Disqus Study: Pseudonym Commenters Post Highest-Quality Messages

According to Disqus, commenters that use pseudonyms post the highest-quality responses according to up and down voting by fellow readers.

The service gives each user the option of commenting with a Disqus account, a social media identity or anonymously. It says 61 percent of commenters use pseudonyms, 35 percent choose to be anonymous and 4 percent use their “real identity” verified by Facebook. It also says those with pseudonyms post the best comments, while anonymous comments are lower quality. One theory: People don’t mind being accountable online, but they don’t want it to blow back on their work or personal lives by using a real identity. A pseudonym protects them while providing a measure of accountability.

(Tipped by JMG reader Bill)