[Helianthus16]

There is an intellectual purity that is maintained through anonymity. I don't have to be consistent with my previous posts or any future posts I might want to make. I don't have to worry about what people will think of me. Heck, I don't even have to be _nice_.

But because I care about my post, I do have to try to be right. And because all of those other constraints are gone, each post exists independently.

A system that thinks vitriol shouldn't be _allowed_, that it should be actively fought instead of ignored, isn't taking the right tack.

Systems that allow anonymity and provide filtering for what the community views as trash are the right balance, because I get damn angry at things sometimes--we all do, there are a lot of things to be angry about-- and if I cross the line of decorum then at least I have the freedom to cross it (through semi-anonymity), just as y'all have the freedom to downvote me.

[olalonde]

HN users aren't by definition anonymous as long as they value their HN identity (I'd say most do). Their "real life" identity might not be known but as long as they value their HN persona, they will try to remain respectable and responsible as their reputation is at stake. This is very different from the situation at TC where no one has a permanent identity.