LRC Without Anonymous Posts

NEEDS TO BE DONE wrote:

Update the message board and have users post under the same (anonymous) username everytime they come to the site.

So do you post as "NEEDS TO BE DONE" every single time on Letsrun?

It can be useful to switch up names depending on what you are talking about or to not effect people's opinions of you when you regularly post with a different name.

If they required registration all the posts would probably be about running. How boring would that be?

Lyndon Larouche wrote:

You are projecting YOUR desires for what you believe is the appropriate structure for this board. The fact that is has no structure and there are threads about all sorts of subjects, including ones you do not like, is the reason it still works.

John Stuart Mills, "Marketplace of Ideas" in its most basic form

I think the people that don't want it to change are missing the point.

It would still be anonymous.

You could still start threads on whatever.

You could still post whatever you want.

It would just be an upgrade to take the site out of the 1990s! Which really is needed imo. There is a lot of good stuff posted on here but it gets hidden amongst the bullshit.

Basically it will be the same but better. ie Less bullshit & more user friendly.

I'd bet nobody would be complaining after 2 weeks.

oh I just realised that the thread title is 'LRC Without Anonymous Posts'

Does the OP want people to use their real names? Absolutely ludicrous idea! (and surely not enforceable?)

I'd just like to see an upgrade in the forum software (or whatever it's called) so users log in with their same anonymous name each time.

Anyways.. food for thought.

This is one reason why the board is great. "the working man" got 9 rows into a well thought response before he even realized what the question was! Nothing should be done that in anyway inhibits that type of free expression.

I have 3 anonymous registered names, but will not use one of them for this. Keep the board as it is. Cry Freedom!!

Tim Culpepper's ghost wrote:

I have 3 anonymous registered names, but will not use one of them for this. Keep the board as it is. Cry Freedom!!

You will find the same "quality" of conversation by listening to the idiots in the Xbox Live post-game lobbies. Take a minute to actually read my last post. Is it genuinely worth losing the participation so many great runners and coaches to cultivate a bunch of anonymous personal attacks and trash-talking?

Déjà Vu, your name seems quite anonymous.

Changing the functionality (e.g. allowing users to crowd source content tags) is not what people people do not want to change.

The ugliness of these boards - this is the way people think. It is not unusual. This is what people think/feel when they are sure nobody is looking/listening. I think that aspect of this board is what makes it so interesting. No holding back - you can say what you think, with out any repercussions.

And I certainly do not want the mods exercising any more discretion over what is said and written. That discourages people more than anything else.

I've seen a lot of inside information (implausible but later proven to be correct) come out in anonymous posts. I enjoy that as a fan of track and field. The whole Robert Gary to Furman situation, for example.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

I've seen a lot of inside information (implausible but later proven to be correct) come out in anonymous posts. I enjoy that as a fan of track and field.

Really? You enjoy it enough to tolerate the vast majority of the other posts that are racist, profanity-laden, trolling, etc.?

We think anonymity leads to better discussion.

I think there is a distinction between anonymity and unregistered that is getting muddled here.

How do some of these other anonymous boards work?

If someone has to register to post and have to post under the same name, it's not that hard for people to eventually figure out who the poster is in real life.

Is that what you want? Or do some of these boards make you register but you can post under different names once you log in?

For example, I login as wejo, but then I can post as any unregistered name. Behind the scenes LetsRun would see its wejo to make it easier to ban people.

We would probably need to strengthen the privacy provisions and say when we would reveal who the logged in person is.

Although as one poster pointed out, even now we record your ipaddress when you post, so behind the scenes it's not totally anonymous and we in our privacy provisions" "6) You acknowledge that your identity is not a secret whether or not you reveal your name in your posts. Your IP address is tracked. As a result others, including LetsRun.com, may be able to figure out who you are and thus your identity may be revealed to others."

The one thing I've learned is the posters who want to create the most trouble go to the most links to get around bans, using proxy severs, etc.

Déjà Vu wrote:

Really? You enjoy it enough to tolerate the vast majority of the other posts that are racist, profanity-laden, trolling, etc.?

I wish there was a way to get rid of the inexplicable racism here. While the profanity could be toned down, it generally doesn't bother me. I enjoy a good troll (original, entertaining, harmless) thread. It is a balancing act to balance all of these things out. I generally tend to favor allowing people to post what they want, I can ignore those things that bother me.

