Comments Posted By grumpy realist
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WHELAN APOLOGY LEAVES QUESTIONS UNANSWERED ABOUT BLOG COMMENTERS
May I point out that insisting on people using their "real names" when commenting puts much more of a burden of revelation on those of us with unusual names? If someone's true name is Tony Smith, said Tony Smith will be lost in the shuffle of all the other Tony Smiths in existence out there. In other words, someone with a more-or-less generic name is already pseudo-anonymous. A prospective employer doing a search on the background of an applicant will probably not treat blog comments made by a "Tony Smith" with much consideration because of the difficulty of tying the applicant Tony Smith to the commentator Tony Smith.
For those of us who have far more unique names, our signing our names is far more revelatory, and causes us to take on much more risk. Thank you, but I prefer to not do that, and I can see why people who comment on controversial topics might not want to be so precisely pinpointed and localized as targets for the crazies out there.
Comment Posted By grumpy realist On 10.06.2009 @ 20:55
THE OUTING OF PUBLIUS AND THE COMFORT OF ANONYMITY
...given some of the comments up above, I think what we're seeing is that a 15-year old who can hide behind a handle is far more likely to act like an impolite brat than a 15-year old who would have to sign his name to the task.
Those of us who are mature and thoughtful are hopefully that way all the time--when commenting under a pseudonym or not.
Comment Posted By grumpy realist On 10.06.2009 @ 21:09
