Who/what is this Anonymous poster? A bot to bump threads? Joined 5/5/08

Jedi... How do you know that I am not Michael Jackson - or Madonna, or Prince Charles?

If they used their real names, they would be laughed off the board and nobody would believe them anyway.

And if they used a fictitious AKA "user" name, nobody would know who they are.

So...?







[edit on 14-5-2008 by Vanitas]

I am not sure I like the Anonymous Poster either.

Mods will be very busy weeding out threads where members are answering themselves as A.P.'s. I have 5 computers in my house 2 here in my room, I can easily have a grand conversation with myself. Mods will be IP hounds, sleuthing the posts for not only content but also for validity.

I have my reservations as well. I can see where one can use it to keep bumping threads to the top.

Precisely my point... I noticed threads being bumped by Anonymous, yet there was no actual post...

Annoying when thinking there might be a response...

Yup finger gettin itchy on that 'iggy' button

Since the point of my single-post thread (see below) was missed and the thread apparently removed, I have no choice but to repost it here, if I am ever to have an answer.
I say "I have no choice" simply because my post/thread had nothing to do with any specific anonymous post/posters. Rather, I wanted - still want - to know what are the specific benefits of this innovation.

So, below follows my original post: in its entirety, including the post-scriptum edit.


"Anonymous posting" - a question


Just an idle question (and I apologise if it has been discussed before), but what exactly is the main benefit of anonymous replying?

I want to make it very clear that I have no problems whatsoever with anonymous posts, as long as they are topic-related and civil.
(After all, a user name, even if it is registered, is just another type of anonymity.)

But still, I wonder...
If the purpose is to lure (even) more people to the board, there are other ways of achieving that without incurring the risk of attracting spammers or people who are simply trying to vent or provoke others. (And, of course, preventing such things is much easier and practical with registered users.)

And if a person wants to contribute a valuable piece of information but is afraid, for whatever reason, that action might get her/him in trouble... I am sure that person, if s/he is moderately intelligent or computer-savvy, knows that, if needed, their location - or, to be precise, the location of the computer they are using - would be as easily traceable as any registered user "profile".

What is the main purpose, then?


EDIT

Since I cannot reply to the reply below, I'll use this feature.

I was not aware of that thread (and the other one was apparently created later than mine anyway).
But I wouldn't have used it anyway, because they are asking about a specific poster or posters, whereas I am interested in the PRINCIPLE of it all: I am interested in the benefits of anonymous posting for ATS.

And I would still like to have an answer.




[edit on 14-5-2008 by Vanitas]

IF I paid attention to The Recent news topics about "The War on The Internet" from some government sources for the control of infomation, I would have seen that using a fake IP address is now punishable by law.

It's mighty strange indeed we suddenly have anonymous postings bumping certain key threads to keep them on the minds of the readers.

A gravitation and magnetism device from an old text-file sure reminds me of that old hutchinson effect, which sure did sound like a private scientist's way to do some kooky philidelphia experiment stuff.

Anything related to John Titor in there? The name mention itself should turn enough people off, I think.

Maybe someone should start a log right now of the anonymous thread bumping and responses. There could be some sort of message for the tin-foil hat wearing fools in us.

Then again, I only theorize.

-ADHD

[edit on 14-5-2008 by ADHDsux4me]

Some updates for this new feature...


Members
If our system detects the IP address of a member, their anonymous post will not be accepted.


Frequency
People making anonymous posts will be limited to one post every twelve hours. They'll be directed to create a member account if they try to post more than that.


Quality
Our staff is only approving posts that provide substantive contributions to the discussion.

Consider the 'battles of personality' that happen on ATS -- the tendency to categorize posters by their points-of-view, ideologies, etc., rather than focusing on the content of their posts. That kind of ego-centric behavior actually detracts from mutual understanding, pursuit of truth, and denial of ignorance.

'AnonATS' postings help avoid this. Regardless of any non-public recording of IP addresses, origination, etc., if an idea is valuable, should the poster care about damage to a public identity, spoofing of responses, or fake retractions by other 'AnonATS' posters? Or is content king? It's a gray area.

For example, the AnonATS reply in this thread:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

I myself don't really like it. I mean sure we're all basically anonymous anyway, but we still get a feel for one another. After reading peoples post for a while you kinda get to know thier thought process and take on things. You know who you see eye to eye with and who you're totally at opposites with, on certain subjects. That's why we have that friend/foe feature isn't it?

