Anonymity may not benefit online forum

I have enjoyed having access to the Gazette-

Online.com forum. The give-and-take between users is far more spontaneous and free than the traditional “letters to the editor” page. Lately, I have had my doubts on whether the benefits of being anonymous outweigh the drawbacks.

While the anonymity of online commenting can be liberating, it has a dark side. Some people think their anonymity also has freed them from accountability. The result is the online character we call a “troll,” a person who deliberately posts inflammatory rhetoric to provoke a response.

The stories commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Iowa Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage are a case in point. One user went so far as to call Kate and Trish Varnum “sickos who need hormone therapy.” I wonder if that comment would have ever seen the light of day if the writer had to own it with his real name?

The Gazette needs to consider if its online forum would benefit from ending anonymity.

Jeff Klinzman

Coralville