Hiding Behind a Username

I find myself looking at comments on pages all the time and thinking “what a train wreck” because I can’t look away.  I continue to read and get so frustrated because people will put opinions and offensive comments that can be horrible to readers. (I know, I know, freedom of speech is a great thing)  They do this behind an ambiguous username.  Yes, some things can be construed the wrong way.  But, what about when I search YouTube and find many videos that have comments using vulgar words and are not even on topic.  When I look at my hometown newspaper, I see comments that are demeaning and practically challenge others to fights.  It is awful and I really think that it needs to stop.  Maybe, just maybe, if websites made people use their real name they could be less likely to leave rude comments. Perhaps, they would think before they type. 

On a side note…I am embarrassed to say that I look at them to try to figure out what is going on (I am always trying to analyze the actions of people when they come off as crazy).  I will read all of the posts to see where the fight began.  It is horrible and can be compared to high school gossip.  Maybe for lent next year I will give up looking at the comments section.  Samantha Murphy writes about something that, in my opinion, should be the norm. 

In her article YouTube Wants to Prevent Harmful Comments by Using Real Names on Mashable, Samantha Murphy writes about YouTube’s effort to curb bullying by having users use their real names.   She states that YouTube eventually wants users to leave their full name and a picture that is linked to their Google+ account.  Maybe this could help users think before they post something hateful.  It will be interesting to see how this pans out.