Dr. Jekyll cannot hide from Mr. Hyde
by Volker Weber
There is a reason I have a "real name only" policy on vowe's magic flying circus. Let Dr. Jekyll in and keep Mr. Hyde out. The discussion is much more civilized this way.
Once in a while somebody breaks that rule, his comment disappears and he gets a friendly reminder by mail containing his comment so he can repost. Then there is the occasional happy troll posting with his full name, which also gets a friendly reminder. This works with most of them. So far I have had only four cases that required a permanent ban to leave us alone.
And then there is Mr. Hyde. He thinks he is anonymous and tries to force his way through. You want to send him a friendly reminder, but his email is as fake as his name. So his comments just disappear. Of course Mr. Hyde keeps pressing on. The only thing you can do about it is to delete his comments every time he posts one. You cannot argue with him, because he thinks he is so much smarter than you.
The only trouble is: he isn't.
One day Mr. Hyde sees a honey pot which just looks too tasty. He puts his finger in. And then Dr. Jekyll becomes visible. And everything Mr. Hyde has done falls back on Dr. Jekyll. The punishment could be severe. Make all his abusive comments and insults reappear correctly attributed and leave the rest to Google.
I am not going to do that. Dr. Jekyll is very welcome to comment and discuss. He is a smart guy and has valuable insights. It's Mr. Hyde who is not welcome.
There is a lesson to learn: be honest. You can just tell it as it is, and you don't have to remember your lies. And no matter what you think, you are not anonymous.
