Anonymity has always been an important part of online life and its removal would force introverts off the internet.

Sometimes I mistakenly read what a few people have to say in response to a Yahoo article, or whatever.
I'm shocked and appalled at some of the statements made, and again I'm reminded not to read them anymore.

People sometimes must feel more secure in writing horrible things when they're anonymous, and whether one is a star or a regular Joe/Josephine, it can hurt terribly.

Our Twitter and Facebook links are on our website, and as a result, it's even MORE important for me to act accordingly when I Tweet, etc.

Great article, and I hope there is a solution one day!

Cindy H
Brown Sugar

You should be able to increase a users Troll rating on every interaction they do. Then as they increase in trolling, they lose right to interact with parts of the site; or are simply visible to everyone as trolls.

Take digg for example, if they had moderated it from the start it people would know its not ok.

Simple rule treat people how you would treat them in real life, would half these people go up to a complete stranger and be rude?

However this goes both ways there can be over moderation.

For example I commented on a techcrunch story about plastic logic's ebook reader and the writer took a real kindle fanboy approach so I corrected him. I took 5 mins to write the comment, I was not rude but pointed out his mistakes in my opinion. techcrunch deleted it, for why? who knows maybe its down to habit of just hitting that delete comment button because they get a lot of trolls. however for deleting my comment they just lost a fan and reader.

It becomes a bit ridiculous when I have to wade through the endless, "whalebutt99", "ivan_da_terrible", and "sexy8one" nonsensical comments to find a thoughtful perspective.

Whalebutt99, tweet me later, we'll do lunch.

"There are those who would try to say that anonymous posting of truly nasty comments is protected by free speech. The speech is, but not the anonymity."

I totally agree with you. I'm hoping a solution to the troll problem, something pretty much every web publisher including myself has had to deal with, can be resolved sooner rather than later.

Of course, one could always just turn comments off ...

http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2004/20040319h.jpg

Some kind of system should be set up, as suggested by other commenters, to filter trolls, but not total real-name exposure.

Its just reversed for celebs...

For example, can someone tell me why anonymity is needed on tech blogs?

-Bill Auclair

Insulting letters, rude comments and fake messages from "celebrities" were around looooong before the internet. In the world of entertainment, FanZines were full of those things when they were printed and mailed. Arguments about politics played out in newspapers and magazines. Trolls would troll and people would have flame wars in the Letters and Editorial sections. And it would last longer-- far longer-- because issues would be printed daily, weekly, monthly or bimonthly, not instantly.

I am sure that currently-disgruntled celebrities would not be upset if a teenaged fan posted anonymously, "I love your work but I can't let my parents know because they think that pop culture is the work of the devil. So I'm posting this anonymously to tell you that I'm a fan." I don't for a minute believe that they would not welcome such a post. Well, you can't have it both ways.

I think you are worrying about nothing just because a few celebrities are upset. Trolls come and go, but public discourse always remains.

I commented to my wife the other day that I think I am done with Digg. You used to be able to have insightful conversations there. But now, when you spend the time to write well thought out comments, people don't hesitate to give you one line, smart ass know it all answers.

I have better things to do than waste my time with people only interested in tearing others down.

Because offering a quick thought on a tech blog is a radically different level of participation than giving a tech blog my full name, confirmed email, and a direct verification link to my entire social profile (friends, tastes, job, education...)

Sorry, random tech blog. I might give you a couple of sentences for free. But if you want all my verified personal details, pay up.

The result will be the celebrities, sports pros, and pros in any area of expertise (doctors, chefs, whatever) will get fed up, remember why they hide from the public, remember the worth of their work and knowledge (as Reznor has), and leave.

It is unfortunate for those of us who truly like to learn and hear from professionals.

Eventually, I think a few of the pros/celebrities might do what Reznor suggests and create their own closed communities -- EXACTLY what they have now offline, and EXACTLY what the advocates of openness on the net are railing against.

