VIDEO: What Would Happen If Comments Were No Longer Anonymous?

Published
Dan Leadbetter
BY:
DealNews Contributing Writer
Additional contributions by Jeff Somogyi and Louis Ramirez.

The Huffington Post has announced that, as of next month, it will no longer allow anonymous comments on its site. If you want to leave a message on a post, you'll have to do so using your real name. The hope is that this will limit trolling.

In this brief — yet lively — video discussion, our experts ask: Are non-anonymous comments the key to a brighter future?

What about you, readers? Tell us how you'd feel about comments carrying the full name of the commenter. Leave your thoughts in our anonymous comment section, below!

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Dan Leadbetter
DealNews Contributing Writer

Dan Leadbetter was a Staff and Features Writer for DealNews. He enjoys comedy, playing drums, watching horror films, fine cigars, and Absinthe.
DealNews may be compensated by companies mentioned in this article. Please note that, although prices sometimes fluctuate or expire unexpectedly, all products and deals mentioned in this feature were available at the lowest total price we could find at the time of publication (unless otherwise specified).

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4 comments
Alligator
Half the fun of visiting sites that allowed anonymous comments was reading those comments. If the comments aren't as entertaining as the stories themselves I would expect site traffic to be reduced. Consequently advertisers would be less likely to sponsor such sites. HisSon is right, the posts have disappeared - and the site traffic has disappeared.
August 29, 2013
MalibuAce
Bababooey, Bababooey!
August 29, 2013
jestith
I'm reticent to post in political forums using a real identity because there are so many apparent sociopaths posting, and who knows what people like that would do if they get angry enough.

I do agree, though, that it's worth finding a solution to internet anonymity hostility. Perhaps a karma points solution where posters can be awarded points when they make an actual contribution to a discussion, and lose points when they name call, etc. Then people's comments could be weighted by their karma index. It could be something like Slash Dot.
August 28, 2013
HisSon
We have an area newspaper which went to the no anonymous policy several years ago and there are hardly any posts there. I liked posting there occasionally but not any more.

I will not post anywhere if I have to leave my true identity and I will not make up a phony name just to post somewhere.

There are times when I will post using my true identity depending on the topic even if I take an opposite view but that's my choice not the blog's choice.
August 28, 2013