Commenting Anonymously

I’ve been thinking about the “comment anonymously” feature that appears when you go to comment on a picture, and how it affects what comments are made. A Derpibooru would only want to comment anonymously when they don’t want whatever they’re saying to be associated with their name, and they can create two different identities while having a discussion on one post: one associated with them and one anonymous, so they can effectively be two different people (or create that illusion). name comments are for when what you’re saying doesn’t shame you are have the possibility of ill consequences, and anonymous comments are for when you don’t want people to know that YOU’RE the one saying a particular thing. I it to being guilty of using this feature that way sometimes, and I’m thinking that if I have the urge to comment anonymously again, perhaps the comment is one I should withhold and just not post at all.
 
Does anyone think we should get rid of this feature (while keeping already-made anonymous comments anonymous)? If you still want to comment as an anon, you can also just log out of your before making the comment, so I guess there isn’t much point to it anyway.

@Wertyla  
There’s a reason there’s a rule against this, you know.  

 
Generally this isn’t a problem but we do call out people that do this.

@liamwhite1  
The feature makes it really easy to do, especially for those who may not have gone over the complete list of site rules. I’m trying to avoid doing it. Why does the site have this feature exactly?

@Wertyla  
Because (a) it’s easier to have it and allow it than to code the site to not allow it and (b) the site s want people to be able to dissociate their names from posts as long as they are not shitting up the threads by doing so.

@liamwhite1  
The problem here is that a person would only want to dissociate their name from a post that might decrease thread quality. Anonymity emboldens people to do things they probably shouldn’t do because they know they’ll never be caught. It’ll never be blamed on them. You can’t take action against an anon.

@Wertyla  
You seem to be overlooking the fact that we have rules here. This isn’t 4chan. Posting obvious bait comments is not okay and we can see anon s’ names; we just choose not to reveal them unless they are breaking the rules.

@Wertyla  
Mods can see who’s making anon posts.

@liamwhite1  
I just think that the feature is rather pointless, especially since, again, you can just log out of your if you want to comment anonymously. I’m not sure why a person would use this feature unless they wanted to say something embarrassing/inappropriate/not-nice. If their comments were acceptable, they wouldn’t have a problem with putting their name on them.

@Wertyla  
It’s the fear of having names associated with actions that scares some people.
 

Wrong. As one example, some people will only upvote porn and never fave it, and only post anonymous comments on explicit images.

I for one tend to comment anonymously when I don’t want my comments to be flavoured by the presence of a badge. Other people post anon comments if they’re discussing ideas that fall outside their normal habits, debating ideas that may go against the commonly expressed norm, or if they’re commenting on images that they don’t necessarily want their name to be associated with. Logging out to do that is a huge inconvenience - especially given logging out resets filters to default, which create more faff, and prevents other features such as thread subscription from kicking in.
 
That’s pretty much why it’s there. Anon comments are allowed (within reason) and the post-anon checkbox is a convenience feature for cases where a wants to drop an anonymous comment without having to log out.
 
It’s also been my experience that most shitposters don’t use the post-anon feature. They’re either drive-by s without s, or they’re posting walls of text under their own name because they believe that what they’re saying is somehow god’s own truth. It’s surprisingly rare for people to use the as-anon feature for trolling.

@Wertyla  
No.
 
See, a fair good many people post stuff as anon because they don’t want biases for or against them to be applied to what they’re saying, regardless of what they’re saying, or it just doesn’t fit the “persona” they present or people expect. That goes for any sort of comment. And it’s not like different rules apply to anon comments.
 
 
And as you say, “you can just log out of your if you want to comment anonymously”; if people want to post anon, they’ll post anon. If they can’t post anon, they’ll create throwaway s. It’s stupid to inconvenience people into looking for workarounds (and there will always be workarounds) when we can just let people post anon with a simple checkbox.
 
If you think it’s only used for negative behaviour, or you’ve only used it that way, that’s on you.

@Wertyla  

If you realize/acknowledge that the option would always exists (as long as uned comments exist), then  
why do you have a problem with saving people the 20 seconds that it’d take to log out and log back again?
 
Anyway, if you come from the “safe” side of the internet, then I’ll assume maybe you’re not used to posting anonimously at all and I guess that’s why you developed this prejudice against them?  
But ed s only is actually not the only type of site out there.  
There are all kinds of reasons why people’d prefer posting without a name: they don’t want to seem like they want to hog the credit; they want to give something without being expected to give it again (see artists being harassed for free art on DA), they want to talk freely and not have to worry about how a comment or opinion would affect how others see them ; they want to have a discussion where comments are evaluated purely based on the worth of what they say, unaffected by the ’s cred/reputation. And so on.
 