So, imo, things will come full circle (inet portraying RL)...and "normal" people will remain in the dark...the internet will have "openness" -- but will consist of the clueless communicating with the clueless, and we'll be dolled out polished bits via publicists, gossip rags and PR firms.

...bummer

At the same time, I strongly recommend features such as 'report abuse' on fellow network members who engage in unwarranted troll behavior.

Twitter - which has regularly evolved around user patterns - could introduce such a feature which would hopefully be one of the TEMPORARY solutions to trolls.

Even if you are not a celeb... if you have enough followers or say one thing, you might have a hater on hand. The wankdom is everywhere, not just on the popular social media sites, but in fanfiction, fanart, and more. As for celebs, they should just grow a tougher backbone. To just quit is just not even right and shows a side of them that would be disappointing to their fans - creating more backlash.

Of course, they could all start a sockpuppet account and boost their egos. I have seen that one a few times... just as lovely. *sarcasm*

Regarding celebs — a lot of them already have closed online communities, where the less intelligent of them get all the adulation they wish for.

The IP addresses are logged right? So if you find troll like behavior we should be able to ID it as such, kinda in the same way email has evolved to allow us to ID spam.

After a certain limit we should be able to block out posting from certain folks.

Your use of the image of V is ironic too - an anonymous rebel who overthrows a corrupt tyranny - anonymously. While you're at it, why not just force ID cards on everyone? And make them electronic so I have to use them like a SecureID to leave a comment on RWW! and...

Your question is a form of that old chestnut "what do you have to hide? You must have something to hide." But we have employers and others googling us all of the time, making judgements about us and potentially making decisions about whether or not to hire us based on what we say online. Even if you're not a troll, being open under your own name can be risky. Two examples - 1) I like wine. I might post about a wine dinner I went to, perhaps I blog regularly about it. What if an HR person sees that and thinks "Oh, he drinks, I hate people who drink a lot/are wine snobs/whatever" and nixes me from an interview and 2) If you post online a lot you'll eventually post when tired, in a bad mood, etc. Almost always, you cannot edit your post or delete it... the comment's there forever. I'm not talking hateful stuff, just blunt or snarky.

You ask above why I might need anonymity on a tech blog... instead of answering that, let me ask you this - where's the line? You concede that it might be risky to admit one's gay when commenting on, say, a post on gay marriage, so is anonymity OK there but not on RWW? Where's the line and what's the criteria?

Eliminating the choice of anonymity in a web-wide is Big Brotherish. Next up, national ID cards. Then let's install software on your system to see where you go and... oh, hold it. Where was that line again?

You ask why I need to be anonymous on tech blogs. I'll ask.. why do you need to know my real identity?

it may reduce the amount noise that in the end is pretty harmless and would only create worse scenarios.

So you are confusing the need of federated auth and identification for better moderate and handle a commenting community with the illusion that you can actually get rid of bad commenter's without hurting participation,community value and mindshare. you cannot have the cake and eat it too. it is choosing one or the other in the end.

But Anonymous comments should be left alone since it is better for them to be that, than being personifications and fake personas or worse. Techcrunch does get this and that is why it just erases comments but don't puts any kind of moderation since it would hurt their post page views, participation, mindshare and influence.

That is just my expert opinion since i have been around online on a daily basis for 15 years.

How about BBS?

Trolling has been around for long, long time.

This isn't new.

The people joining the internet are n00bs.

I have several online identities, some just for me, and some that I share with other like minded people (I highly recommend shared identity btw). In one ID, I am my real name, the one that employers google and my grandparents can see.

A second id allows me to express my other, possibly truer self, the one that drops the occasional f-bomb in conversation, is politically active, highly opinionated, and occasionally revolutionary. This ID enabled me to expose a sexual assault problem within a military installment by confidentially reporting 12 sexual assaults and rapes of women in the unit, women that never would have agreed to it unless their identity was protected from the chain of command responsible for the crimes.

