The problem with the anonymity in comment sections - part I
November 13th, 2006
It looks like the anonymity of comment section has been misused.
Some time ago Tech Tag received two very critical comments on two posts about Scheduleworld (post 1, post2). Then a few weeks later the pattern repeated it self. Two identical comments where posted on the same two post, but from a different IP.
Comment 1
Claims to be from a someone whose Scheduleworld account has been compromised, and that his comments asking about it in the Scheduleworld support forum has been deleted.
Comment 2
Claims that critical questions in the Scheduleworld forum has been deleted, and has led to the account being deleted.
To get an idea of what is going on I wrote a a mail to Scheduleworlds support, and confronted them with the the allegations from the comment section. Within 30 minutes I received an email answering all my questions.
The answer from Scheduleworld.
I got the answer from Scheduleworld that messages had been deleted from the forum.
“I have only deleted comments from one person - the same user that posted these comments to your site (I believe they are the same person).”
The email stated.
On the other hand Scheduleworld denies deleting any accounts.
“I have never deleted an account unless the person asks me to. I haven’t even deleted the accounts this poster used to fabricate complaints with.Scheduleworld finds it a very theoretical that someone should have compromised accounts.
There are a number of things that could explain this complaint besides the poster being a competitor. I don’t believe it, but perhaps the poster actually is a victim and someone else sniffed his HTTP traffic. Perhaps someone else retrieved his information by tapping his keyboard, or a virus snooped his keystrokes or network traffic.”
No answer from the other side
I then sent an email to the addresses used for the different comments. One of them bounced, and I’ve received no answer to the other message. Adding to that both email addresses used for commenting, where supplied by spam services which offer free use-and-dispose email addresses.
The comments are mutually excluding, meaning that that if they are true it must be two different persons, and they are from different IP addresses. But they share some similarities. They are are almost identical two and two, made at the same time and made in the same tone.
Comments based on a lie?
Based on the lacking answer and the extra means taken to stay anonymous. I see no other conclusion, than to conclude that these comments were most likely based on a lies. But if someone think something else, please let me know.
Whether this is a lie or not, the fact that there is an insecurity about commets is a problem to the whole blogosphere. It reduces the value of actual comments and risks making the blogossphere seem amateurish to outsiders.
Entry Filed under: Blogging, Uncategorized
1 Comment Add your own
1. Mark Swanson | December 5th, 2006 at 10:09 am
Good article.
It’s interesting that some folks do this. I think the ability to remain anonymous and post whatever you like with no repercussions makes some folks incredibly bold and do things they would never risk (for legal and other reasons) in “the real world”.
What’s fascinating is that I’ve noticed such a .. (good??) troll had absolutely no effect. I received an email from two bloggers, who cared enough about the integrity of their site enough to email. But that’s it. I think that says a lot. It could be a lot of things, but I suspect that it’s because:
Folks are more aware than we (I) think about anonymous cowards and treat their comments accordingly. Or perhaps folks are quick to disregard the more obvious hate-speak. Or maybe folks are willing to try something out for themselves and easily discount the bad or potentially biased experiences of someone else. I suppose we all like to learn on our own.
I actually think it’s an interesting topic. Anyway, all one has to do is search the forums for ‘thank’ or ‘thanks’ or ‘love’ to see what folks think of ScheduleWorld.
Incidentally, if you search for ‘love’ and read a post from me ‘Who’s who and what’s what in the world of SW’ you’ll see me answering (again) the question the troll accuses me of not wanting to answer.
Cheers.
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