Register to Comment

I have long believed that some form of anonymous participation was necessary for several reasons:

• requiring registration creates a participation hurdle that make it less likely people will take the time to comment.
• anonymnity of some form is valuable when people are reluctant to express a valid, but unpopular opinion.
• anonymnity can provide a way for "official" people to participate in a personal capacity without it being attributed to their public role.
• the enforcement challenges are a headache. The motivated troublemaker will simply register under a name like "concerned citizen or Guest1"

I think these reasons are less important than the potential value of accountability because:

• the participation hurdle exists no matter what. People who have something to say find a way.
• Most of the people who have unpopular opinions have been willing to put their names on them and the silent majority has remained silent anyway.
• Official people don't participate directly on the blog anyway. I may get emails or talk to people, but they don't actually go on the blog themselves and comment.
• I can simply delete the posts by obvious fake people--I already have to watch out for spammers who register and post on the site.

I'm motivated to make this change because I hear again and again from our Selectmen and Town Officials that this is their number one concern and a reason why they will not participate. Even for volunteers in town...I know how discouraging it can be if something you are working on leads to some kind of anonymous, intemperate criticism. So we shall make a change and see what happens...