People using somewhat anonymous accounts feel that they can get away with behavior that would otherwise not be tolerated in real life. If someone doesn’t want to be subjected to such behavior, then there are few options. One of them being refraining from using online forums.
I keep wondering, if forums and social media platforms required ID verification (probably through a third party with policies against retaining PII) and each account was linked (but not necessarily publicly) to a real ID, would that help? For example, being banned from a platform would be permanent since the ban would be tied indirectly to your ID, meaning that consequences would be real for abuse.
I feel like the core problem is that people can post without consequences. It’s both a good thing and a bad thing ofc, but maybe the downsides are too big.
Could also maybe be a more robust “verified” system I guess where all platforms verify identities of businesses/people through a common provider, and even a platform like Lemmy could show who is verified (which would require tying the identity to the account publicly). This would still allow for anonymous accounts, but those who are verified would be able to be held accountable to what they post online in exchange for higher credibility. I don’t think the verification systems we’ve seen already really help that much though, considering how toxic twitter has been basically throughout its entire existence.
We choose our levels of anonymity. You responded to Chris, who uses his full name as a handle, and I’m responding to you as literally the only person in the world with my name. ID verification is an unnecessarily onerous requirement that just adds more PII to the insatiable maws of tech firms.
You can self-select being open about your identity, and that seems a good middle ground. Facebook has had a real-name requirement for quite some time, and it didn’t exactly settle into civil discourse as a result of that policy change.
I think what I was more hoping that would address are anonymous (and sometimes fake) personas spreading hatred and misinformation publicly and loudly. I guess the problem though is that even without anonymity, people still do it anyway, and Facebook and Twitter are great examples of that. I think having control over your own anonymity is important. I just wish there was less of a feeling that you can harm and disrespect others without consequence.
That’s taken rather seriously on Beehaw, but we of course have no control over what happens on other instances.
I think the issue is people just want a drop-in Reddit replacement via Lemmy, which is easily enough done to a certain degree on other instances. Having control over your Web presence takes effort. Choosing not to put that effort in is a personal decision.
Facebook has a “real name” policy. It doesn’t work, some people create plausibly sounding fake accounts, while others get banned for not sounding plausible enough. Chinese social networks require official ID registration, they’re still full of trolls, bullying, and fake accounts. The EU is working on an expanded Digital ID service suite… theoretically it could be done well, but based on past experiences, I remain somewhat skeptical.
Good on you for using your real name. Just as some criticize wikipedia for anonymitity, I wonder if a forum with real names would cause people to be more respectful.
Your an admin here, can I ask which com is best for selfhosting?
I wonder if a forum with real names would cause people to be more respectful.
Permies.com requires people to use their real name (at least something that sounds real) and there’s very little toxicity there. Although how much that affects things I don’t know, as the mods are very active, and quick to ban.
People using somewhat anonymous accounts feel that they can get away with behavior that would otherwise not be tolerated in real life. If someone doesn’t want to be subjected to such behavior, then there are few options. One of them being refraining from using online forums.
I keep wondering, if forums and social media platforms required ID verification (probably through a third party with policies against retaining PII) and each account was linked (but not necessarily publicly) to a real ID, would that help? For example, being banned from a platform would be permanent since the ban would be tied indirectly to your ID, meaning that consequences would be real for abuse.
I feel like the core problem is that people can post without consequences. It’s both a good thing and a bad thing ofc, but maybe the downsides are too big.
Could also maybe be a more robust “verified” system I guess where all platforms verify identities of businesses/people through a common provider, and even a platform like Lemmy could show who is verified (which would require tying the identity to the account publicly). This would still allow for anonymous accounts, but those who are verified would be able to be held accountable to what they post online in exchange for higher credibility. I don’t think the verification systems we’ve seen already really help that much though, considering how toxic twitter has been basically throughout its entire existence.
We choose our levels of anonymity. You responded to Chris, who uses his full name as a handle, and I’m responding to you as literally the only person in the world with my name. ID verification is an unnecessarily onerous requirement that just adds more PII to the insatiable maws of tech firms.
You can self-select being open about your identity, and that seems a good middle ground. Facebook has had a real-name requirement for quite some time, and it didn’t exactly settle into civil discourse as a result of that policy change.
I think what I was more hoping that would address are anonymous (and sometimes fake) personas spreading hatred and misinformation publicly and loudly. I guess the problem though is that even without anonymity, people still do it anyway, and Facebook and Twitter are great examples of that. I think having control over your own anonymity is important. I just wish there was less of a feeling that you can harm and disrespect others without consequence.
That’s taken rather seriously on Beehaw, but we of course have no control over what happens on other instances.
I think the issue is people just want a drop-in Reddit replacement via Lemmy, which is easily enough done to a certain degree on other instances. Having control over your Web presence takes effort. Choosing not to put that effort in is a personal decision.
Facebook has a “real name” policy. It doesn’t work, some people create plausibly sounding fake accounts, while others get banned for not sounding plausible enough. Chinese social networks require official ID registration, they’re still full of trolls, bullying, and fake accounts. The EU is working on an expanded Digital ID service suite… theoretically it could be done well, but based on past experiences, I remain somewhat skeptical.
It wouldn’t accept my real name as apparently I had an account. I had to use a fake one. It was perfectly happy.
That was a couple of years ago though.
Good on you for using your real name. Just as some criticize wikipedia for anonymitity, I wonder if a forum with real names would cause people to be more respectful.
Your an admin here, can I ask which com is best for selfhosting?
Not sure what you mean. Would you, please, elaborate?
Permies.com requires people to use their real name (at least something that sounds real) and there’s very little toxicity there. Although how much that affects things I don’t know, as the mods are very active, and quick to ban.
Society tried that for a bit. It was called Facebook and most people just found ways to be jerks on there too!