Years ago I was in a thread on Yahoo about a stock I had purchased. Pretty mundane stuff. Until it got ugly, and I do mean ugly. Profanity and vulgarity and people venting anger because they could, they knew they wouldn't be held accountable. Especially virulent were the attacks on women.
So I've been thinking about the Google name policy and I think it's a very good idea. If people don't like it there are alternatives, it's not the only game in town. But it may be the only game that stays accountable.
Using real names doesn't prevent ugliness. There's plenty of ugliness on Facebook, where real names are required.
Here is a search engine that finds public posts on Facebook. Search for any ugly insults you can think of, and see what people are willing to post under their real names.
"Removing anonymity won't stop the online flame wars" -- http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/jul/12/guardianweeklytechnologysection.privacy In fact, contrary to expectations, her experiments demonstrated that students who were familiar with each other took more liberties on screen, not fewer. “There was four times as much flaming when they knew each other than when they didn’t,” Dyer says.
Name policy on Google+
Date: 24 Aug 2011 02:48 pm (UTC)So I've been thinking about the Google name policy and I think it's a very good idea. If people don't like it there are alternatives, it's not the only game in town. But it may be the only game that stays accountable.
Re: Name policy on Google+
Date: 24 Aug 2011 05:20 pm (UTC)Here is a search engine that finds public posts on Facebook. Search for any ugly insults you can think of, and see what people are willing to post under their real names.
http://youropenbook.org/
Re: Name policy on Google+
Date: 27 Aug 2011 05:07 am (UTC)-- http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/jul/12/guardianweeklytechnologysection.privacy
In fact, contrary to expectations, her experiments demonstrated that students who were familiar with each other took more liberties on screen, not fewer. “There was four times as much flaming when they knew each other than when they didn’t,” Dyer says.