January 26th, 2009 
joel Our readers’ wish probably won’t be Congress’s command.
Some 80% of P&T respondents said that the digital transition deadline should not be changed from February 17th. Only two voters thought we should wait on the transition.
Last week, the accountability of commenters on blogs like The Press and Tower came into question. We had a spirited discussion about how those who frequent blogs and message boards can throw bombs, spread lies, half-truths, or rumors with impunity, and hide behind anonymity or a pseudonym. Some called for the abolition of any identification but “real names,” which seems like a tall order given the nature of the web.
What would you do if you ran a blog or board?
Should commenters on blogs or message boards be allowed to use pseudonyms or remain anonymous?
- Yes, it’s impossible to track a real identity on the web anyway (51%, 18 Votes)
- No, accountability of one’s speech is too important to allow people to hide behind false identities (26%, 9 Votes)
- It doesn’t matter to me (23%, 8 Votes)
Total Voters: 35
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I don’t often get an anonymous commenter on my blog, but I do believe that openness is key to maintaining civility and believability. I have seen other blogs turn to insult and innuendo rather than civil discussion. I have no desire to deal with that sort of thing
I’ve ran into this issue many times. There really is no point blocking anon users when they can just use a dummy name. With all of the free accounts available you cant rely on email for an identifier and IP’s are spoofed all the time. Until the day comes when you have to get a license to surf the web don’t expect any miracles to unmasking jagoff posters. Though most serious trouble makers are in it for attention and can usually be found using that same name elsewhere.
The solution is simple. Require everyone who posts to register and you must register under an actual name…not a handle. The New York Radio message Board; http://musicradio77.com/wwwboard/ does this and the level of discussion is always civil and informed…yet lively at the same time. It’s one of my favorite boards actually (no offense Joel). Granted a lot of the discussion centers around New York City radio, but they also frequently get into discusssions of national significance. And in spite of not being able to post anonymously, there is a very high level of participation by a wide range of people…both within the industry and those that are just radio geeks.