I know a few people who say they don't trust what's written on blogs because they don't know who's writing them. In response, I've pointed out to these folks that they don't know I'm using my real name in any of my writings. All they really have to go by is my track record. Do I turn out to know what I'm talking about, or not?
Bruce Schneier looks at the same topic in the wake of the Wikipedia scandal tempest-in-a-teapot.
The problem isn't anonymity; it's accountability. If someone isn't accountable, then knowing his name doesn't help. If you have someone who is completely anonymous, yet just as completely accountable, then – heck, just call him Fred.
EBay's feedback system doesn't work because there's a traceable identity behind that anonymous nickname. EBay's feedback system works because each anonymous nickname comes with a record of previous transactions attached, and if someone cheats someone else then everybody knows it. Similarly, Wikipedia's veracity problems are not a result of anonymous authors adding fabrications to entries. They're an inherent property of an information system with distributed accountability.
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