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Comment by ryanelkins | Hacker News Reader

This seems pretty obvious. I think most people realize that "bad behavior" comes from being anonymous. This is why people who seem nice in person can be total a-holes online behind a cloak of anonymity. I'd like to see some solutions that could work without requiring people to give up their personal information.

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It's not about people being anonymous or not that causes the good behavior, it's that when people use their real name, they have risked something of value - their reputation. The way to ensure good behavior is to require that people take some sort of risk with something they value when they participate in your site. This might be in the form of a deposit, using their real name, or the loss of a potential reward.

Of course, how is a "real name" real? I can walk into any courthouse and have a brand new "real name" in an hour. I could just tell people my "real name" is something else. I could make a fake ID card, too.

The point is, "name" is a meaningless concept. The only way to know someone is through your own interactions with them. The only way to know who you're interacting with is by being there in person. (Or with pre-arranged crypto... but I digress...)

I agree some stake is useful, but reputation is one with poor properties. For one thing, it's not clear to me that the damage suffered is actually well correlated with behaving well versus poorly in the forum; rather, a dominating effect is simply what kinds of forums you choose. You will suffer a negative effect to your reputation if you participate in a hentai forum; whether you participate there as a troll or a valued user will not cause much additional effect either way.

Just as important is how people react to various presented identities.

As a simple example, if Tim Bond thinks my investments are positioned poorly, I'll listen intently to his feedback and think long and hard about how best to react to it. If, on the other hand, gurglesplat123@somesite thinks I'm positioned poorly, I'll pay very little attention.

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