1,682 votes
allow for users to be anonymous. at times I do not want to send specific response archived under me
don't want to have one username. would like an anonymous username i can use as well.
Status:
under review
Aardvark is about real people interacting with real people, which is why we ask everyone to use their real names--just like on Facebook.
That said, we understand that there are personal topics that come up, in which case it might be preferred to ask or answer anonymously. I'd love to hear what other people on the forum think about this topic.
John
Yes vote on stealth mode. I now have a personal question and don't want friends & family nosing in on it. If I wanted my idiot friends to answer questions, I'd have called them. I want credible people who have an answer to talk with me. If their answers suck, their ratings will show it. Just being my friend doesn't make an answer credible. I get bad advice from friends all the time.
Shyam
Mixing anonymity and credibility in a forum like this will be extremely difficult, in my opinion.
Allowing complete anonymity typically increases forum abuse both from askers and answerers. Perhaps some sort of verified or certified anonymity, where a legitimate user with a track record can be allowed to remain unknown is the solution. Someone (Google/Vark), however, will have to certify that the user is legitimate. That's the only way an asker can hope to be answered properly.
Connor
Boo!!! I don't want to know everyone in the world! And I don't want everyone tio know me!
Quippian
I am interested in researching various topics through Aardvark because I am a writer (articles, free lance information reports, executive summaries, project summaries, etc.). HOWEVER, I deeply dislike having my personal information revealed in order to do so. I am not interested in "thousands" of people knowing me, nor am I interested in knowing thousands of people. Wish you had limited anonymity. It should not be necessary for people to know my age, my hometown, what time I eat, go to the ba... more
I am interested in researching various topics through Aardvark because I am a writer (articles, free lance information reports, executive summaries, project summaries, etc.). HOWEVER, I deeply dislike having my personal information revealed in order to do so. I am not interested in "thousands" of people knowing me, nor am I interested in knowing thousands of people. Wish you had limited anonymity. It should not be necessary for people to know my age, my hometown, what time I eat, go to the bathroom, what clothes I wear, who my lovers are, etc. etc. etc.When I tried to register with Aardvark, it asked for all my personal info. That's when I aborted the registration. Thank goodness there's still Google and the public library to do research...quietly, unobtrusively and anonymously!
Sean
I'm sorry, but this is a horrible idea. Demonstrating credibility if critical for a site like this and anonymity will just increase the amount of spam and trolls.
Margaret
Need some discretion. My spelling is most unusual making me far too easily identifiable. A recent Aardvarkian used 'Mary M, age, Town name & State.' Good naming. Enough for friends to recognize her. Vague enough to keep her from embarrassment.
Khannea
Simple buttons disabling name, geographic data etc etc facultatively. Simple and respectful. Also allow people asking questions to refuse anonymous replies.
Freedom of choice.
Saidye
I honestly think this feature should be made. Either way the ability to ask anonymous questions will still be visible to admins in an "under the hood" sort of manner. So if spamming and whatnot were the case, admins would be able to handle that.
I think it would be good to make one, and this feature would give you the ability to make an anonymous username (for those who want to) and whenever you want to ask a question that is too heated [if you will] for your real name, you simply select the f... more
I honestly think this feature should be made. Either way the ability to ask anonymous questions will still be visible to admins in an "under the hood" sort of manner. So if spamming and whatnot were the case, admins would be able to handle that.
I think it would be good to make one, and this feature would give you the ability to make an anonymous username (for those who want to) and whenever you want to ask a question that is too heated [if you will] for your real name, you simply select the feature "Ask ask (anonymous-username-here)". So that way anyone who wants an anonymous username may have one, but it will be visible under their real names to the admins just to make sure they aren't abusing the anonymous feature.
Now, it's completely understandable by anyone, that there are some questions that you would want to ask, but wouldn't really want people to be able to find you by name and such. So I think it's fair to add that kind of feature.
Also to make sure not too many questions go under anonymous, there is a maximum amount of anonymous questions allowed to be asked per day or something of the sort.
Vladimir
I see the case in that way: Real people - real answers, that's the idea of vark.com after all, right?
Bijan
Yeah, sometimes, for maybe 1 in 20 questions, I would like to be able to make an anonymous post...
Philipp
I think this real people thing is a very good way of quality control. This way spamming and posting offense asnwers is limited to a high degree! I wouldn't change that policy!
Liz
If the topic is too 'hot' to use your real name, then you need to be doing your own research rather than asking anonymous questions. I agree that the real name of that questioner and the person who is giving the answer needs to be used at all times!
Hover
Still the most popular…
Interestingly enough, anyone can just use multiple vark accounts connected to different XMPP accounts (provided that theirs XMPP client can do that) to ask and answer anonymously (well, pseudonymously…).
Jason
I'd rather see other improvements come before this, but I don't see the harm. I would not use this feature myself, however.
HiddenKnowledge
I think experienced users should be permitted to ask anonymous questions.
Anna
Not sure if this has been said, but a tickbox with the option for anonymity could be handy.
Minesh
i dont think so coz this is the platform where minds of across the world meet together on this platform....:)
Bradley
Okay, I stand somewhat corrected. I do understand there are some questions you don't want your family/colleagues to see, especially if you connect through Facebook...
How's about this-- as http://community.vark.com/forums/18354-general/suggestions/245523-hide-some-topics-i-want-to-answer-i-don-t-want-m?ref=title did for hiding topics from others, what if we made it possible to post a question so that ONLY non-friends can see/answer it. I.e., when you are asking a question, put a check box, create a co... more
Okay, I stand somewhat corrected. I do understand there are some questions you don't want your family/colleagues to see, especially if you connect through Facebook...
How's about this-- as http://community.vark.com/forums/18354-general/suggestions/245523-hide-some-topics-i-want-to-answer-i-don-t-want-m?ref=title did for hiding topics from others, what if we made it possible to post a question so that ONLY non-friends can see/answer it. I.e., when you are asking a question, put a check box, create a command "anon", or something of the sort so your Facebook friends don't read about that "S&M master" business...
If anyone agrees with me, please tell me if there is a community page for this sort of thing that I can vote for! (Because I haven't found one yet.) Otherwise, I'll start my own.
Weston
if im inviting friends and family to vark, i may not want specific questions or answers logged into my account, due to personal or explicit content. i had a serious question that i thought only vark might be able to help with, but couldnt find an anonymous way to ask without using a fake account.
Bradley
I'm with oscar here.
Online anonymity leads straight to people insulting eachother with no threat to their reputations. (I have a feeling Godwin's law would come in here somewhere...)
Although we all deserve our anonymity, I believe Aardvark already provides for this- last names are reduced to their first letters, birthdays can be hidden, and no one is forced to give a profile picture. Really, if you want to remain anonymous that badly, just sign up for Aardvark as "Ricky Ricardo" or someth... more
I'm with oscar here.
Online anonymity leads straight to people insulting eachother with no threat to their reputations. (I have a feeling Godwin's law would come in here somewhere...)
Although we all deserve our anonymity, I believe Aardvark already provides for this- last names are reduced to their first letters, birthdays can be hidden, and no one is forced to give a profile picture. Really, if you want to remain anonymous that badly, just sign up for Aardvark as "Ricky Ricardo" or something. I'm one to talk-- my picture is of Charlie Chaplain purely because I don't feel comfortable putting my real face on here.
I strongly vote against this option.