Online political discussions tend to be less civil when theparticipants are anonymous

Despite the internet’s unlimited potential in informing, engaging, and empowering citizens, it is all too often used as a forum for foul-tempered arguments behind a veil of anonymity, with obvious repercussions for our democracy. Drawing on a study of the content of comments left by readers of the Washington Post online, Ian Rowe argues that it is anonymity that is often to blame, and that the more accountable model used by Facebook holds hope for a more civil online political discourse.