[dmckeon]

Perhaps more that the apparent “reality” of an online identity could be correlate-able with opinions expressed by the identity. I would be more interested in posts by a verified identity in a forum on political topics than in those from an unverified identity. On the other hand, in a forum about some fictional work, quality of content would be of more interest.

Problems arise when supposedly “real” identities misrepresent their actual identity, location, allegiance, etc. in a context where those things are expected to be trusted, and then abuse that trust.

[mola]

A major problem with this is, that our politicians also use the same inflammatory tatics to gain power. cyber publicists also understand that being inflammatory means more clicks and interactions. So you don't need an actual "enemy" with fake accounts to inflame and degrade the conversation. The current attention economy provides perfect incentives for inflaming the conversation. I think getting rid of fake identities wouldn't matter much.

Foreign manipulation only provides more fuel and maybe direct the flames where it's more suitable for the attacker.

Anyway, the medium is the message. Social media is just bad for mass communication. Attention economy is bad for meaningful discourse and thus bad for democracy.