Derpi set out from the get go to give room for those who prefer this type of discussion platform too, and they succeeded at it very well. Heck, we even have a # feature to track the same anons though the same threads.

@Vree  
What do you mean by the “safe” side of the internet? Is there a dangerous side I’ve been blissfully unaware of? I’m actually not sure what you mean.

@Archonix  

 
Quite so. Anyone can see the number of comments I’ve made versus those that are publicly visible under my profile. Though I don’t believe I’ve ever posted anything deliberately inflammatory (at least not anonymously), I wouldn’t go anonymous to do so. I it some of my opinions might not be too pleasant for some to hear and there are a small number of individuals who, shall we say, rub me the wrong way but I still try to avoid engaging at all.
 
What’s there to gain? If you’re breaking the rules, the mods can see who you are anyway. And as Archonix rightfully points out, there’ll always be cases where someone posts against the grain or is afraid what they say may… I can’t find a concise way to put this; there’s a whole range of psychological issues that cover how we perceive others and their actions.  
If I may simplify, we over time build up certain images of the people around us. Sometimes, saying the wrong thing can do a lot of damage to that or, to put it another way, can colour peoples’ perception in a way that’s unfair to the individual expressing themselves (because we so often make incorrect assumptions about why people do things).
 
And I don’t mean expressing ideas that are necessarily dangerous or harmful, only harmful to how the people expressing them are perceived. It’s basic, right? Among your peers there’ll be an established set of opinions that people share and stepping outside that can, in the most extreme cases, lead to ostracisation. It’s the same on Derpibooru - people make friends here, they form a community and like any large and rather diverse community there’ll be a body of accepted opinions. Sometimes, though, for whatever reason, people may want to post opinions that are contrary to that. Not to incite anger or cause trouble, but because they truly hold those opinions and want to talk about them but also don’t want to risk losing friends or making enemies.
 
Now, I’ve been expanding on what Archonix said to hopefully make expressly clear what’s being talked about. There’s nothing nefarious going on, it’s just allowing people a means of expressing dissenting (again, for lack of a better term) opinions without being pushed away from the community. Even you say yourself, they may wish to say something embarrassing; not even objectionable or offensive! Just personally embarrassing.
 
And think about that for a moment - do you share all the opinions of your peers? Can you say there’re no points where you diverge? People disagree but sometimes that disagreement can lead to bitterness and hostility. Sometimes not, but it’s still safer to take the chance anonymously. It can give one a chance to test the waters, so to speak.
 
I’ve laboured this point, I realise, but only in the hope that in laying it out so clearly, you’ll find my argument in favour to be reasonable.

@Benzene  
I’m not intentionally trying to anger anyone, although it seems I do it by accident sometimes. I’m not objecting to a diversity of opinions (within the limits of sanity, of course, but not everyone who disagrees with me is insane). I hold many, many opinions that my peers find strange. (It seems I’m kind of a freak.) I’m not trying to be “prejudiced”, although I think that word is overused by people who cannot tolerate anything that disagrees with them. (Some people say, “I disagree with you and therefore you’re an evil bigot.”) Some things posted are just plain nastiness, though, and sometimes a person hides behind anonymity to say mean things.
 
I advise that people think before they post, and if they want to go anonymous, consider WHY before posting.
 
I’m unfamiliar with posting on websites like this. I’m relatively new here, and need things explained to me.

@Wertyla  
But you already said it yourself:  
If people want to post without their name appearing they can just log out.  
So if we removed the anonymous feature, what would change?
 
Trolls would just do their stuff logged out instead.  
And people who use that feature legitimately and harmlessly would lose a convenient tool. (I use it too when I don’t want my mod lable to influence the conversation).
 
So I don’t see anything positive comming from this.
 

 
You already got several good answeres to that here in this thread.  
A lot of people use the feature responsibly, legitimatly and harmlessly every day. Why “punish” them for the bad stuff a few others do with it?

@patec  
Alright then. Again, I’m a newbie. I don’t know everything about how Derpibooru works. I asked why people would want a feature that lets them comment anonymously, and I received an answer. I’ll back off now.

I comment as a anon only when using internet access points that I don’t trust (ie Macca’s free wifi)
 
I like that I don’t have to and can still continue conversations.
 
On my actual I’ve never posted as a anon cause I lack the care required to care about people finding my and seeing my comments on many many images xD

As a person who only posts anonymously here, I want to say that I’m doing it because I’m shy and afraid of everything, and being anonymous makes me feel safer, and without this feature I probably wouldn’t comment at all. I never posted a hateful comment or anything that was aimed to upset anybody, so… yeah. That’s my 2 bits.

@Wertyla  
This is an anonymous comment. Does it appear under your post? I’m just testing this feature.

@Background Pony #84C8  
Yes, it was posted anon.