Anonymous blog comments make for intense conversations focused on the merits of hot topics. They also for violent, obscene mud-slinging.
MSJ blogger Rob Mentzer writes about the issue of anonymous comments, concluding that the free-for-all of the Web does more good than bad:
The best things about blogs are that they are immediate, individual and responsive. That’s why good blogs don’t have editors, and that’s why I think comments should be mediated as little as possible.
Unsurprisingly, there’s a nice little conversation in the comments of that post. I’ve always felt that anonymity lets me be bolder in my comments; and everyone is allowed of course to post anonymously on this blog. But I’ve also seen many comment threads overrun with spam, vulgarity and hatred (*cough* YouTube), and understand the need to sometimes moderate comments.
What say you, commenters?