Would you allow anonymous posting on your forum?

[Christopher1]

In my opinion, I think anonymous posting lures the wrong kind of company: spammers and trolls. I'm wondering if anyone would allow people to post anonymous on their forum.

Would you allow it?

 

[MeowsePad]

I have never allowed anonymous posting on my forums, but I think it could be a good idea in some circumstances. For example, I remember that a forum I once visited allowed guest posting in the "problems/feedback" type forum in case someone was unable to log in or register. While I have never done such a thing on any of my forums, I can see why that would be a good idea.

 

[Thomasss]

Usually, my help sections are open to guests so that if they have an issue they can post and have it solved...

Though I thought posting online anonymous anyway?

 

[dfarmer2001]

I know most forum software offers an option to allow anonymous posting. However, I find anonymous posting to be a big problem because spam skyrockets and you don't know who exactly is doing what. Therefore, my answer to this question would have to be, no I would not allow it.

 

[BriGuy]

This is always a slippery slope. I guess it would come down to what the content of the forum is and how fast I could moderate it if I needed to remove something really offensive. Plus you always run the risk of a lot of spam posts.

 

[Charge]

Anonymous posting option is like the first step to converting your forum into spammer's lounge.

 

[Tom WHE]

Anon posting is a horrendous idea, you will get spammed like nothing else from cheap back link spinners. It happens all the time.

 

[JewishPoptart89]

Personally I wouldn't. I'd prefer to know the person. (As much as it happens online). I also think it would encourage only posting once then leaving the forum.

 

[Shad0wz]

I know someone who ran a forum and it was great then died out so in desperation, he opened it to anon posters and he not only lost his Google adsense account over it, but the entire forum was flooded with porn. Not a good idea.

 

[Chrylent]

Allowing anonymous posting on forums will increase spams

 

[Dozzer]

Allowing anonymous posting would just be asking for spammer troubles.

 

[Michael W. Smith]

I thought of this in the past, but decided not to. I've been on more than my fair share of forums where anonymous posting got out of hand. People mainly thinking that just because they don't have an official account, they can do what they want and think they can get away with it.

 

[Christopher1]

If you want to rofl, check out www.godlikeproductions.com - this is anon posting at work!

 

[Dozzer]

If you want to rofl, check out www.godlikeproductions.com - this is anon posting at work!

Wow! What a mess that forum is.

 

[Christopher1]

Wow! What a mess that forum is.

Yeah, it's becoming as bad as 4chan. /shudder

 

[cpvr1]

Yes, we allow it on Virtualpetlist, but it rarely ever gets abused because we keep logs of everyone that posts anonymously.

 

[Michael W. Smith]

If you want to rofl, check out www.godlikeproductions.com - this is anon posting at work!

I can't even NAVIGATE that site; there's so much crap on there! I would have rejected a post exchange offer from them so fast it would make your head spin. I mean, how can you post exchange with a site where you can't make heads or tails out of anything. Also any package team members would have given up on that place before even ATTEMPTING to fill a package request. OUTRAGEOUS!

 

[Christopher1]

I can't even NAVIGATE that site; there's so much crap on there! I would have rejected a post exchange offer from them so fast it would make your head spin. I mean, how can you post exchange with a site where you can't make heads or tails out of anything. Also any package team members would have given up on that place before even ATTEMPTING to fill a package request. OUTRAGEOUS!

Haha, yeah I definitely agree. It is a big cluster you know what. Speaking of which, I have similar problems with 4chan.

 

[KenBrace]

Allowing anonymous posting sounds like an awful gateway for spammers. It can be hard enough keeping spam bots from registering. I can only imagine the work it would take to keep them from posting when they don't even need an account.

I've seen some sites that do this and they use captchas for guest posts. I'm still not sure this is a good idea though.

Another issue with guest posting is that it doesn't encourage registration. When people register, it gives them an identity. If that person breaks rules then they can be banned from the forum. If you allow guest posting then it can be very difficult to keep up with identities, thus making moderation that much harder.

I guess it all comes down what kind of site you're running. If it's information oriented then perhaps guest posting would be a positive feature to have. That way people who encounter the site can leave a quick comment without having to create an account. If the site is discussion oriented then I think it's best to stick with member posting only.

 

[Michael W. Smith]

Haha, yeah I definitely agree. It is a big cluster you know what. Speaking of which, I have similar problems with 4chan.

I'm actually basing my opinion on FP's standards/rules for when they accept/reject requests for posting packages. After seeing a crummy site like that, I can totally understand why sites like that are automatically rejected, no questions asked. I mean, say if it were a brand-new forum and the owner requested the smallest package FP has, which I think is that trial package for newbie forum-owners which, if I remember right, only yields five to ten posts. It would probably take roughly an hour and a half for me, for instance, to even start a newbie request... never mind complete it. I'd probably be like, you know, you guys are lucky you didn't request any of the bigger packages that offer more posts, I seriously would've for one, rejected even the newbie trial package! I mean, come on, an hour and a half to make five measly posts, all because you can't even navigate your way around the forum? Wow. I think I've only ever been on 4chan once as a guest, and I do seem to recall they were really messed up as well. Messed up, yet a neater layout = not the world's greatest combination lol.