A possible trend I’ve noticed on campus is the push on several fronts for more community. That word is broad, and is easily lent to misinterpretation, but I suppose the next best description is “open events of free expression,” which doesn’t quite do the trick. Some of these have been around, some are new. In all cases, they have been well attended this year.

Here’s where I’ve seen this:

  • All Acoustic Alliance, where singer/songwriters can come to share their creative works, then perform at “Coffeehouse” in Dodd living room. This past weekend (when I performed while simultaneously managing not to breathe), the room was packed from start to finish, though some came and left. There were many more than the only Coffeehouse I attended last year.
  • The Waterstreeters, a satirical a capella group that recently paraded through the dining halls as a Mariachi group one night for the enjoyment of all, trumpet, fake mustaches, and sombreros in tow.
  • Storytime, where a member of the community shares a special story - a private space that should never be quoted in the Record or here. Rachel Ko ‘09 was honored with a special award during commencement ofr starting this, I believe.
  • Immidiate Theatre, which just held Petri Dish in Perry, for short works of theatre, followed by an open mic. A theatre version of AAA, if you will.
  • Pause, a chance to blow lots of bubbles during lunch outside of Paresky. They flew all over Chapin lawn, and made for quite a bit of fun between class times.

Follow the jump, regular readers, for a discussion of anonymity and Ephblog.

The question we must ask ourselves is twofold. First, are we allowing for the best participation? Second, are we allowing for the best user experience?

The current policy allows for a great amount of participation, something I think is best. Thread owners, like myself in this case, are custodians of the comments. I have on very rare occasion exercised editorial powers when I thought it prudent (and was very obvious about it), and I think this is the best control method available. Registration will lower the ability of other users to comment (we see the occasional Anon ‘09 or ‘10) and harm some community members who desire anonymity (like Soph Mom or PTC). I don’t see that as helpful. We have banning methods available to us, and if there is a consensus to block the IP address of a certain Dutch anonymity server used by a commenter here, that might be an action taken.

Ultimately, I think it unnecessary to require registration, something that will have a negligible impact on the second question, while severely hampering the first.