The only reason I'm placing these on the front page is that they're not easily found otherwise, and I hope we can come to some sort of consensus on these questions.

i think for some of us, we need the safety of anonymity to tell our stories. is it possible to have just one member name called "anonymous" or "generic woman" or something? that has an open password. so anyone who wants to post anonymously can use that member name? it would create an interesting compilation to have a whole bunch of personal stories all signed by "anonymous" or "generic woman" or whatever.

i can see anonymous comments by right thinking people. who would mind that? i would want to nip any comment abuse in the bud though and have irresponsible ones erased quickly. but wouldn't a person have to do that? no one needs to be constantly monitoring comments for abuse, anonymous ones (made by those outside our interest group) would need more a more watchful eye, im guessing.

perhaps though, we might create a screen name for anonymous comments for member use. one that can be passed around as needed and used to say things that need to be said but that are best left unattributed.

something like a baton, something handed off. then used, then passed to the next runner. something like a wild card, untracable to any one user other than by IP viewable by site admin.

a username, like baton rouge? everywoman? aSolitaryVoice?

Binti Pamoja

...nobody takes care of them, they must take care of each other... Judy, 18

...as I see it.

If anonymous visitors can post....

• The site is more open, and invites participation
• We're more likely to get active participation on variosu topics
• People may get hooked through commenting and join
• More commenters may provoke interesting discussion
• ?

...but....

• There's a chance of spam, though manageable
• It's easier for trolls to persist in trolling
• Sometimes comment quality can drop
• ?

If people must be registered to comment....

• The site is more contained in terms of participation
• Atmosphere may be more friendly
• It's easy to ban trolls
• Spam is hardly an issue at all
• ?

...but....

• A lot of people may stay away because they just aren't joiners
• With participation wholly dependent upon registered members, critical mass can drop and the site can wither and fade
• ?

Well I read the thread and it answered my quesions, so I voted for anonymous with email...

Great work... everything is moving right along.. ;)

couldnt sleep. this question has been on my mind. i just had an idea. can we have it so only members can post. but that when a member posts, she has the option of posting by her user name or anonymously? if she posts anonymously, her identifying information is stripped out and the word Anonymous takes its place?

Given the slight edge so far in the poll (63% to 38% as I write this) I thought I'd try enabling anonymous comments as an experiment. If anyone strenuously objects, please speak up. I'm not trying to run roughshod over anyone.

It's quite easy to disable anonynmous comments, so if it does not go well (trolls) or if the vote shifts the other way (the poll is open another 5-6 days, I think), I'll turn on the registration requirement.

Does that sound workable?

Meanwhile, comments moderation is active. It's a way to hide offensive posts. Please use the troll rating sparingly, and only for trolls.

i'd like to change my vote on this. i now think that only members should have posting priveleges. anonymous posters have not agreed to our terms of service or to the mission of the site. it seems to me that with posting privelege comes responsibility. and here, that responsibility is spelled out in our terms of service statement.