Anonymity and Truth

[cp fa]

There have been a number of posts here lately, on a variety of subjects, by people posting anonymously, some of whom have never posted before, that were purported to be fact, but in reality, contained no factual information whatsoever.

Icarus, in a post below, said talk is cheap. Well, welcome to the age of anonymous internet forums. Not only is it cheap, it comes at no cost whatsoever to the individual who posts it. There are no personal consequences to anything that is written here anonymously, which leaves the medium wide open to all kinds of abuse. There are people posting here with hidden agendas, trying to manipulate situations to their own benefit. Even worse, there are people who get their jollies by posting inflammatory nonsense, just to get a rise out of the people who read this.

Unfortunately, the reaction to some of these unfounded rumours has been, for lack of a better word, premenstrual. And even more horrifying, occasionally it even ends up in the newspapers.

I would just like to remind everyone, that unless someone signs their name to a post, or provides a reliable source, it should be taken with a grain of salt.

Now, I'm going away for the weekend. Before I get back, I want the seniority issues settled, the tentative agreements signed, and the company turning a profit again. Failing that, I will settle for peace on earth and an end to world hunger.

Enjoy your weekend everyone.

Love, Jennifer

[Guest Peanuts]

have a great weekend Jennifer !

Perhaps we can suggest Icarus to take some Midol

to cure his cheap talk

Take care,

[Guest Max Continuous]

>> talk is cheap <<

Unless the person you're talking to is a lawyer.

[Guest PilotsWife]

Great post Jen, hope the weekend is enjoyable. The other half and I were doing our usual pastime...played hookie today!

JP

[Guest ClearRime]

Thinking critically. What a concept!

[Vsplat]

Your warning about taking posters - no matter who they are - with a grain of salt (or prozac on occasion maybe), is valid no matter the handle.

Understand that keeping one's name unattached to information can serve serveral purposes. Clearly some are abusing their anonymity.

But the most inflammatory stuff I have read came from someone who posted their name, and that gave rumour the weight of fact.

I try to post as accurately and clearly as I can. If I were to add my name, immediately there would be a context. Instead of simply weighing the facts for themselves, some would either accept it or discard it based on the source. To me, that's a form of mis-information. I prefer the grain of salt approach you mention.

Put another way. We have seen a poster whose name was available posting stuff received by anonymous phone call. What are the odds that someone knew what he would do with the spin they wanted out there? Look at the damage that has come of it.

By rights, if this individual truly believed that every provider of information needed to be named, he would have applied that principle in this case. What we got instead was an anonymous source using a named poster to do their dirty work. The manipulation you note was accomplished by remote control.

Finally, there are some on this forum who would not post if there was a trail back to them and their colleagues, due to professional concerns. You have seen the kind of emotion that runs around here.

On another forum that I am familiar with, named posters have been subject to personal harassment by those who do not share their view of the world. I have no confidence we could avoid that here. Take a recent look at the attempt to 'out' Dagger and the proposal to start calling folks with his/her handle. Now we are talking personal safety.

I've tried to mention just some of the reasons folks may wish to stay private. Private or not, your warning should be heeded by all.

I'll get working on the world peace thing, right after my honey-do list:-)

Cheers

Vs