New Google policy
pushes commenters to use their real names
By Will Collette
 |
| YouTube's latest anti-troll effort |
Mashable reports that Google
is trying to address a problem as old as the internet of commenters who like to
hit and run by posting nasty or stupid comments on blogs, news stories, videos
(like those on YouTube), forums, etc.
We certainly see a lot of that here at
Progressive Charlestown where just about every racist, hateful, libelous or just
plain stupid comment is posted by an anonymous sniper. Of the 629 comments we
have spiked (the ratio is about 1 rejection for every 4.25 comments that we
publish), nearly all are anonymous.
When Google-Plus account holders
log on to YouTube and want to post a comment, they will see a screen that
encourages them to use their Google-Plus account name – their real name – and,
if the commenter decides s/he doesn’t want to do that, they go to a screen that
asks them to give their reason for not wanting to give their real name.
That’s a GREAT policy. There are
occasions where a person might have good reason not to reveal his/her identity
– whistle-blowers exposing a public safety hazard or corruption, for example, or
a Syrian rebel who doesn’t want his family killed.
I’m not sure fearing
retaliation from our CCA-controlled government ranks as a reason to hide your
identity, even though CCA retaliation against its enemies is very real.
Our policy at Progressive
Charlestown is to encourage commenters to give their real names. We’d love to
have the technology to be able to do what Google YouTube does (since we use
Google’s Blogger as our platform, maybe that option will become available in the future).
Each Progressive Charlestown
writer has the discretion to accept or reject comments on their articles,
though we always spike racist, homophobic and libelous comments. We will
sometimes post anonymous comments we find interesting, funny or that express
their love and devotion.
If you want to post an anonymous
comment calling me a jerk or calling Progressive Charlestown a commie-pinko
e-rag, go post it on the other blog
– they love anonymous comments that
attack their long list of enemies. Or just stalk me in the supermarket as one
of the CCA Steering Committee members has done.
When you want to take a stand on
an issue, show that you have the courage of your convictions by putting your
real name on it.
For those of you who find the
Blogger set-up for comments challenging, here’s the way it works. First, go to
the pull-down menu right under the comment box marked “comment as” and make
your selection. If you have a Google account, you can use that.
If you have a website or want to
be identified that way, choose “Name/URL” and enter your name and your URL. For
example, Mike Chambers, Cliff Vanover, “Jerry,” “Peyton Storm” or any of our
other CCA fans might want to use this option – give your name and plug in the
CCA website address.
If you select “Anonymous” as so
many readers do (I think mainly because they can’t figure out how to work the
other options), you can still sign your name by typing it in right at the
beginning of your comment.
Write your comment and then hit
“publish.” I have heard that some readers see a red dot at this point. I have
no idea what that is but suggest an eye exam[1].
Your comment then goes into a
queue for review. If your comment is obscene, racist, homophobic, libelous or
just plain stupid, it goes to spam limbo.
As noted earlier, each author
has the final say on comments on his or her articles. We each have different
tolerance levels for anonymous comments. It should come as no surprise that
mine is very low. I put a lot of effort into my investigative reporting and
expect that anyone who wants to take a shot at me should have the guts to sign
their name, as I do, and deliver some counter-evidence.
Bear in mind that you have no
“right” to have your comment posted on Progressive Charlestown, any more than
you have a “right” to be published in the Westerly Sun or on Regressive
Charlestown.
[1] If you still can’t figure out how to post a comment,
Progressive Charlestown’s techno-wiz Tom Ferrio has offered to make a “house
call” so he can observe what the problems are and help you work out a fix.