Twitter may be run by a private corporation, but it has quickly become one of the strongest tools we have for free speech, which is why it’s so important that the company resist efforts to curb that speech. Read more »
A Twitter user named @ComfortablySmug has been held up as a villain for posting fake news reports to Twitter, and his identity has been forcibly revealed by BuzzFeed — but is that, and all that it implies, an appropriate punishment for his alleged crimes? Read more »
At a time when everyone is talking about how important it is for commenters to use real names, Gawker is going in the exact opposite direction. And while that may benefit Nick Denton for all kinds of selfish reasons, it’s still an experiment worth watching. Read more »
There has been a lot of outrage — bordering on hysteria — about Google’s new privacy policy, with some critics advising users to delete their search histories. But is there that much to fear from Google’s tracking? Not really. In fact, in many ways it is beneficial. Read more »
4chan founder Chris Poole believes that users need a balance of anonymity and identity online, a strategy he hopes social networks will also adopt as a way to allow people to make mistakes online without having to worry about those transgression coming back to haunt them. Read more »
Google’s requirement that users of Google+ be known by their real names has been the source of a firestorm of criticism since the launch of the network. But the recent launch of “verified” user accounts shows what could be a way out for the web giant. Read more »
As it rolls out its Google+ social network, Google has been cracking down on its requirement that users have “real” names, just as Facebook has — but are we losing something valuable as a society as a result of this stamping out of online anonymity? Read more »
Online anonymity has been taking a beating recently, with the Gay Girl in Damascus affair and a recent piece by the former ombudsman at NPR criticizing anonymous comments. But allowing people to be anonymous has real value for society that shouldn’t be dismissed so quickly. Read more »
Christopher “Moot” Poole, the founder of the anarchic website known as 4chan, spoke recently at the TED conference about the rapid growth of the online forum, but also talked about the site’s guiding principle of anonymity and what the world stands to lose if anonymity disappears. Read more »
