[Matthew]

That includes TOPIC STARTERS as well as PARTICIPANTS in the various topics.

FIRST, LET ME MAKE CLEAR: I promise I will never expose or mini-Dox* anyone who has a legit need for privacy, discreetness due to a sensitive topic. That includes everyone who posts in the whole thread.

HOWEVER, HERE IS MY WARNING:

I have moved several topics OUT of the Anonymous forum in the past week. The software keeps the "anonymous" label on all the posts that were made anonymously.
HOWEVER, the information is still there in the database, so that I could write a script in the future, run it, and it would process ALL of these moved threads so that all the participants' true CathInfo identities show up for the whole world to see.

I make no promise I won't write such a script. In fact, I plan to. I just need a couple hours of free time.

You have been warned.

So if you're posting in a thread that you think doesn't belong there -- only post if you wouldn't mind posting with your CI identity.
But if the thread is about sensitive topics -- health, friendship, relationships, marriage, past life, whistleblowing, etc. -- things that legitimately require some discretion and privacy -- you have nothing to worry about. Those things are what the Anonymous subforum is for.

Keep in mind that CathInfo usernames are already pseudonymous, or near-anonymous.


* Doxxing is linking a person's real name, address, place of employment, etc. to an online screen name.
But what I'm talking about doing is linking someone's pseudonymous, practically anonymous screen name to an even more anonymous post. Not exactly the same thing...

[Änσnymσus]

I think a lot...a whole lot ....of anonymous responses are because people forget to click that little box.
It happens to me all the time.
What if the forum was just changed to "Possibly Anonymous" where you had to click a box to remain anonymous, otherwise your post/response wouldn't be?

[Miseremini]

There I just did it again! 
On second thought, I'm virtually computer illiterate, but is there a program where when you hit "post" a little box shows up that says "do you want to post anonymously?" and you have to click yes to post?

[Änσnymσus]

I think a lot...a whole lot ....of anonymous responses are because people forget to click that little box.
It happens to me all the time.
What if the forum was just changed to "Possibly Anonymous" where you had to click a box to remain anonymous, otherwise your post/response wouldn't be?

I didn't think he was talking about that (i.e., responses).  I thought he was talking about people who open threads in the Anonymous forum.  That is not by accident or forgetfulness.  One chooses a sub-forum deliberately.  IMO, more than half -- maybe fully 75% or more of these threads do not belong there because the OP does not seem to be talking about anything controversial or private. In some cases, it seems that the OP merely couldn't locate a specific-enough sub-forum, in which case he or she could have opened a thread in General Discussion.

[Änσnymσus]

Wouldn't it be better to require moderator approval for new threads in the Anonymous forum? Which threads were considered abusive? I ask because I am new here and didn't see which threads were moved.

[Geremia]

HOWEVER, the information is still there in the database

You should write a script to delete screen-name info of anonymous posts entirely from the database.

[Änσnymσus]

 In some cases, it seems that the OP merely couldn't locate a specific-enough sub-forum, in which case he or she could have opened a thread in General Discussion.

It doesn't help that no new topics are allowed in General Discussion.

[Matthew]

It doesn't help that no new topics are allowed in General Discussion.

LAME excuse. Any topic you can imagine could go into one of the many other sub-forums. That's why I closed the General Discussion forum to new topics. People were being lazy.
It's not rocket science. If it's about the Pope, or anything touching on the Crisis, it goes in the "Crisis in the Church" subforum. If it has to do with Catholics living in the modern world -- you get the idea.