I do agree with this perceptive article in PC World.
The crusaders against anonymity really need to think things through a bit more than they have. I think the CEO's are only concerned about maximizing profit. From their point of view, anonymity is not helpful. From the point of view of anyone else, anonymity can be an essential tool. It has its place. One cedes credibility by going anonymous, but gains a huge measure of protection from everyone except Johnny Law.
I can see both sides of the argument, though. A solid case has been made in The Guardian that anonymity tempts weak-minded people to misbehave, to indulge their Id, regressing to childish behavior patterns. On a web site that I admin, that was exactly what happened. The posters behaved as though they were in grade school, despite being senior citizens in many cases. They complained to the "teacher," bullied, insulted, threatened, and generally played the fool until we pulled the plug. Perhaps the hotheads will attempt to run their own forum somewhere. Good riddance. Karma will school them. I don't ever want to host another tribe of truculent trolls. When I think about how much time I spent customizing and improving the forum, I'm embarrassed by my generosity.
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