Thursday 11 September 2008

No more Anons

I guess after a while, a Blog wants to grow up.

It's time for those that post comments to do so as well. Like a number of my 1,000 daily readers, I'm over the raft of anonymous comments from anyone who's too frightened to leave their own name or at least a name.

My rationale is that if you're willing to to publicly state an opinion for the masses, then you should be prepared to put your name by it.

Andrew Griffiths has also contributed his feelings that if a public forum like CairnsBlog is to have credibility, make it should be mandatory for everyone making a comment to put their name on it.

And I agree. I've raised this subject before, and a number said that the anonymous feature allowed them to express themselves without fear of intimidation etc. Well, the freedom of the Internet allows us to be whoever we like, but as this Blog has gained critical mass, it's time to strengthen the rules and the way in with those that want to contribute to this online democracy, can do so in a way that is more mature.

"I love freedom of speech and the fact that we can make comment about anything we want, and that is what keeps people honest - fear of being caught, Andrew Griffiths tells me. "But you do have a lot of people who are misinformed, making slanderous comments about individuals, based purely on what they 'perceive' is the truth in their world - and they do it all with a mask to protect them. Not very brave or open really is it?"

Andrew, like myself, enjoys CairnsBlog and what it sets out to achieve, but we don't want it to be a sounding board for "lunatics to fire barbs from the comfort of their computer late at night, with no means of true come back for the people on the receiving end."

With this in mind, if you wish to leave a comment on CairnsBlog now, you will need to have a user name to post comments.

This is rather easy and will not slow down your access to make a comment on here. If you don't already, set up a OpenID name, a Google user name, Live Journal, WordPress, or TypeKey.

This system will also prevent Spam and unsolicited messages being posted.

Post away.

Anon.

PS: Did you know that there's 112 million blogs on line?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Anonymous or not, it doesn't stop the bullshit comments coming from guys like Andrew Griffiths. He whinges around town about the unfair comments about CEC, and yet has failed to disclose here that he's a paid spin doctor for the soon-to-be-gone overdeveloper.

He was spruiking the CEC abandoned project "BoulvardE" just a day or so before they pulled the plug - telling John Mckenzie how well sales were going. A project that NEVER would say the dirty word "Manunda", where it is located at.

It isn't the anonymous midnight lunatics that are a worry, it's the dressed up corporate spin doctors that should have us all worried.

Anonymous said...

Oh, and this "forced ID" thing is generally the kiss of death to community activist blogs. I guess Michael you'll finally need to get a jay oh bee.

Anonymous said...

Let's see if this works.

I'm keen to write about the practice of democracy in Cairns. It could use some improvement.