Handbook of Media Economics, vol 1B

also increase self-dealing (or, as discussed in Section 12.3.1, promotional content). In

ways that may be good or bad, depending on the situation, anonymous users may also

feel more comfortable violating social norms.

Public contributions give contributors social capital that provides incentives to

generate high-quality content and also deters fraudulent content. In settings where a

designer may want to deter certain types of conversations—such as limiting hate speech

or bullying on a discussion board—requiring contributions to be public may be an

important tool.

However, there is a tradeoff because public contributions may restrain users from

contributing important content for fear of stigma or retribution. In some situations, for-

bidding anonymous ...