Ha Ha They might if you say something about Hightower!

I agree with this 100%.

I'm in favor of requiring registration for everyone. It would greatly improve the board, not be the death of it. Look at other popular message boards, like the tivo community. I don't even use it but many people do.

Advantages:

post histories

history of threads started

personal profile

subscriptions to threads

notification of replies to threads

private messages (if desired)

friends list (can get pm's only from friends)

Disadvantages:

less trolls and less garbage, i.e. no disadvantages

Let's say you want to see all the posts by Renato Canova the past week. This would be very easy to do, yet now it's impossible.

Everyone should want registration, as it would make everything better.

El Tremendo wrote:

You could offer a forum for anonymous and a forum for registered names, OR you could also allow the person starting the topic to decide whether tho allow anonymous replies or not. I favor that.

Good idea.

I'd be fine with people having the choice to register, or not. Then only those registered would be able to use the features, including of course blocking anyone not registered.

Those not registered could carry on as usual.

* wrote:

It can be useful to switch up names depending on what you are talking about or to not effect people's opinions of you when you regularly post with a different name.

Huh????

Your point seems to be the same as Wejo's.

I have no idea why anyone would want to do this. I'm fine posting anything that I want to say, with the same nickname each time. Why aren't you?

wejo wrote:

If someone has to register to post and have to post under the same name, it's not that hard for people to eventually figure out who the poster is in real life.

We would probably need to strengthen the privacy provisions and say when we would reveal who the logged in person is.

Yes, strengthen the privacy provisions.

I see no reason why you should ever reveal who a poster is, unless required to by authorities. IMO revealing people's personal information is a crime. Obviously google/FB don't agree, but I don't use either one of them for that reason.

Strengthening the privacy provisions would be a big plus.

I was getting confused with my first reply. Still not sure if the OP was questioning whether using your real name would be a good idea.

Anyway this is a terrible idea. Anonymity is absolutely essential. The forum would die without it.

I do feel an upgrade is needed though. You're probably familiar with the tracktalk website. I'm not a member over there but I've used other forums with a similar design. I think if you combine that layout with the LRC you'd having a winning formula.

You sign up using whatever name you want. Then whenever your on Letsrun that's the name you post under. (Sure people could create multiple accounts. Trolls are gonna troll but it wouldn't be as bad as it is now)

And I think this would facilitate better discussions, the regular posters would get to know each other since you use the same name whenever you make a post.

It would also tidy the place up significantly. There's no need for 20 Alan Webb threads every time he runs a race!

This website in it's current state is a terrible mess at times.

You should check out phpBB. They provide free (as far as I know) forum software.

Déjà Vu wrote:

...Everyone seems to conveniently ignore the fact that there have been many national and world-class athletes (as well as their coaches) who have been driven away from the LRC boards by the exact same environment that has temporarily earned this praise. The real question is how many great insights have we actually missed by cultivating the National Equirer of track & field?

Have these people really been "driven away" by the environment of the board? The interwebs have greatly changed since the "Glory Days" of LRC. Every coach and runner that wants to make their voice heard can simply set up their own site, they don't have to hop on a message board. Name any guru and he has a site, is tweeting, etc.

Likewise, if you have a desire to do serious research on training methods, there are plenty of places to go. LRC compiles a tremendous amount of information about the sport. It is still the best first place to go. You may have to go to another site for deeper info, but this is the place to start.

This place is special. It allows people that have one single thing in common, running, to freely discuss issues that may or may not involve running. That's why people keep coming back. It is very close to real life.

There are good and bad people here. Some are bright, some are apparently challenged. Interact with the good people and ignore the bad ones. Ignore the racist dbag threads. If you don't respond, those threads vanish. Open the threads that appear to be interseting, respond if you can add value (either serious or humorous), ignore what troubles you or bores you, go on with life.

Yours truly Anonymously Registered,

ChubsyUbsy.

J.R. wrote:

I see no reason why you should ever reveal who a poster is, unless required to by authorities. IMO revealing people's personal information is a crime. Obviously google/FB don't agree, but I don't use either one of them for that reason.

Strengthening the privacy provisions would be a big plus.

This. It's one thing if the owners of the site knows who the person posting, no big deal but another if they want to expose that person in public and did not state it in their policy. With that said, nothing wrong with posting different names. I do it for the sake of the conversion. If I used the same name all the time then it would be quite boring.