Recently the question has come up concerning whether there is ever a good reason to post to this message board without signing your real name. Although I am a complete layperson about the workings of the internet, I would imagine there are some dangers akin to identity theft related to posting personal information. However, I can think of at least one reason why anonymity might be constructively used here. For example, the (perceived) positions of many people on this message board about certain issues are very well-known, and this tends to lead to sweeping categorizations, such as "so and so despises such and such a format"; when this happens, a common result is that any point (valid or not) made by the person on that subject tends to be summarily dismissed by an argument such as "oh, he or she is just saying that because they hate the format". In a case like this, an anonymous post stating the same point might have a more positive influence, since it will likely recieve a more fair examination on its merits. Please note that I am not advocating the sort of anonymous posting we've seen here the past few months. However, when the message is completely on-point about a topic and free from petty personal attacks, it might be advantageous for the sake of having your message considered to post anonymously. Kelly McKenzie, Speaking only for myself and whoever I stole these ideas from.
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