OK, I’m against character assassination. But I think there’s a huge amount of wisdom on the CHE fora that wouldn’t appear if people (including me) had to post under their real names. I’m not interested in attacking people, but I do reveal secrets of the academic trade that I wouldn’t want to reveal under my real name. I do make negative comments about academic practices or (sometimes) the things that academic people have done. I don’t believe in attacking individuals, but I do believe in attacking bad behavior, which is often inseparable from the individual. I think you have to, um, “nuance” what you’re saying :).

Always a fan of using one’s real name.

I’m not judging you for your name!  It’s a great name.  I’m just saying that some names (mine’s Eileen Nguyen) invite racist, sexist attacks more than others.

Although I suppose everyone gets called “Nazi” equally.

Anonymity is an essential component of free speech.  In every society there are taboo subjects that can’t easily be discussed openly.

“I confess that I always have a little more respect for — and pay a
little more attention to — those courageous souls who post under their
real names.”

That’s funny — for me, it’s just the opposite. In academia, we’re surrounded constantly by people who want their names on everything, who want to make sure that everyone understands just how brilliant and important they and their opinions are. An anonymous post represents the opposite, an opinion stated not for the purpose of drawing attention to the writer, but just to contribute to the conversation. Maybe it’s unfair, but when I see a signed post, I don’t tend to think, “How courageous!”, but rather, “How pompous!”

For me, anyway, I don’t generally think of my name as anonymity, (It’s George Medley), but as merely the standard way of speaking on forums. Generally you have a username that may or may not reflect your actual name (in my case I’m technically George Medley, III and go by “Trey” hence t_rey). Although this is becoming less common place (to have a username that may not necessarily have any ties to your actual name), often times (though certainly not always) it is not a question of anonymity, but merely some unspoken convention.
 
That said, it seems there are two interesting issues to consider here. First, giving your name does not necessarily eliminate anonymity. If your name is Joseph Smith, for instance, how many out there share your name? The top result for my name on Google is usually an orthapaedic surgeon or a petroleum engineer. I only know one of those people. If I get more specific and add the “III” or use “trey” I usually get a youth pastor from Alabama, which was slightly bizarre when I lived in Alabama. More recently I’ve been getting a Medley of songs from R&B semi-amateur artist “Trey Songz” Now that could be resolved is we merely gave significant personal information. But at some point it’s too much (and I’m not just talking about identity theft). I like keeping certain aspects of my life separate. People who use online forums or virtual games even moreso. For “gamers” there’s the phrase IRL (Invading or In Real Life) where there becomes a crossover between virtual worlds and the physical world (usually in fun/surreal ways), but the term has had some crossover from Facebook, Twitter, and the like. At what point do we need to keep these identities separate and at what point should we acknowledge their commonality? Granted the CHE is not really a place to worry much about that, at least for me, but it might be for others.
 
The second issue has to do with credibility the other way ‘round. For instance, if I give my name, the usual response would be “who?” That is warranted. I am a lowly PhD student (granted one who has taught at a few small schools, but they’re not well-known schools either). Giving my name does little to add or detract from my credibility, until it is placed next to a very well known scholar. Suddenly, it doesn’t matter who I am, or what I say as much (it may still matter, but if I’m in disagreement, and the issue is contentious, then those “on the fence” will likely throw their support to the well known scholar for that reason alone). While the anonymity of the internet may lead to abuses as mentioned here, it also has become a great “equalizer” of sorts. Suddenly, my voice actually matters. Things can be evaluated on the basis of the arguments and not who is giving them. Again this has its pros and cons, but I think in this instance the pros greatly outweigh the cons. So the issue isn’t all that simple as “give your name you coward.” I don’t have a problem giving my name (as noted above). I just don’t think that the presence or absence of a name should be given much (if any) weight, particularly in online forums. If people make baseless attacks let them. It doesn’t make them good because they’ve been posted. It also doesn’t make them good if they add their name to them (though I suppose it might open them up for litigation). It doesn’t take that much courage to add a name most of the time, so why focus on it?

I’m a bit torn on this.  I’ve never tried to hide my identity on-line.  My id, tgroleau, is for Tom Groleau and a simple Google search on “tgroleau” will reveal that.

On the other hand, there have been several times when I refrained from commenting on a Chronicle article or responding to a comment because I could easily be identified.  I’ve been in higher ed long enough to have experience with “sensitive issues”  that could be useful, or at least interesting, to other readers. However, in some cases, publishing those experiences with my name attached is more than I’m willing to reveal.

Over the years, I’ve also been on the receiving end of a few attacks to my comments here and elsewhere (I differentiate “attack” from legitimate questions and critiques).   Then I have to decide if I want to get into a public shouting match or just ignore the troll.  That would be an easier decision if I were anonymous. 

Therefore, I’m not opposed to anonymous posting/writing, but I wish there were some way to require a minimum level of maturity and civility for anonymous posters (if you want to be immature and uncivil, then at least sign your name).  Of course that could lead to censorship and … well, there’s no easy answer.

See above.

See above.