Registration on the new site

Posted on February 23, 2009 by Howard Owens

I’m still working on putting this new site together (and I’m still looking for help on getting the archives set up), but a couple of people have already registered.

That’s great, but I didn’t have the registration form configured yet.

Now it is. So it seems like a good time to mention: I’m going to require real names to comment on my blog.

All of my participation on the Web is under my real name. I never leave anonymous comments.

There are places and times where anonymity is appropriate. I’ve decided that my blog is not such a place. As the owner, I figure that’s my right.

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  • John Robinson

    Real names? WTF? You mean I’m going to have to leave my real name before I make a mean-spirited, off-point comment that shows, more than anything, my ignorance? That’s censorship! Worse, it’s not fair!

  • Howard Owens

    Just be glad I’m not asking for a DNA sample, buddy!

  • kgreenbaum

    I respect the requirement to use real names. But how do you know? Everyone asks why real names aren’t required, but I never hear how we can require them. And it’s a different story for comments on the scale of an individual’s blog vs. on the scale of a USA Today. There was nothing in your registration process that would prevent Joe Gazornaplatz from registering as "Kurt Greenbaum."

    The honor system is what we’re already depending upon — and we know some people have no honor.

    Anyway. Just musing aloud. I end where I began: I respect the requirement and all that it implies.

  • Howard Owens

    On a blog like this, I can only guess.  And I reserve the right to make my own best guess and act accordingly.

    Most fake namers are pretty obvious. Most trolls are fake namers.

    On a local news site, especially one tied to a newspaper, there are more or narrower resources to check.