Anonymity + Life Advice?

[Shiki 5,855]

This was an absolutely random thing that just dawned on me for no apparent reason. (There's not all that much thought put into it)

 

Wouldn't it be a good idea to include a "post anonymously" kind of thing to the Life Advice section of the forums? It would have the OP's username as "Anonymous" and their avatar set as the default or something simple like that. There's quite a few amount of things that I can think of that people would be uncomfortable seeking out help for because they may fear having themselves judged (not that any of the people who are kind enough to visit the section would judge anyone) as a person.

 

At least, I think. [i really do not know how other people act/think whatsoever.]

 

Anyway, I was wondering if this was a good idea or not. To me, it seems like it would help out people who have a bit more serious troubles that don't need to be exposed, and if this is even possible to begin with, then it would make a good addition.

 

If this is somehow impossible to add (I have no idea how the forum works whatsoever), or is already supported/can be done in other means, or is simply a silly idea entirely, go ahead and lock this thread up, mods.

[Whiteshade 1,426]

 

From a psychological standpoint, this would significantly improve the efficiency of the section, as anonymity effectively removes all stigma, even a perception of stigma whereas actual stigma may or may not exist.

Edited September 26, 2012 by Whiteshade

[Doctor XFizzle 8,669]

I guess that would depend if IP has an option to make topic creators anonymous and keep them anonymous throughout that one particular thread. I would assume the mod team would still be able to know who it is in case there's some moderating activities might be needed.

[Twiliscael 3,960]

Whoa, can't believe I've never thought of this before. I know how tough it can be to admit your errors and seek advice so making an anonymous option would really help some people. They wouldn't feel pressure of being judged.

 

My only concern is that I don't want to see tons of troll posting done anonymously. Obviously the moderation team could find out who it was but I don't want to open a thread to try to help someone but instead get emotionally scarred by gore or something.

[FedoraMemes 582]

I disagree with this.

 

While from a psychological standpoint, it can be beneficial, it really takes an element away from posting.

 

Maybe a close forum friend posts in the section and they don't tell you. Maybe you would still reply but you wouldn't take them as serious because you don't know who they are. Basically, you could give some advice, then leave, but if it was a friend, you would try and give them more advice, but you wouldn't know that if they were anonymous.

 

Also, there might be troll posts (not that anyone would do that but still) and it can make you frightened that someone in the community is a troll, even though the mods could probably see it.

[thegoodhen 698]

It would significantly reduce the drama caused by OMIGOSH I AM LEAVING threads.

 

All jokes aside, I am unsure if this is a good idea. I mean, while it might be very beneficial sometimes, it leaves a big room for theories and speculations about who is the OP. Plus it might lead in ponies posting all sort of stuff they don't want to stand behind in life advice just cause it's anonymous. Imagine all those complaints on other users if it's anonymous... Oh wait. I forgot this is a brony forum, I can't really expect people here to be mean even when being anonymous, but still.

[kirbyboi 588]

I think this is a great idea! It'll give more members the courage to post their problems. However, the only problem I'm concerned about is that if it's serious, then how will we know which member it is to help them out? But other than that, a great idea.

 

 

Members can have an OPTION on whether to be anonymous or not. Now members can post freely knowing that it is completely private. Everypony here is friendly though, so I don't really see anything bad happening, but this is still useful for those times when you really want to say something but want nobody to know it's you.

[Ferret Girl 2,642]

Well then... this would be beneficial in my opinion, being that there are things that i desperately want to post in that section but are to afraid to do so.

[Pinkazoid 3,493]

I don't know,

 

Remember that troll who made an account, tricked many members and was bragging about it in another forums?

 

It'll be worse with many anonymous users :\

 

*Also the troll didn't even post in life advice, yet he and a couple of others, got a good laugh at all the members who tried to help him :\

[Fox 5,330]

Moderators would always know who post threads anonymously. SO YOUR IDENTITY IS NEVER SAFE! Don't take that in a wrong way, because in case if we ever had a hard core troll with 40 posts, he/she could post inappropriate content on site.

[Zoop 8,384]

Unfortunately I don't believe something of this nature is possible for us - Scoot's to-do list is fairly massive at the moment, and I get the feeling that this would be a more complex tweak than any of us might think. I took a quick look over at the IPS marketplace to see if there were any readily available extensions available that would provide the desired effect, but didn't see anything, I'm afraid.

 

I do agree that it would be a handy thing to have for certain Life Advice issues, though.

 

That said however, we very strongly frown on mean and/or rude behavior toward people in Life Advice threads. If you're nervous about talking about something, keep that in mind - no matter what someone may think about whatever it is you're speaking about, abusive behavior will not be tolerated in the slightest.

[Away 2,077]

I know this is over a year old, but I really like this idea. Some people are too embarrassed or ashamed to talk about their problems. They're afraid of what others might think or say about them. Please, please make this a feature.

[Legacy Dash 439]

Yeah, agreed. Bump.

 

But to my knowledge, IP.Board doesn't have such a feature. I do believe it has a feature to post without an account, but not post anonymously while logged in.

 

However, after having a look on the Invision Power marketplace, I found this, which could potentially work: http://community.invisionpower.com/files/file/5982-post-anonymously/

 

Edit: And it is free.

Edited March 10, 2014 by Mitchfizz05

[joecal97 340]

Could be a great idea!

Most here don't judge, but if people are that worried, being anonymous would really boost there confidence to post and ask for help.