The Real Name Fallacy
Jan. 4th, 2017 02:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jducoeur h/t to osewalrus for the pointer to this fine article about the misperception that anonymity is the cause of bad behavior online, and that forcing everyone to use their wallet names is the solution. The summary is that there has been actual research on the subject, and no, requiring wallet names doesn't help. (And it makes some problems much worse.)
Mind, I think anonymity per se *is* a problem, because it prevents a lot of social tools from working right -- some amount of persistent identity is, in my experience, necessary for the functioning of a good community. But pseudonymity, in my experience, is the best balance point: enough persistence to build community, without flailing around at the mistaken idea that online identities should be synonymous with real-world ones...
Mind, I think anonymity per se *is* a problem, because it prevents a lot of social tools from working right -- some amount of persistent identity is, in my experience, necessary for the functioning of a good community. But pseudonymity, in my experience, is the best balance point: enough persistence to build community, without flailing around at the mistaken idea that online identities should be synonymous with real-world ones...