I mean sure i don't ever really know who i'm talking to on here, but at least with registered users i have a sense of who i'm speaking with. With this anonymous poster i have no idea at all. If an anonymous poster replies to me today, and then again tomorrow, is it the same person or not ? No way to tell right. If a member replies to me today and then again tomorrow, at least i know it's the same person.

As far as if a members ip is recognized they can't post anonymously, that's easily fixed. Maybe they should add something to it say for example each anonymous poster gets a number or letter ie anonymous #1, anonymous #2, etc at least then we have a sense of who we're hearing from if they choose to post anonymously again.

Also SO says if a members ip is recognized thay can't post anonymously, i'm pretty sure i saw an anonymous post last night, and very next post a member posted and said it was them that posted anonymously. Can't remember where i saw it, but if i find it i'll come back and post the location.

Ok i found it. Thread titled " Is this what you believe in (quotes from the bible)" page 5, 8th post down from anonymous, next post is form member that said"the previous post was mine" . Now granted the member posting could have been joking around, but still if a member wants to post anonymously, they can just go through a different ip.

I am curious about something though, can anonymous posters flag posts and give stars ? Because if they can it's just abuse waiting to happen.

wether you like this new idea or not, you have to admit that is one cool looking avatar
lol

I noticed that and it's very confusing... On my ATS it will show the anonymous poster as the last one to comment in the thread only the anonymous poster didn't comment last sometimes. errr.. If I explained that correctly

Skeptic Overlord:


Real substance, no fluff!

Forgive me quoting the entire post. I just think it is worth re-posting.

These are the types of things that are truly at the heart of what makes ATS the leader In on-line communities.

The keen ear the owners put to the ground to get a sense of what
Their members think. Then quickly and proactively implementing measures to correct the members concerns, at no small cost to them.

Think about it for a moment. If the anonymous poster feature was allowed to continue without the above modifications, this forum’s hits per month count would soar.
Hits per month count = Ad $$$$ revenue.

The concept of: “Take care of quality, and quantity will take care of itself” is self evident here. This kind of vision, seems to me, to be the hinge pin of why this is, and will continue to be, the best dam forum on the net.

All of this done in less than 24 hours!

Hats off to you Amigos , And Thanks!

edit for; grammar...dang it...

[edit on 15-5-2008 by Zeptepi]

I think the system needs tweaking.


The thread that the Anonoymous perosn posts in, should NOT be bumped.

We are having topics Bumpped that are years old, and do not have a new post on them

Here is a thread that has not had a post from a member in over 2 years... but has been bumped by an invisable Anoynomus post....



So, i propose, that the posts by the anonymous perosn, not bump the threads up, but only bump the thread, when the commment is aproved by a mod, rather then when the comment is submitted...

I think this would work better, and it would eliminate all the members, looking for posts that do not yet exist.

reply to post by TKainZero

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The bumping of the threads is my only complaint.

On my top 50 subscriptions list I have four thread in which the last post was supposedly made by the "Anonymous poster", but when I go to the threads neither one of them has a post from that poster.

In one case a page was added to the end of the thread to add the post, but there is no post, just an empty page.

reply to post by TKainZero

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Thanks Tkain that's exactly what I meant. The invisible post where it tells you the anonymous poster has posted last but you go back to the thread and there isn't anything there. It's pretty confusing...

-ChriS

[edit on 15-5-2008 by BlasteR]

This is an interesting discussion, perhaps a larger discussion about our pseudo identities. Most of us have (I think) become attached to our online personas. That is probably a big reason for registered members disliking anon. posts - there is no identity to relate too!

But there is some merit to the feature. I for one, have shied away from participating in some good discussions on other sites simply because they required me to register, which takes time etc. For someone wanting to post a quick comment on an interesting topic, registration is just a pain in the butt.

Quality is easily taken care of by mods.

Infact, I think this might be a stepping stone for new people to get addicted to ATS and spend 15 hours a day on the site!

I going to speculate that the last post date stamp is set on the thread when a record is inserted to the database table. To change that stamp back to the previous post might involve a bit a work, database wise, or there is the desire to preserve the date of the last change, whether insert or delete.

Guess we will see what the decision on this is in the future.

I'm no bot, just an interested party that has ventured to ATS from time to time.

Keep up the good work.

reply to post by 2believeor0

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2believeor0:


It is real…very very real.

Now that you bring it up….it could be a part of this “Anon-experiment” (cue spooky suspense music and sparking-buzzing Jacobs ladder) They are testing our digital alter egos…..hooo haa haa. Very clever.

Here is a great thread by Springer about that very thing, it’s real and called:

D-EGO