Registration on the new site

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.

4 thoughts on “Registration on the new site

  1. 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!

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

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