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Are Anonymous Comments Good for Community?
It's always hard to know what to do. We'd love your input.
Should we publish anonymous comments? Should we publish anonymous comments that are inflammatory? I'm totally up for meaningful dialogue, but is it meaningful if someone leaves a negative comment on DrGreene.com, but is not willing to leave her name?
Please weigh in. We'd really like to know what you think.
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Update on Anonymous Comments
Thanks to all of you who weighed in on Anonymous Comments.
We thought the big issue would be real people, who might be tempted to do "hit and runs". Unfortunately, we were over run by spam comments. Little did we know the spammers / spam bots would ultimately have a voice in whether or not we accepted Anonymous Comments.
We are trying some things on the engineering level to see if we can filter out the spam. Until we find an answer we've turned off Anonymous comments.
Stay tuned for an update.
You know what - I really
You know what - I really don't mind the anonymous comments for all the reasons that the others have mentioned.
The one and only reason I don't like them is when people abuse the option by posting spam, or trying to sell us viagra or promising pictures of their naked girlfriend/ex wife/cousin... PULLLLLLEEEEZEEEE -- Seriously don't these people have better things to do with their time?!?!??!
Anyway... sorry about that little vent there...
Anonymous gives people the chance to check us out and find out that we really are a nice bunch of people, and that our site is not a 'catch' and that we really are not trying to sell them something - we just want to connect and be friends, and welcome the chance to get to know new people. Honest people no catch!
I do like the idea of being notified when someone comments on a post I have made, or on a thread that I am interested in, be it here in the community or on one of the many articles on site - but some people might not want to be notified, and that is why checking a box to be notified works for both groups... but the key there is you would have to be registered and logged in to get notification.
Now for some of the games -- ones soon to come here in the community Anonymous might get a bit confusing, but I am hoping that those people if they don't want to register and login they will at least sign their posts :-)
Anyway that is my 2 cents -- ok 3 cents with the vent ;-)
Anonymous, or not??
IMO-- Sometimes individuals do not feel comfortable leaving their names, regardless of whether or not the comment is agreeable. Being anonymous helps somebody that may be shy, or just have difficulty communicating, become able to come out and voice opinions and concerns, as well as granting them the ability to help others. Comments, both negative and positive can help to build the online community into one of diversity that appeals to all individuals. I would think that having the emails and/or signature, while helpful in order to keep conversation and information flowing, should not be necessary for posting. As long as there are guidelines for all individuals regarding respecting others and the website, and those guidelines are not crossed, constructive criticism is ok and leads to a better experience. Inflammatory comments, regardless of who they are from are not necessarily constructive and this is where the guidelines used for the website should take affect.
I agree it's a tough decision
I agree it's a tough decision with pro's and con's on both sides. Friday I went and answered a bunch of QQ's not realizing I wasn't signed in (I'm the one who would come visit you in Muir Woods) and was frustrated.
I think anytime there is a community where online or in real life it's important to hear the members opinions even if they aren't always positive. Sometimes knowing the identity can be important, but it is more important than not knowing opinions because people don't want the association with their name?
Of course there are obvious extremes, someone who comes in anonymously leaving inflammatory comments about everyone and everything while leaving nothing constructive or productive. That is not acceptable IMO.
The other side of the spectrum is someone who has some constructive feedback or helpful suggestions that would require a change but don't want that associated with their name. It still can be valuable feedback.
I know that you value our thoughts and opinions, but when I'm new in a community I never know how the leaders are going to react to hearing not 100% positive ideas and I don't always say the things I would feel comfortable telling you.
All that long winded post is to say I don't know. If I were the one to have to make the decision I'd say leave the anonymous option for now, reassess if it becomes a problem. I don't think it's ok for an anonymous poster to be inflammatory or hurtful to another, same for spamming.
Reply
:)
That's funny, when I read that comment about the wood I thought of you, lol :)
Reply
Here's what I think about that ...
Heather -- thanks for taking the time to respond (and btw I'd love to see you in Muir woods!).
We're working on a response system that allows a reader to get an email notification when someone has replied to a comment. If the original commenter has not signed in, then he or she won't know that a response has been made.
We really do care about what people think and want to engage in a dialogue. We just don't know the best way to do that.
I'd love more comments. Anyone????