick trolling don't-give-a-fuck community and act similarly in order to fit in. If you see a page filled with intelligent discourse and civil debate you will act similarly. I really can't imagine anyone coming on Hubski and trolling with rape or death threats.
it's a shame that HuffPo has gotten to the point where their existing commenting community is so broken that they feel the need to force real identities upon people, but there is a very slim chance it will solve the problem. More likely all this outside media coverage will incite even more trolling and hate.
ps: Long time no see! Great to have you back. How's life treating you lately?
- If you visit 4chan, you see the sick trolling don't-give-a-fuck community and act similarly in order to fit in.
Sorry for the super delayed response. Its been way too long since I've been active here. There are about a dozen reasons but I'm trying to make the time to play again here--I've missed it. @thenewgreen has been prodding me to come back for months now so I'll try to contribute more again and lurk less.
This won't fix HuffPo's problem. Their content doesn't inspire thoughtful engagement.
However, call me cynical, but I don't think this is the real reason why they want to use real names. Most likely they want to do it for the same reason Google does; real names are more valuable to advertisers. I would guess that this is part of a larger strategy.
Pseudonymity is the ideal state. After all, it's effectively the same level of anonymity that people enjoyed before the internet. Even if you did use your real name to write a letter to a newspaper, people couldn't instantly click, search and aggregate your entire life history in one fell swoop.
Expecting people to link their entire public and personal lives to their political opinions is absurd. Many of us work for companies where there are expectations - even contractual obligations - for employees not to air extreme or controversial views.