Anonymous commenting & trolls
I've been allowing it because some of you who sign your comments seem to have trouble commenting when it was off. Can you let me know if you need annonymous comments, or if you just use it sometimes? I know a few of you can't comment at all. I have heard from one person that using Mozilla fixed that problem.
Anyway, I've picked up a troll. Now as trolls go, this one is fairly mild so far. I can take criticisms and welcome challenging questions. Some of my better posts have been written in response to these. But you know the other side: people who are critical without paying attention to any of the complexity, people who under the cover of anonymity say things they would not otherwise say.
Anyway, if you are a regular reader who needs the anonymous option, please let me know. I may turn it off again.
I hate trolls!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous commenters bother me on ANY blog. I turned it off on mine a while ago. People can give constructive criticism without hiding behind the curtain. There is no excuse for piping off and hiding who you are.
ReplyDeleteI have had no anon posters on my little blog but OTOH I have never tried to post a comment anonymously to anyone either. I never even answer surveys etc anonymously in "real" life. I have always felt it important to stand behind my words.
ReplyDeleteI don't post anonymously but I can see reasons why someone would. Maybe someone is a foster parent but also works somewhere that his or her online identity is scrutinized just as much as his or her work identity. Now, I realize that blogger identities aren't the same as screaming your SSN from the rooftops, but there's enough overlap from here to there to a third place that someone might be more comfortable not risking someone figuring out who they are.
ReplyDeleteRAK,
ReplyDeleteI periodically get emails from people who want to ask questions and don't want their identity "out there." A couple of them have subsequently started blogging. Most don't. I don't know if they are long term readers or not.
I don't comment as often as I used too, but I'm (usually) anonymous.
ReplyDeleteI can live without commenting, or with emailing you if I feel strongly about something.
For some reason sometimes I can't comment under my Google account so every now and then I'll post anonymous and just sign it "eos," but maybe it's a matter of just coming by later and trying again when Google is more cooperative. I can understand starving the trolls though...very annoying spending time on someone who is just trying to stir up stuff.
ReplyDeleteI comment anonymously because I don't have a blog or a url, and don't know how to get a profile elsewhere. I did sign up one time for a google account but can't remember how I did it (or what the password was.) So I guess I'm anonymous out of stupidity.
ReplyDeleteIt never occurred to me to send email. But I don't comment often and could certainly live without commenting if you had to turn anonymous comments off.
Deb
LOL I have commented because of problems with google accepting my password. I kept getting frustrated so just used anonymous (but I think I signed my name at the bottom, didn't I?)
ReplyDeleteIts like having the anonymous option just brings out the bad in folks, doesn't it?
I recently got some strange comments on my blog, but realized it was a male friend from my college days trying to be funny. Ha! I could see it was from him town and the references he made (to specific stores and places in our hometown) made it easy to figure out it was him. He obviously created a google ID just for that purpose. Anyone can do that if they are determined.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't me.
ReplyDelete