Is anonymity one big excuse?

By on September 21st, 2009 In Media, Writing

‘UnclePat’ got it right. He was responding to a question E.J. Montini  raised in his blog recently.

Explain to me some of the reasons you believe that is is necessary for those who post responses to blogs or add their opinion to comment threads should to be anonymous. Or, rather, why you choose to do so, since it isn’t mandatory.

Writing under the cover of the nom de plume, UnclePat commented that the main bad reason for someone to remain anonymous online was it gave the person the freedom to be a ‘mindless jerk.’

I can’t argue with that when I read some of the comments online at AZCentral.com

Except for the fact that there are some others who have no problem with calling out something or someone and putting their name to it. Just look at yesterday’s Arizona Republic, where Steve Kirk of Phoenix calls Rush Limbaugh a rude bore. Montini concludes in his column the same day that fear is the main reason for this trend to hide behind fake names.

But there are other types of fear, and not just fear of wackos and lawsuits. I recently conducted a remote workshop for media professionals in Sri Lanka, on  looking ‘beyond the blog’ –at new modes of communications and interaction with audiences. There was a mixed group representing traditional and new media. Apparently some bloggers who wished to be not identified, were in the audience as well.

Toward the end of the session, one question came up that seemed more important than the rest. How to remain anonymous, and if it was a sensible thing. I wrestled with the question for several reasons. One was that we take our freedom of speech for granted, UnclePat’s point, notwithstanding. I know it’s different in countries where the government can beat you up or throw you into prison for random reasons. The other, of course, was credibility. I maintain that unless you have a compelling point of view or reason to stay behind the curtain, no one will take you seriously since the blogosphere is quite capable doing its own fact-checking. Just ask Dan Rather.

I am sure you face similar questions, especially related ones about whether you recommend moderating –and deleting– comments by blog readers who don’t validate who they are.

Digging deeper into this I noticed  plenty of advice on how to go about it, and many reasons why this is so . Take a look, and let me know your thoughts about this touchy topic.

Comments

Abbie S. Fink Says:
September 21st, 2009 at 10:21 am

We were just discussing this in our staff meeting this morning. Why hide behind an anonymous name? I respect your opinion, but would value it more if I knew who you were.

Brent Diggins Says:
September 21st, 2009 at 4:58 pm

There are countless reasons people post anonymously, and I can sympathize with many of them.

In the same line, I don’t believe the “who” is as important as “what.”

For example (Linda V. will appreciate this), Common Sense–one of the most popular books in American history–was published anonymously for some of the same reasons some comment/blog posters respond anonymously today (mainly fear of retribution).

As with Common Sense, I believe that it is the content itself NOT the name behind the content that is important.

Also, it should not be discounted that there are countless cases of well known people/authors that publish anonymously with the specific intent that people pay attention to their ideas rather than the name behind the idea.

Linda VandeVrede Says:
September 21st, 2009 at 5:34 pm

You’re right, Brent, I do appreciate that. Where would we be without Thomas Paine’s Common Sense? But if you read his work, he put forth a well-written, well thought out body of work criticizing King George III. Unfortunately, the AZCentral commenters are neither well written or well thought out. They’re just taking potshots instead of contributing to the dialogue. I say it’s ok to be anonymous IF 1) you are truly moving the conversation along intelligently and/or 2) your personal safety would be severely compromised if you unveiled your true identity.

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