Then why didn't you post anonymously?

Once upon a time, some two decades or so ago, I was an active and well-known participant on a local dial-up BBS. One day, there was a discussion there (I don't recall the topic) in which another of the site's prolific users made a comment that I wished to reply to, but I wanted my comments to be read and responded to objectively, without being viewed more favorably due to my reputation or my relationship with him.

And so I posted them anonymously.

This caused quite a stir and backfired miserably, as the discussion of "why did the poster hide behind anonymity?" distracted and detracted from my words far more than my reputation would have, were my name attached.

From what I saw then and have seen many times in many places since then, it is clear that anonymity, as a rule, detracts from your credibility rather than enhancing it.

(As a practical matter, there's also no way here to tell which AnonyMonk posts are from the same person and which are not. It appears that at least two distinct AnonyMonks have posted in this thread, but the exact number is a mystery.)

In reply to Re^5: What Are You Doing For Perl? by dsheroh
in thread What Are You Doing For Perl? by Anonymous Monk

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