New Site Feature: Anonymous Posting (Now Enabled)

[BowhunterNJ]

*NOW ENABLED*
 

 

I was thinking recently about the desire for people to share content they might otherwise not want linked to them publicly, so I came up with the approach of anonymous posting.

An example would be something like trailcam pictures. We all love to share and see them, but we have concerns around others zoning in on our spots or knowing who we are by our usernames and finding out where we hunt via word of mouth. Another would be some kind of personal topic that we'd like to seek advice on but not necessarily want to expose ourselves (probably more of a Lounge or Playground topic?).

To help give you guys something that would help anonymize you, I added a feature that allows you to post through an Anonymous account.

You'll see a checkbox option in the posting of a topic or reply that will anonymize you.
Obviously you'll have to remember to check this when posting.

 

 

When you post you'll see an "Anonymous poster hash" which is unique per member...so you can differentiate between posters (since they'll all be through the Anonymous account).

 

 

Let me know what you guys think.  Good?  Bad?  Recommendations?
 

[BowTechExperience]

Cool idea.. go for it

[Cousin Brown]

Why not…...

[remingtonman1108]

Seems pretty neat

[Haskell_Hunter]

Can we rename it to "Post as Troll..."?

 

I think you get where I'm going with this...  

[BowhunterNJ]

Haha that is the concern. How much trolling would go on. But realize there is accountability, site admins (only me currently) can cross reference anonymous posters to their member accounts. So trolling via anonymous posting or any other violation of the site rules would apply to your member account.

[Axiom]

 

Can we rename it to "Post as Troll..."?

 

 

 LOL.. X2.. Bad Idea..  .. I cant stand an opinion or comment from an unidintifiable source.. If any of you think some of the things i say are offensive or dont particularly like my opinions on various subjects, wait till you give some gutless goofballs the oportunity to hide while they speak..

 

 I vote no.. But, as usual, Im probably voting with the minority..

Edited November 11, 2013 by Axiom

[BowhunterNJ]

Like I said, it's not a free pass to bash anyone.  It's not going to be a method to break site rules to get away with something you otherwise couldn't.  There would be accountability as the Anonymous poster is linked to the member...you have to be a member in order to post as Anonymous.  This information wouldn't be available to anyone other than site admins (currently only me).  Any source of Anonymous posts breaking the site rules and bashing someone will be held to the same standards as they are as members.  It's not meant for that purpose at all.

 

With that said, this is really targeted to address content that you want to remain anonymous about but is still good, quality site content with a reasonable purpose.

The two examples I gave are good ones IMO:

- Trail cam pictures

- Personal questions

 

It's amazing the different level of response you can get, especially in personal/serious questions when you are anonymous and no predisposed opinions play a role.

 

Likewise, I'd love to see some hunters out there share cam pictures and not have to worry about others tracking down where they are at or who they are.  I think a lot of guys have some slammers out there that they want to share but are afraid to for that reason.

[Axiom]

The internet itself offers a high degree of anomymity unless you choose to divulge who you are.. One of the problems with some other forums i frequent is the ability to post under more than one screen name.. This attracts what appears to be people with multiple personality problems..who wants that?..What you are proposing allows posters to aproach this site with 2 faces. Much like sites that allow multiple screen names... the Known face and the Unknown face.. And the only person who will know what face matches what poster will be you...  I see what you are tring to do but, i see more down side than up..  And you are gonna create more work for yourself also..

Edited November 11, 2013 by Axiom

[rec913]

i am not sure if it will be ok but you can always remove it if it gets bad

[BowhunterNJ]

Yeah good points.  It might be more work, but I'm also doing it with good intentions for you guys/gals to enjoy your experience on here more.

 

Someone *could* create a second account, but it's still traceable to a degree (unless someone is truly adamant about anonymizing themselves via proxies or the like).

That still isn't the point of the Anonymous account/posting though.  It's not meant necessarily as an alter ego, more so just offers obscurity from your otherwise daily Member account for certain types of posts.

 

Another good example I can think of is say a wounded animal.  Someone wants some honest advice and help, but doesn't really want to hang themselves out there asking about it.  I'd rather see them get some solid advice and maybe someone offering some help (request to PM them or the like) to help recover the deer versus that person remaining isolated and unhelped.

 

Or all the questions around FIDs guys have where maybe they messed up earlier in life or have some kind of unique life situation but want to consult advice on how too approach their situation without paying big lawyer fees initially to tell them something someone on here might already know?  i.e. It's a personal life situation where they need others experienced in the same medium (hunting, firearm ownership, etc) but something they'd rather not have everyone (or the public/guests) know who they really are.

 

And honestly, I'd rather even configure it so I don't know who you are, but I still need a way to track offending posters.  So it's a catch 22, and it's why I'm only allowing myself to access that info and not any other mods to try to keep it as minimal as possible and allow others to be comfortable using the Anonymous posting.  Obviously you'd have to trust I wouldn't share anything, which I never would.  I understand the complications around life and I respect people's lives too much to do that.  And it's another reason I created this site, to provide better and more reputable information, while getting more of us involved in helping each other.

 

Those are the kinds of things I'm aiming at providing that Anonymous posting for.

 

As rec913 said, we could give it a try and see how it goes.  I can always remove it if it doesn't work as intended.

[Haskell_Hunter]

It's noble and worth the effort.  It should also be effective if it's managed diligently.  Most folks probably won't read a long disclaimer about posting anonymously, and I'm sure there will be a few trolls who forget/don't care/have one too many and post anyway.

 

If it does get used too often for trolling, we could always change it to "Post as Axiom"...  

 

(slow day at work so I had to feed the trolls...)

[BowhunterNJ]

Haha, yeah it's really just common sense.  I know this site gets criticized for being too "moderating", which honestly it isn't...we haven't deleted any content in a long time now...but for the most part, if you're going to troll, you KNOW you are trolling and don't expect your content to hang around.  You'll get tired of us deleting your troll posts and go away if people don't respond to it.  People only troll for attention, and if you give them attention, they'll just troll some more.

[BowhunterNJ]

Alright I enabled it for the time being, we'll see how it goes.  Hopefully others don't abuse it

[Anonymous]

This site is awesome!  Wheee!

Anonymous poster hash: 3dc3a...5a8