37signals Answers (recently launched) is our first new app built with 37signals ID integration. That means everyone involved is using real names and avatars.
And wow, what a difference it makes. Trading anonymity for accountability has led to radically improved conversations.
I’d point to a specific example but it’s more what’s missing now. A lot less antagonism and a lot more thoughtfulness and general politeness. Great to see.
Tony
on 11 Mar 10Anonymity on the internet leads to a loss of basic manners. Just look at Youtube comments.
Glad this is working out for you – thoughtfulness and politeness make the forum more useful, because you’re sifting through less broad criticisms and rabid discussions… which makes it easier to find what you’re actually looking for – an answer.
Hashmalech
on 11 Mar 10Of course that doesn’t mean that anonymity is always bad.
Dave Doolin
on 11 Mar 10Anonymity was a side effect of extremely early internet culture (as in usenet early), where many people assumed sort of avatar.
Which was fine in those days.
But not so much now.
Andrew Lovseth
on 11 Mar 10Matt, great post.
I haven’t signed up for a 37signals ID, so I am wondering what bit of user data you are using to for people’s “real names.” Is it credit card info? If so, is that legal/ethical? Do you ask for permission when signing up? Can someone still use a fake name?
Not naysaying, really just wondering. I think it is wonderful to have more open and honest communication online between real people. I am interested in the how-to and ramifications of doing so.
Thanks again, Andrew Lovseth
Anonymous Coward
on 11 Mar 10I would generally agree, but I also like the way stackoverflow.com handles anonymity. Users are free to provide as much/little personal information as they want and I usually find its users to be quite helpful and dare I say, friendly. Looking at the most popular users, about half of them have some form of anonymity, ranging from the use of initials to Simpson’s characters.
Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer not to give out my full name (and increasingly popular) mugshot every time I want to have some type of online interaction.
JF
on 11 Mar 10I haven’t signed up for a 37signals ID, so I am wondering what bit of user data you are using to for people’s “real names.” Is it credit card info? If so, is that legal/ethical? Do you ask for permission when signing up? Can someone still use a fake name?
We use the name you signed up with when you set up your account. You enter your name, we use your name. Yes, you could fake your name if you want (that would be the unethical part), but your fake name would appear in all the products you use too.
Andrew Lovseth
on 11 Mar 10Jason, thanks for the reply.
Putting this out to everyone, how could you incentivize open and honest communication between real people with real names without the built in infrastructure of 37signals products. Obviously, for those who you use their products, users have good reason to use their real names.
But how could a blog or a newspaper or a magazine achieve the same clarity of authorship? Is it possible?
From my perspective this something every site that has comments should try to get to.
Jason Kitcat
on 11 Mar 10I’ve found exactly the same thing in as 37s in my experience. Since 2000 I’ve been running alumni association websites. You don’t sign up to them online, we pre-populate them from school records and mail out access codes. The result everybody has to sign in with their real name and school dates already there.
Despite building tons of moderation features to assuage client fears, they lie fallow & barely used in 10 years because people all post with their real identities. Fascinating isn’t it?
Craig
on 11 Mar 10Interesting. I just read a great article the other day that drives home this point of accountability over anonymity in today’s web. It seems that the hard part is really figuring out how we get from where we are today to where we want to be in terms of authenticity.
Anonymous
on 11 Mar 10Sacrificing anonymity may work for this purpose, but you do NOT want an internet where everyone is forced to browse with a nametag.
I don’t understand why Dave Doolin above seems to suggest that there’s no place for online anonymity today. Whether it’s whistleblowers posting on Wikileaks, Iranians organizing on Twitter to fight the good fight against an oppressive regime or /b/-tards harassing Scientology, lack of regulation and anonymity on the internet have far more benefits than drawbacks.
Ben Kinnaird
on 11 Mar 10Slightly different tack but related to removing anonymity (I think)
We find it’s a great motivator to share personal development goals internally and regularly and not keep these to an annual review behind closed doors.
However we’re thinking of going one stage further and publishing these goals on the company’s public website. Not only to share what we’re up to but help keep everyone true to their word.
Anyway we do like the new Answers the quality of feedback is definitely improved. Just add email notification and I may even be prompted to contribute more.
JF
on 11 Mar 10Anyway we do like the new Answers the quality of feedback is definitely improved. Just add email notification and I may even be prompted to contribute more.