Another id is the one I use for more networking within a community of techies and developers that prefer to remain under our pseudonyms because this is the history and culture of the hacking community that created the internets in the first place. There are several other shared id's that are used for various projects, collaboration, organizing, social movements, activism, etc. Nothing illegal, nothing pornographic. Just stuff I don't want the whole world to know.

All of these identities have their own email addresses and URLs linked to them, even different IPs, ISPs and MAC addresses if appropriate. Are we suggesting that even these things become static so no one gets their feelings hurt?

The internet should remain a place where anonymity is accepted, to do otherwise is to track users so closely that China's filtering and monitoring system would seem free in comparison.

If anonymity and the chaos it sometimes creates are not something you can handle, don't go to those sites. Or maybe you're taking it too srsly, and need to get over your ego a bit.

"Sometimes [our fellows] hurt us, seemingly without provocation, but we invariably find that at some time in the past we have made decisions based on self which later placed us in a position to be hurt." tru dat

I don't think anonymity makes sense at all. Be transparent always.

To respond to Ville in #1, anonymity will not force introverts off the Internet. I've been pretty introverted all my life but I have become "extroverted" (as many people here can attest to) because of being myself on the Internet.

Not everyone strives to be extroverted. Your karmic experience may very well dictate your offspring to resent you for making the decision for him.

As someone said, celebs are by nature a large target. Potential abuse comes with the territory of celebrity.

As someone also said, there will always be ways to get around any system.

I do not believe the lack of anonymity will change anything. PimplyTeen244 will just be called "Mike Hunt" or "Hugh Jass"

When does free speech go out the window and a troll become?

As an anomynour person you are more likely to say whats really on your mind. I know i and many with me hold back when speaking to the boss man for example. we tend to "correct" ourselves after what those whom we are dependent of thinks.

I have strong political and social opinions that i know a lot of people dont agree with. Why should my opinions which i have now, forever be on the Internet with my name attached to it. i dont even want my mild, everyday opinions to be accessible. 3 out of 4 employes look up the people they are about to employ on the Internet. the employees personal opinions shouldnt be an issue for me to get a job, which it will if he/she can see all my comments.

i am surprised that the conversation isnt about how we can be more anomynous online rather than vice versa.
which is worst: making everyone reveal their true identities online with all its consequences, or the occasional trolls??
thanks
Max

Exactly how long has Trent been using Twitter? The great thing about Twitter is how much control you DO have over what you see. You choose who to follow. You can BLOCK anyone. You can protect your updates so you only approve the people you want to see. You can even filter twitter searches.

I get the larger point about how trolls are a problem, but this is nothing new. Twitter has MUCH better filters in place than previous chat alternatives.

Plenty of famous people use the internet regularly, but they either fly quietly under the radar, like any other normal person, or they ignore the haters.

Seems funny that Ashton Kutcher can deal and tough-guy Trent Reznor is throwing a tantrum.

i really feel so bad for them...
who gives a shit? They are mostly obnoxious self loathing idiots...funny how they said everyone is idiots...they never engage or communicate to the general public and when they do they say they are all idiots. Well this is the world...the world is not in your little siloed fantasy you live.

good ridance..leave the community for us common folk.
If you can't handle the heat get out of the kitchen.

wow, i just said that.

Your site is very easy in terms of expression and open. I think everyone who enters your site is very gratifying, but also sharing a very nice opportunity to give ...

use global intuitive connexion
it's already here and the future

Trent went ahead and got himself a private twitter account.

http://twitter.com/noise_floor

Couldn't these morons just lock their existing accounts?

I agree with above -- "The speech is, but not the anonymity."

People turn into cowardly, vicious demons behind the mask of anonymity.

Keta Diablo
http://ketaskeep.blogspot.com

I don't like to follow most who use the auto tweet getter services. They're missing the point. The only good thing is maybe all the spammers can just end up following each other through them.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10185063-38.html

Trolls ain't new. You don't need to ruin the net to fix that particular problem.

LATER MAN.

BIFF.

