This forum would be more cordial if the anonymous posting feature was removed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jeff runs a tight ship. The truly harmful threads get deleted. That’s what makes the anonymity workable. Thank you Jeff.

Agreed!

[Anonymous]

It would totally change the way many of us use the site and what we are comfortable posting. For example, I learned a ton from the infertility forum and have posted there, but once I had kids I posted across various age and school forums, I post about my neighborhood in real estate, I am a fed and post on govt-relates threads in jobs/careers. If all those were under a single username, no way would many of us divulge that kind of info, and I think many others (including myself) appreciate that others have posted detailed and personal info on various issues as well.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jeff runs a tight ship. The truly harmful threads get deleted. That’s what makes the anonymity workable. Thank you Jeff.

Thanks, but you really have to thank the posters who report posts. I couldn't do much without them. Then, they get bashed by other posters for their efforts. So, they really deserve our appreciation.

Thank you fellow posters. I've reported some posts over the years, and it's always been addressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It would totally change the way many of us use the site and what we are comfortable posting. For example, I learned a ton from the infertility forum and have posted there, but once I had kids I posted across various age and school forums, I post about my neighborhood in real estate, I am a fed and post on govt-relates threads in jobs/careers. If all those were under a single username, no way would many of us divulge that kind of info, and I think many others (including myself) appreciate that others have posted detailed and personal info on various issues as well.

Agreed. I have shared a lot of personal info here across various threads, enough that I would be pretty readily identifiable if I had a username attached to my posts. I wouldn’t post nearly as much if I had to worry about that.

[Anonymous]

There's a lot of stuff people talk about here that they would never discuss in a less anonymous forum. This place offers a form of catharsis you can't really find anywhere else. Yes, sometimes people step over the line, but I think more importantly they have an opportunity to be honest and vulnerable in a way we could never be without anonymity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jeff runs a tight ship. The truly harmful threads get deleted. That’s what makes the anonymity workable. Thank you Jeff.

Agreed!

Yes thank you Jeff for your efforts in keeping this forum anonymous but also non-toxic!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I run several other public-forum-esque sites and we A/B tested this and found that people behave more pleasantly toward each other the less anonymous they feel. Only mentioning this as I was surprised at how catty and petty this forum is.

I strongly agree with this, but I love not having to log in here. I really welcomed the creation of the log-in-required political discussion forum, but I rarely used it, because I was too lazy to log in.

Possible alternative: Something that would automatically turn an IP address into a name or code. That way, we wouldn’t have to log in, but we could see who was sock puppeting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On the flip side, when people aren’t anonymous you get people who carry grudges and target other posters for nasty behavior.

God this yes absolutely. I was followed around on Mumsnet years ago for disagreeing with one person, a whole gang came after me (online) who were fans of the poster I'd disagreed with. I wasn't even rude, just not kissing her ass like everyone else.

Named posting = poison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the flip side, when people aren’t anonymous you get people who carry grudges and target other posters for nasty behavior.

So true. I used to be on a forum with handles (not real names), and people would stalk and fight others. So ugly and personal. Here at lest nothing is personal.

And the cliques & teams, don't forget them. 😉

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I run several other public-forum-esque sites and we A/B tested this and found that people behave more pleasantly toward each other the less anonymous they feel. Only mentioning this as I was surprised at how catty and petty this forum is.

I strongly agree with this, but I love not having to log in here. I really welcomed the creation of the log-in-required political discussion forum, but I rarely used it, because I was too lazy to log in.

Possible alternative: Something that would automatically turn an IP address into a name or code. That way, we wouldn’t have to log in, but we could see who was sock puppeting.

Jeff can see the ip addresses, so you should report posts where you think there is sock puppeting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I run several other public-forum-esque sites and we A/B tested this and found that people behave more pleasantly toward each other the less anonymous they feel. Only mentioning this as I was surprised at how catty and petty this forum is.

I strongly agree with this, but I love not having to log in here. I really welcomed the creation of the log-in-required political discussion forum, but I rarely used it, because I was too lazy to log in.

Possible alternative: Something that would automatically turn an IP address into a name or code. That way, we wouldn’t have to log in, but we could see who was sock puppeting.

I would be so mortified if anyone - but Jeff - knew how much time I spent posting on DCUM instead of doing productive work. I might actually stop coming here if we got identified as a single poster in any way. I don't sock puppet but I go through bouts of posting on this site WAY too much for my own good. Actually maybe I like this suggestion, then - perhaps it's the tough love to get me off of here...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I run several other public-forum-esque sites and we A/B tested this and found that people behave more pleasantly toward each other the less anonymous they feel. Only mentioning this as I was surprised at how catty and petty this forum is.

I strongly agree with this, but I love not having to log in here. I really welcomed the creation of the log-in-required political discussion forum, but I rarely used it, because I was too lazy to log in.

Possible alternative: Something that would automatically turn an IP address into a name or code. That way, we wouldn’t have to log in, but we could see who was sock puppeting.

I would be so mortified if anyone - but Jeff - knew how much time I spent posting on DCUM instead of doing productive work. I might actually stop coming here if we got identified as a single poster in any way. I don't sock puppet but I go through bouts of posting on this site WAY too much for my own good. Actually maybe I like this suggestion, then - perhaps it's the tough love to get me off of here...

Everyone is the same.

[Anonymous]

Usernames would make traffic plummet. Less traffic = less ad revenue. You know this is Jeffs business right? Why would he want less traffic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I deal with the cattiness because of all the real/helpful comments that come from an anonymous forum.

I just ignore the snark.

X1000

[Anonymous]

There’s an irony in the poster who made this suggestion not creating an account to do so. Think about that, OP.