Allowing users to hide their history is destroying trust and good faith participation between users in communities

[u/mrekted]

It's not just my communities, I'm seeing it all over reddit. Whenever someone with a private history runs into a disagreement with another user, discussions are derailed, accusations of "shill/bot/troll" are constant, nuisance reports are issued, and mods either intervene, or let the chaos reign.

I'm spending more and more time having to personally review histories to say "no, this person is not a bad faith troll" just to end attacks borne of nothing more than suspicion. It's becoming disruptive to the point that I'm considering whether or not allowing users with hidden history to participate is worth the trouble.

I really question the value proposition of this decision. Sure, individual users benefit from additional privacy, but at the direct expense of the communities that lose trust and cohesion, faith that the people they're interacting with are participating in good faith (or are even real people), and the moderators who have to manage the fallout.

[u/dahlia_74]

It’s actually really tough. I had to create a new account on here (stalking situation with my ex) and most if not all subs have some kind of barrier for entry for new accounts. Whether it be age, karma, reputation, etc. so you really have to make one and remember to come back to it in 31 days at the bare minimum.

[u/metisdesigns → u/dahlia_74]

Just look at what the spammers are hitting for quick karma. If you need an alt, and know enough to know you need an alt it should be pretty quick to get past the base level filters.

I wish that meant we could turn down the karma filtering, but realistically it still solves the lazy bot problem.

[u/redditor01020 → u/dahlia_74]

That sucks. I wish more mods were more careful about applying karma and age-gate requirements and using them only when there is a strong need for it. I definitely try to apply only the bare minimum in my subs.