Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Kooky Comments

I think it is way past time for reputable online newspapers like USA Today and The New York Times and even our local Sun Sentinel to start authenticating their readers before allowing them to comment. Currently all you need to post a comment is a valid email address. And all you need for a valid email address is, well, nothing! Anyone can open a Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo account with false credentials. And these reputable online newspapers allow just any idiot to post garbage comments with no accountability. I'm certain many of these commentators are really the same person posting over and over, using different user names and silly avatars - probably from a paid Political Action Group with no regard to facts, ethics or sense. It boils down to a bunch of political garbage attached to what should be a well researched article.

If verifiable, authenticated people were held accountable for what they posted, we might actually get some real and interesting debates. It is time for people to step out from behind their hateful cartoon avatars, and show their real faces. If they then choose to post stupidity, at least we will know who the stupid person is. Oh, and maybe you can give us the option to block those idiots too.

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