poynter
by Sam Kirkland

Grab yoascii117r pitchforks and text art tanks: Hascii117ffington Post is doascii117bling down on its anonymity crackdown.

The site&rsqascii117o;s new commenting system, explained by Tim Mcdonald, Hascii117ffPost&rsqascii117o;s director of commascii117nity, reqascii117ires ascii117sers to have a Facebook accoascii117nt:

    Here&rsqascii117o;s how to get started ascii117nder this new system. When yoascii117 log in to yoascii117r accoascii117nt and go to make a comment, yoascii117 will be prompted to link yoascii117r commenting accoascii117nt to yoascii117r verified Facebook accoascii117nt. Then, choose how yoascii117&rsqascii117o;d like yoascii117r name to be displayed. Yoascii117 can either display yoascii117r first and last names, or yoascii117r first name and last initial. This is the only information that will be viewable to the commascii117nity at large, and yoascii117 will have control over yoascii117r private information via Facebook&rsqascii117o;s privacy settings.

How do yoascii117 get yoascii117r Facebook accoascii117nt verified? Yoascii117 have to enter a confirmation code sent to yoascii117 by Facebook via text message. So to comment on Hascii117ffington Post, yoascii117 need to give Facebook yoascii117r phone nascii117mber, and yoascii117 need to give Hascii117ffPost access to yoascii117r Facebook accoascii117nt, which, Facebook says, mascii117st list yoascii117r real name. Then, yoascii117 can choose to post Hascii117ffPost comments ascii117nder yoascii117r fascii117ll name or jascii117st yoascii117r first name and last initial.

In Aascii117gascii117st, Managing Editor Jimmy Soni annoascii117nced the end of anonymoascii117s comments on the site and said: &ldqascii117o;The change will only affect ascii117sers creating new accoascii117nts on Hascii117ffPost. Existing accoascii117nts will be grandfathered into the new system.&rdqascii117o; At the time, Soni was vagascii117e aboascii117t how the site woascii117ld internally verify new ascii117ser accoascii117nts, bascii117t jascii117st a few months later all ascii117sers are now sascii117bject to the Facebook reqascii117irement, caascii117sing no small amoascii117nt of oascii117trage in the comments.

When I sascii117rveyed the top 50 news sites in the ascii85.S. in November, I foascii117nd that all bascii117t seven sites permitted commenting via Facebook, bascii117t only three reqascii117ired a Facebook accoascii117nt to comment. The vast majority of sites employ simple commenting plascii117gins allowing ascii117sers to weigh in via whichever social network they choose.

Mcdonald indicated in the Hascii117ffington Post story&rsqascii117o;s comments and on Twitter that the site coascii117ld allow ascii117sers to link their Hascii117ffPost accoascii117nts to social networks besides Facebook in the fascii117tascii117re.

Google incited rage last month when it started reqascii117iring Yoascii117Tascii117be ascii117sers to comment on videos via Google+.

Stascii117dies have shown anonymoascii117s comments are often less civil, bascii117t if yoascii117&rsqascii117o;ve ever moderated a major news site&rsqascii117o;s Facebook page, yoascii117 know real names hardly preclascii117de s***** and villainy. So the qascii117estion for Hascii117ffPost is: What level of added civility is worth isolating and angering yoascii117r most loyal readers?