https://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/people_using_pseudonyms_leave_better_blog_comments.php

People who use pseudonyms - as opposed to remaining anonymous or using their real identity - are more likely to leave high-quality comments on blogs and other Web sites, according to data released by Disqus.

In addition to leaving more comments, people using pseudonyms are more likely to leave comments that get "likes" from other readers, according to Disqus, which operates blog commenting platforms for about one million Web sites, including ReadWriteWeb.

Not only does the data throw the conventional web wisdom that people who use their real names leave better comment into question, it also gives Disqus and other comment platforms leverage to compete with Facebook, which has made inroads into the commenting space by allowing sites to let people leaving comments use their Facebook identities.

Disqus is one of the more than 400,000 Web sites that lets people use their Facebook profiles to leave comments. But Disqus said just 4% of its users preferred to use Facebook to leave comments with their real name, compared to 61% who used pseudonyms and 35% who logged in anonymously.

Of course Disqus has a vested interest in convincing publishers to allow anonymous comments and remarks left under a pseudonym.

But the company is maintaining that, based on its review of 500,000 comments left using its system, 61% of the comments left by those types of users gained positive reviews from other readers, as opposed to 51% for comments left by people using their identity and 34% for people who remained anonymous.

This doesn't surprise me. One of the most exciting things about the internet is that the relative anonymity it provides gives people with "dangerous" views the ability to express those views with minimal fear.

It also makes trolls and jerks a fact of internet life, but I'd say that downside is more than made up for by the thoughtful people who have important, but dangerous, views to express.

Whenever I go to a forum or blog 90% (I'm not being scientific here!) of the comments that I find most interesting are by people that don't divulge a lot of personal information. The more visible members can usually be counted on to have mainstream opinions on just about every hot-button issue.

There are people that have a certain mettle and allow themselves to be visible and say dangerous things, but they are quite rare. The internet gives the more timid an outlet and I think that's good.