Can we make the politcal forum username only?

[Anonymous]

The bullying ha gotten out of control.

Having usernames has seem to eliminate cut down the nastiness, trolling, and bullying in explicit.

People that actually want to discuss and debate will still be able to do so with usernames. The people that just want to spread vitriol and false information will be limited.

Just a thought.

[Anonymous]

This is a great idea!

[Anonymous]

Agree. If it's required in the explicit forum it can be here too.

[jsteele]

I'm hoping to avoid this. I'll give the forum a bit more time to calm down.

[Anonymous]

Also all the bullies and bad moms will just post in Off Topic in order to not get caught.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree. If it's required in the explicit forum it can be here too.

Agreed...and Jeff, it will get worse and worse, even after inauguration day.

[Anonymous]

Hey Jeff, I'm a bit of a lurker on the politics forum and usually read/post elsewhere, but please don't do this. It seems so fundamentally wrong from a free speech perspective. I know you do moderate and do a thoughtful job, so it's not 100% free as is, but "registration" to submit political views seems like it would leave an especially bad taste these days. There are definitely trolls, but there are also strongly and legitimately held disagreements. If recent events have shown us anything, it's that we need to learn to communicate with others despite such strong disagreements so that we can really hear each other. /s/ a bit of a Pollyanna

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hey Jeff, I'm a bit of a lurker on the politics forum and usually read/post elsewhere, but please don't do this. It seems so fundamentally wrong from a free speech perspective. I know you do moderate and do a thoughtful job, so it's not 100% free as is, but "registration" to submit political views seems like it would leave an especially bad taste these days. There are definitely trolls, but there are also strongly and legitimately held disagreements. If recent events have shown us anything, it's that we need to learn to communicate with others despite such strong disagreements so that we can really hear each other. /s/ a bit of a Pollyanna

Communicating with others seems like it would be more productive if people had to own the scope of their opinions. A username isn't a neon sign pointing to your ture identity.

[Anonymous]

Agree. Too many trolls.

[Anonymous]

What would stop someone from creating multiple accounts and posting from said multiple accounts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What would stop someone from creating multiple accounts and posting from said multiple accounts?

IP address?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What would stop someone from creating multiple accounts and posting from said multiple accounts?

IP address?

vpn gets around that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hey Jeff, I'm a bit of a lurker on the politics forum and usually read/post elsewhere, but please don't do this. It seems so fundamentally wrong from a free speech perspective. I know you do moderate and do a thoughtful job, so it's not 100% free as is, but "registration" to submit political views seems like it would leave an especially bad taste these days. There are definitely trolls, but there are also strongly and legitimately held disagreements. If recent events have shown us anything, it's that we need to learn to communicate with others despite such strong disagreements so that we can really hear each other. /s/ a bit of a Pollyanna

Please don't conflate this with a free speech issue. This is a private enterprise, not a governmental entity. The First Amendment doesn't apply.

[Anonymous]

Fantastic idea OP.

It would be great to be able to have actual rational conversations and dialogue especially within the context of politics. Too many hot heads, trolls and the like just turn the whole forum into a circus of tantrums and baiting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hey Jeff, I'm a bit of a lurker on the politics forum and usually read/post elsewhere, but please don't do this. It seems so fundamentally wrong from a free speech perspective. I know you do moderate and do a thoughtful job, so it's not 100% free as is, but "registration" to submit political views seems like it would leave an especially bad taste these days. There are definitely trolls, but there are also strongly and legitimately held disagreements. If recent events have shown us anything, it's that we need to learn to communicate with others despite such strong disagreements so that we can really hear each other. /s/ a bit of a Pollyanna

+1