And forcing someone to put a name and email I just proved to be a complete waste of time. Even if you required a checked email address anyone could make a gmail/hotmail/yahoo email account easily for the purposes of trolling.

Besides your leaving out the part where Trolling is sometimes entertaining. Maybe Trent Reznor needs to grow a sense of humor. Maybe these big time celebs need to take this as a small price to pay for living with comforts most of us will never know.

There is nothing going on the internet that most people havent delt with at one point or another in life. Trolls live in high schools where they bully and make fun of people. Trolls live at my work, where they slack off and make more work for everyone while taking personal calls and chattin at the water cooler all day. Trolls are everywhere.

And it may have been a while since you were told this but at some point most peoples parents have uttered the words "If you ignore it they will go away". Well this rings true for trolls. In fact. It HURTS them more than anything they could ever say to you, to be ignored, to know they remain inconsequential despite their efforts is the worst thing in the world you can do to a troll. After all, its all just a cry for attention is it not?

Some celebrities, just like non-celeb tweeters, are downright irritating, and I do expect that people will come after them. I, however, would prefer it if people could do it out in the open. When a celeb I'm following is in distress, I advise them to block the person. I've noticed that a lot will just announce it or even RT the troll's comments. I do admit that blocking is merely a band-aid because with the high number of followers they have because blocking haters could be a full-time job. From that perspective, maybe celebs ought to hire social media experts to help them weed out the hateful static. I just don't think they have enough time to block and report all the venomous tweets sent their way.

On the flip side, some of it is deserved because some celebs are beyond irritating. I've unfollowed celebrities for being too preachy, full of themselves or sanctimonious. I won't say who because it's not important and tastes vary. Someone I think is a preaching pain in the butt might be just what someone else needs and wants. Like any other person on Twitter, celebrity or not, if you irk me, I'm removing you from my list.

However, even I get on my soap box every once in awhile, so I'll give the occasional preacher a pass. That's forgivable. There are just some who are ALWAYS sending out advice or life strategies. My question is "did I ask you for life advice?" I don't attack these people. I don't have the time or the interest to do so. I just stop following them.

I think abusive trolls need to be exiled from the system completely. It's one thing to be anonymous because you're paranoid about security, new to the Internet or shy. It's another to be hiding behind anonymity because you like being an ass online. I think social networking systems really need to weed these people out. The issue is how to do so effectively?

On a small scale you can. When I started blogging I left comments completely open and, sure enough, fools started wandering in and trying to muck things up. I immediately made it so 1) people had to be registered, 2) needed to complete a captcha and 3) I needed to approve the comments. It works for me. Other blogs that deal with similar topics get trolls galore, but I manage it because I set that tone pretty much from the start. Also, my blog is very narrow in focus, so I can manage the traffic. When the numbers get as high as the ones celebrities deal with, I think it's completely unrealistic for them to deal with it 100% on their own. I want the tweets to come from them, but I would completely understand them having someone to sort through their replies and followers.

To the trolls I say, get a life. There are far better things to do in life than spread hate and crap on the internet.

But seriously, folks, we have a constitutionally-protected right to free, anonymous speech for a very good reason.

"Protections for anonymous speech are vital to democratic discourse. Allowing dissenters to shield their identities frees them to express critical, minority views . . . Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. . . . It thus exemplifies the purpose behind the Bill of Rights, and of the First Amendment in particular: to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation . . . at the hand of an intolerant society."

The reason trolling works is because a lot of people are new to the Internet and not particularly good at rational argument. They have irrational prejudices, they're quick to anger, and quick to judgment. But that's a much greater evil than trolling. As the net becomes more and more ubiquitous, humanity will be forced to grow up. They'll learn how to recognize trolls and resist their influence, and in the same process, they'll learn to recognize the same methods when used as propaganda by governments and corporations. Polarize the debate. Divide and conquer. You're either with us, or against us. Incite unthinking, emotional reactions and you can control the world. Teach people to resist that influence, on the other hand...