Does Anonymity contribute to less civil discourse? When you can post anonymously does anything go. Or is society getting nastier. Internet posting worldwide in an instant is pretty new stuff.

You sure don’t get the same dangerous repercussions by posting online with a secret identity. No punches in the nose, No lawsuits, no payback.

Some published authors are trying to get anonymous posters banned.

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/03/06/good-question-why-are-there-so-many-mean-anonymous-comments-online/

AI know ppl who say things online that they would NEVER say in person. I call it keyboard courage. I know that Twitter is particularly vicious. Instead of being held accountable..the "roasters" are featured in blog articles. Its so sad

I agree on the with Morgan on people having "keyboard courage".  I was just trying to explain to my 12 year old last night that you don't type things online that you wouldn't say out loud to someone's face.  People would be more polite if they couldn't hide their identity.  Or at least get punched in the nose as you say, MB. :)

Liz

I agree 100% with the other posters.  People hide behind their keyboard and feel it is totally acceptable be cruel.  I don't agree with it.  If you don't have anything nice or constructive to say, keep quiet.

AYa that happens a lot but I can say for myself tend to be much more careful what I post online because once released that **** is just out there and can't be taken back really - sure you can delete your post but it could be recovered a number of ways or captured or what have you. Whereas if I speak a thing it's much more likely to disappear completely over time.

I do have a sort of keyboard courage though but one that works opposite by way of allowing me to step over shyness and fear and myself pretty much in order to author and share some of the most beautiful genuine heart felt things I've ever expressed. So there is that aspect of keyboard courage too... just sayin'

i agree that posting annonymously is a dangerous thing to be granted to society-- but i like freedom too--but i  think freely posting where we can be personally accountable is better--

but EdieBabe makes a great point and another fun aspect of online posting is getting to meet each other in the 'real world' --- i've met up with many online cake buddies over time and it's really pretty cool--

so i'd be all for removing the cloaks

here's a great article on this--where they made lemonade--and i just happened to see this right after posting -- seemd to fit --

http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/rachel-canning-s-suing-parents-mistaken-identity-182914644.html?vp=1

Take it from me - I have never hidden behind my keyboard and now I know why some of my more famous cake friends (or even celebrities in general) stay far, far away from the keyboard, stop sharing their knowledge, stop contributing, just stop being available and online in a professional capacity.  Being skewered, getting hate-filled email cyberbullying you, having lie-filled blogs written all about you, having secret hate-filled Facebook groups talking about you just plain sucks.  I was warned by a very famous cake friend a long time ago who told me about what happened to her online - and she is someone so sweet that probably many of you follow and may even be a facebook "friend" with - but she NEVER posts a word.  She told me if I was going down the path I was, then I needed to disassociate professionally otherwise it will bite me.  I was like, naw, never happen, I'm awesome.  Yeah.  2 years later I'm like, uh, wow.  This DOES suck and there isn't a thing I can do about it.  

So yes, I think certain places (like this website, for example) should not allow people to hide who they are.  Especially when someone is giving advice, I think it would be helpful for the person who asks the question to be able to weigh the answers they get by looking at someone's profile and know REAL names, if that person has any experience at all, runs a business, where the business is, what their work looks like, etc.  Especially since this is supposed to be a place of knowledge and helpful people, not an un-moderated, everything goes place like Fark.  

It's been commented on before - those with the knowledge here shrink more and more every day.  Just my 2 cents that I should probably keep to myself.  LOL

AThere are days I wish I had chosen a more anonymous username.

AI believe that if you say it you should take personal responsibility for it

AMy dad was like "You use your real name!!!" Well yeah lol...maybe one day ill regret it. I think especially for business advice you should look and see if the person knows what they are talking about. But I do wonder about people who take serious business advice from strangers on the internet.....

When I first started on here I used a pseudonym (which I obviously still have) so that if I wanted to gripe about customers I could, but after a while I reailzed that I wasn't going to post anything like that, so I posted links to my website etc.

I do think that people have a tendency to be nastier when they're anonymous, but the business advice thing, not so much. There have been a few people on here who freely hand out crappy business advice and also have their names prominently displayed. The weak link there isn't not knowing someone's name, it's not being able to see someone's tax return to see if they actually know what they're doing. People can sound very authoratative, but you can't see if they're speaking from a  position of running a successful business, or if they just like the attention of having people think they're an expert.