Image courtesy of Flickr user San Diego Shooter

Do anonymous bullies take over your website’s comments? Do you want to get rid of them?

How is your news org handling this stuff? Boston.com tackled the issue with Inside the mind of the anonymous online poster:

… many websites are grappling with right now over what to do with anonymous comments. At many of these sites, executives have begun to ask themselves: How did we get into this thicket, and is there a sensible way out? But a more basic question needs to be answered first: Who are these people who spend so much of their days posting anonymous comments, and what is motivating them?

Newspapers find themselves in a strange position. People wanting to have a letter to the editor printed in the paper have long been required to provide their name, address, and a daytime phone number. Yet on the websites owned by these same newspapers, all it usually takes to be handed a perpetual soapbox is an active e-mail address.

After years of letting anonymity rule online, many media heavyweights, from The Washington Post to The Huffington Post, have begun to modify their policies. The goal is to take the playground back from anonymous bullies and give greater weight to those willing to offer, in addition to strong views, their real names.

Like many, we have an open commenting policy at kpcc.org. What do you do? What’s the biggest downside to putting up more walls?