Thursday, March 29, 2007

The Anonymity Discussion

So... today, 13 people who I know from the internet and this blog - script writers - met over bowls of meat and veggies at the Burbank Media Center mall.

It was actually nice - seeing people I haven't seen in years, or only worked with once or twice. As always, people vowed to do it again. (Checking the date)

But... it made me think about anonymous posting.

I'm on the fence. I would prefer people be held accountable to their opinions, but I don't want to squelch pointed debate. That being said, it's internet, and anyone of us could masquerade as a 13 year old girl, and none would be the wiser.

So... I'll toss it out to the group. Should I leave anonymous up and running or take it down?

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah, I would have loved to joined in on the meat n' veggies, Steve. Maybe at the next one.

You'll have more postings if you leave "anonymous" up. If you remove it, I'll still be reading and checking in... but posting? Eh, probably not. Best to stay in the shadows, safe under my rock away from all the scorn.

I support whichever you chose.

Anonymous said...

"To stay away from all the scorn"--- which is also why I no longer attend any of the TAG meetings.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, since it's showbiz, I think you need to allow Anonymity so, at the cost of the flamers, people are free to name names, specific projects, etc. without fear of getting blacklisted...which really happens, and happens a lot.

Anonymous said...

You can pick a pseudonym other than "anonymous". That's what King of Soup did! That's one way to keep things straight. But there's always the danger of the flamers hijacking your pseudonym. The King of Soup wouldn't like that.

Yeah, the blacklisting happens hence the reason for all the cloak n' dagger. Well, cloak, not so much dagger... I hope... King of Soup is easily punctured.

John S. said...

Let everyone pick a suitable psyeudonym so that we can sort out who's who. Half the time, you don't know who you are arguing with anonymous A and then anonymous B walks in and you smack him with the point you were trying to make with anonymous A. Then he gets all hostile and..you get the point.
Get some handles people!

Anonymous said...

If the purpose of this site is so you can make new friends then you should absolutely stop allowing anonymous comments.

But then the site will just become a little social club where you all just sit around complimenting each other without really accomplishing anything.

If you want to get to the root of the issues (which you probably don't based on other posts I've seen) then you need to allow anonymous comments.

The reason this site took off as quickly as it did was because it was in direct response to the Anibation blog... when it disappeared everyone migrated here, and the reason they stayed was because they could comment freely.

There are some decent discussions going on here, but your insistence on taking everything so personally and your temptation to start moderating creates the danger of this site just becoming another Animation Nation.

You'll have lots of new pals to have fun with, but you won't be helping the industry at all.

Anonymous said...

I don't see the harm in allowing anonymity. If someone is being disrespectful anonymously it is very easy just to ignore what they say. If you do not allow anonymous comments you will only get comments from people who are so high ranking that they do not need to worry about what they say.

Anonymous said...

Just curious. Is there a reason anonymous posters prefer not to use a pseudonym/screen name/handle/whatever-you-wanna-call-it?

Kent B said...

The cartoon business is powered by the twin engines of fear and greed. Writers, artists and everyone else "below the line" live in constant fear of being considered "difficult to work with" or "not a team player". Seems like the only outlet sometimes is anonymous comments on a sympathetic blog where greedy backstabbers can't recognize their potential victims!

I'm not anonymous because I'm trying to not choose sides in the "Artist vs Writer" debate. I have friends on both sides. I think it's fear that there are only so many seats in the lifeboats and that's inspiring a struggle for survival. This attidude is not good for any of us!

As far as "script-driven" vs "storyboard-driven" shows, well, I was watching Cartoon Network with my 9-year old niece last week and we watched "Foster's Imaginary Friends" - now here is a show created by an artist who is also the showrunner - and the show is virtually wall-to-wall dialog. (Was he seduced by the dark side?) I don't think I laughed out loud, but it was entertaining and my neice liked it. I left the room to get a snack in the kitchen and I could hear the dialog so I was able to follow the story just fine. Now is that a bad thing? This is Television - this is part of how the medium works - kids get distracted for awhile and then they come back. I worked on animation in Japan for awhile, and they had an understanding that when the TV is on, kids are not constantly watching the show, they spend a lot of the time jumping on the couch, etc, but then when the giant robot shows up to kick butt you play the theme song really loud and then the kids know that there's something cool to watch!

BTW, My niece also likes Sponge Bob.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry, but if you are so fragile and insecure that anonymous comments on an internet blog actually get under your skin then you should probably stay home, hide in a closet and close your eyes so that the big mean scary world doesn't hurt your precious feelings.
Buncha babies.

Steve said...

Says the guy who's such a baby that he has to say everyone's a baby who doesn't hide.

That being said, I agree there's merit in anonymity. But if our recurring anonymous posters could either create an account, or at least identify themselves in some way (perhaps by time of posting?) then maybe it'd get a little less chaotic.

I'm not in this to make friends. I have plenty of friends. But honestly, I - personally - am in this with the intent to be friendly.

Any other blog author - and there are many - can choose to post anyway they want.

Anonymous said...

Um, no... I was calling people who get their feelings hurt by anonymous comments babies.
Like you.

Steve said...

I so very much want this to devolve into an "I know you are but what am I" discussion...

...but I don't know what you are.

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