I get the idea that most people on VideoSift did not know each other before joining the site. Nearly everyone is furthermore registered under a pseudonym and uses an abstracted avatar. That is to say, VideoSift is not FaceBook. I'd like to see a discussion on how this anonymity affects your actions and attitudes when using this site (or how you think it might be affecting others). For example:

* How do you think being anonymous affects the way you present yourself on VideoSift?

* Does anonymity affect the types of messages you send (though video posts, voting record and/or comments) and the way you interpret the messages you receive?

* Do you work around the anonymity by posting personal information (such as your own name as a user name or your own photo as an avatar; I've also seem some talk threads where this happens) and again, if so, do you think that affects the way you send and receive messages here?

* To what degree do you think this cartoon (courtesy of gwiz665) is relevant to you or your perception of others here on VideoSift:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/
[edit: the cartoon is just a joke about how anonymity seems to affect people many places on the Internet--not a reflection of what I see here!]


(Please note that responses to this topic may be used in a term paper I am writing about "voting community" sites as a new type of medium for communication and self-expression. I will discuss the basic genre, but will be focusing on VideSift because it is my favorite.)