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A Scintillating Friday Evening Open Thread

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swamprat8/14/2009 6:57:05 pm PDT

re: #289 iceweasel

Precisely. Human nature being what it is, if it were anon we’d see a huge upsurge in downdings— and, sad to say, probably a decline in updings.

As it is, it works as a form of self-policing for the community. Lacking anonymity means that the people who abuse it are always exposed. Ensures accountability.

Just look at the amount of abuse that already happens— people going through a dead thread to downding others they don’t like. If that were anon, you could easily expect that in a multiple of ten. At least.

It would be interesting to see if anyone’s done a study on the comparative effects of anon karma vs. ‘named’ karma on web communities.

Maybe we could comment anonymously: that way I could avoid the tremendous feeling of of shame and regret I sometimes feel when I find myself updinging a person with whom I find little to agree with, or even like. Someone such as yourself, for instance.