Dear Squeers,

I suppose there is another protection afforded the anonymous poster and that is the fact that unlike an article author we are unable to judge their utterances against previous deeds and associations.

This is where the Facebook era is so interesting. Andrew Bartlett, former Australian Democrat and himself a serial blogger, has recently written about the announcement by the blog Larvatus Prodeo that they were ceasing to operate.

“Back in October, I wrote here about the decline or re-defining of blogs, at least in the Australian political arena. The relatively few posts I’ve done on this blog since then shows how much less useful I find it to do my own blog than I used to, and as I mentioned back then, a big reason why I don’t read many of the blogs I used to is because the valuable links to many interesting stories, ideas and pieces of information can be found more easily through Twitter or Facebook, sometimes with comment threads which are also at least as good.”

It is yet to be seen whether markedly less anonymity afforded Facebook users will contribute to less embellishment, hypocrisy, and trolling in discussions.

I suspect it might.

It would be interesting to know how many OLO posters share their contributions here with friends and family. If anything is designed to cut one down to size it is ones family that can be the most effective. Writing knowing a watching brief is being kept certainly adds some rigour that is perhaps missing from the restraints on the purely anonymous writer.

Dear WmTrevor,

Thanks for the laugh. My rather drab and sordid imagination had him naked in a crowd wearing a leather gimp mask and a tomato in each hand. Your description banished any thought of adorning him with an erection which is probably a good thing.

csteele,
I do agree with your argument and it certainly would be a positive if ownership of comments made some people more careful and rigorous. But I think the negative side trumps that. Who's going to say what they really think when the boss, or the Mrs or the kids or the colleagues are reading it? I've often criticised universities but wouldn't have been so critical under my own name because I've been a researcher and contract teacher, and there are few places more politically sensitive! I wouldn't have wanted staff or students to stumble across some of my opinions. Yet I think my criticism has been warranted. I hasten to add though that I wouldn't be that bothered. I stand by my convictions and am generally not afraid to speak my opinions in the street.

WmTrevor,

"..or should I say Countess Grantham?...."

"I just knew it was no coincidence that there are eleven letters in both names - Maggie Smith and Houellebecq!"

Am I missing something here....Maggie?

: )

'Scuse the sidebar Squeers…

I doubt you miss anything, Poirot. It was a backwards reference to my "mentally recasting Downton Abbey" comment. I failed to keep my secret for long though by indicating that I had Houellebecq pegged as the Dowager Countess Grantham and yourself in the Elizabeth McGovern role.

Any implied gender confusion can be argued as having more to do with our ongoing support of his desire to be recognised as the mother of his children and nothing at all to do with the mention of his Harem.

Very spooky, WmTrevor,

http://downtonabbey.wikia.com/wiki/Cora

That's exactly what I look like! : )

.....but you'll have to take my word for that.