We do notify you via email when a comment on your question has been marked as ANSWERED.
Kevin
on 12 Mar 10Does this mean we can expect comments here to be powered by 37sID in the future too?
Mark Bell
on 12 Mar 10I’ve been thinking about this over the last couple of weeks—much as I agree that some level of anonymity is an important part of how the web functions, it’s interesting to see how things change when participants in a discussion know that they are accountable for their words.
Anonymous Coward
on 12 Mar 10I don’t find this anecdotal assessment of anonymity’s effect on perceived quality to be very surprising at all. Really what you’re saying is that by forcing everyone to stand behind their comments with a resolvable identity (fake name or not), you’re causing them to consider-even if subconsciously-whether they should perhaps suppress a critical comment or other piece of content.
You might, and probably will, argue that if you’re not willing to stand behind your opinions about something, you probably shouldn’t be espousing them. Unfortunately not everyone is blessed with 37Signals’ ability to posture, thank goodness.
In Rework you even talk about the idea of generating ‘fans’ that are passionate about your company. You use terms like ‘love’ to describe this relationship, and clearly this blog is rife with fan-boys and girls that fit that description perfectly. They go out of their way to defend you on your behalf (I can’t wait to read the responses to this post) and perform a valuable word of mouth marketing service. Now, I recognize the difficulty of comment moderation, and I also appreciate that 37Signals has been relatively open to critical blog comments in the past, but how is this stated opinion regarding anonymity not to be interpreted specifically as an alignment to the 37Signals axiom that one should cultivate a legion of fans?
I don’t think there is any good to come from a move away from anonymity on the internet. Yes it can create problems, and yes it definitely creates more work, but it also serves a much more important role in allowing critical discourse to take place where it otherwise wouldn’t.
For instance, without the benefit of anonymity I might not come right out and say that Rework, in my opinion, is a weak, anecdotal rehashing of blog posts that reads like a childrens book and lacks any substantiation whatsoever. I might otherwise hesitate to say something like that, even though I think it’s important that people know, because I’m a member of the Rails community and my livelihood and reputation might unfortunately be affected by the lashings of the 37Signals fan club.
All that being said, and even though I don’t think your understanding of business and delivery of ideas have been particularly effective, and certainly didn’t warrant a book, I do think that your company and employees have a net positive effect. So thanks.
Tony
on 12 Mar 10“how is this stated opinion regarding anonymity not to be interpreted specifically as an alignment to the 37Signals axiom that one should cultivate a legion of fans”
The post says that removing anonymity has improved “thoughtfulness and general politeness”, not fandom.
Your post implies that you believe “critical discourse” requires a lack of politeness. I find that’s usually the problem with critical discourse, not the strength.
You’ve also used the word “anecdotal” a lot. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with stating an opinion based on ones experience.
Besides, the word anecdotal implies a lack of facts to back up ones statements – I think 37signals success as a company negates that (although their processes won’t work for everyone).
I look at Rework like I would look at a man who has been married for 50 years giving me advice on marriage. Its anecdotal, but I trust his quick opinion over a trained marriage counselor who has been divorced 3 times, simply because the source has had success.
Kevin
on 13 Mar 10Answers is a great feature! It’s convinced me to try out your products. Is the “answers” set up something that can be offered as a product for other sites? Thanks for your hard work and your insight and putting it all out there!
Justin Brockie
on 13 Mar 10We found a very similar thing happen when we introduced our “Therap Ideas” within our applications.
Not only have we been able to answer real questions, but the quality of suggestions coming back to us has improved.
AND it is a lot less hassle to manage/moderate than an open forum
joejoejoe
on 15 Mar 10The signal-to-noise ratio is better with named comments but the signal is weaker because a not insignificant number of people won’t post under their real name for legitimate reasons. It could be something as innocuous as not wanting a time stamp showing up while they are supposed to be working. My experience with online comments is that people with a consistent identity (real or pseudonymous) who participate on a regular basis have a stake in the community in a comments section. Drive-by posters don’t, named or otherwise. That said anonymous people who flame you with a good zinger now and then have value because they reveal your sore spots in a way that polite named people don’t.
Fred
on 15 Mar 10Having users use their real names is fine if polite is what you really want in a conversation.
But if you want to know the unvarnished truth or what people really think, you will only get that from anonymous users.
This discussion is closed.