Need to abolish anonymity on internet--Hartford Courant.com

By Karen Hunter, Hartford Courant public editor. Mentions comments by Andrew Keen,

• "I think the most corrosive thing of today's Internet is anonymity," Keen, author of "The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture," told NewsHour Senior Correspondent Jeffrey Brown.

"That's what's creating such an uncivil world.

• It's a pre-social contract place. It's a state of nature. We're not behaving ourselves properly on it, very often because we don't reveal who we are.

Much of the most uncivil conversation, much of the unpleasantness of the Internet is carried out by people who won't reveal who they are.

• "So one beginning, one place to start for all of us is to recognize that we don't need to be anonymous on the Internet. We can reveal who we are. And having revealed who we are, I think the conversation will be more mature, more responsible, and more fruitful for everybody.""

Karen Hunter, The Courant's reader representative, reports on the fairness and accuracy of news coverage.

• From HartfordCourant.com, 9/30/07

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