Sorry for the click-bait title. After WSO has allowed people to post anonymously under their title, it seems like every thread, whether OP or in the comments section, is majority dominated by these people. As a result, the sense of community is eroding fast. It gets really old seeing "Analyst in IB - M&A" respond to "Prospect in IB - Generalist" and then a shitpost from "Analyst 2 in PE (unverified)".
What are your thoughts? Am I just a geezer, a boomer, old fashioned? What happened to just owning whatever you posted under your already anonymous username? If you really need a burner account to ask some crazy question, that's fine, but people are just posting normal replies under this system. Is this the way of the future (are we becoming Blind)?
No. Anonymous posting is a blessing. In a hyper sensitive corporate environment where any strong opinion can get you fired (this can be work related, family, culture, politics, etc.) and where you can be easily identifiable (finance is a small world), why on earth would you take that risk? You can make the argument that this would enable trolls to post more to which I would counter with the fact that people on this forum can ignore them and worst comes to worst the site moderators can come in.
This website is better when people are honest and not afraid of repercussions.
Totally agree with this.
Especially if you are active on your main account and may sometimes post subtle, yet possibly revealing aspects of your job or firm - it makes sense for the extra layer of anonymity sometimes. Because now, I can give you direct insights to my firm or prior ones like pay, culture, w/l/b, etc. without fear of my firm finding I'm talking about them here.
This reasoning is the root of the problem. You can't/don't want to fight for free speech in real life (though it's your right) and constantly look for new ways so that you can exercise something you value without consequences and having to put effort in fighting for it.
It's easy to say that but many users here have families and have to make money to support themselves and their family. Not everyone can be a Mandela/Gandhi and try to fight for free speech while sacrificing everything.
You hear that, AndyLouis? Some people aren't afraid of repercussions. So whenever you're ready to ban me again, I'll be waiting. Oh, and tell good old Patty Cake I send my best.
admins can see who posts, even under anon...
...thanks for the well wishes?
Ohh yeah? Get that anonymous title out and own up to who you are. Then we see how being honest is a blessing. Hypocrites lol.
Yes! The corporate world is becoming even more sensitive as the days go by. These days you have to sit through sensitivity training that takes up half of the day.
I have expressed to WallStreetOasis.com before that I disagree with Anonymous posting in the Off Topic Forum, as it simply has no purpose, but definitely agree with it in the on-topic forum.
In my opinion, people should be able to provide insights into industries, deals, companies, and managers - all of which benefit the site - without fear of being outed. I see the argument that since everyone here has user names, we're already anonymous, but if you've been here forever like me you're easy enough to find.
What I don't understand is the purpose it serves in the Off Topic forum. You shouldn't be able to post some dumbass hot take without owning it.
Synergy_or_Syzygy - thanks for the thread - it's an important topic. I think rather than wondering who are these people, the better question is if allowing this additional anonymity is opening up more information/adding value to the community looking to get tough to find info. I'd argue it is and that is more important than knowing who is behind the post all the time (plus we still moderate the user behind the anon post if it violates the TOS and is flagged).
I think what CRE said is actually a fair take and a subtle distinction. i think it's just a question of more custom code to make it happen. so maybe the anonymous option is available except iff Off topic forum is selected.
That could be an interesting modification that would still allow for anonymity when it matters most (in the industry forums) vs when it's just convenient for the trolls (more often the off topic threads).
jgsantos - can you add this to the roadmap in trello?
Thanks, Patrick
Interesting arguments that complete some of the things raised in this thread- https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/did-wso-become-worse-with-the-an…
This is a good argument.
Strong opinions on Politics/culture issues in the off topic forum can get people into trouble (see first comment of this thread)
No, bullshit opinions from incels and racists can get people into trouble, and deservedly so.
There’s plenty of otherwise strong political debate here that doesn’t negatively impact the posters.
Antonymous posts are terrible.
Agreed. Maybe a more elegant solution would be to allow certified users with xx number of posts and/or bananas to post anonymously. News users, who no one can identify IRL through post history anyways, should need to build up credibility.
That's actually a pretty good idea imo. People would think more about what they type before they add a comment ideally, but at the same time I'm wondering if it'll discourage knowledgeable people commenting/posting in the first place, which is the primary reason I'm on this site for way too long during the day.
This is a really good idea actually if Patrick / Andy are dead set on keeping anonymous posts. I fucking hate the anonymous posts - so much more trolling / bullshit and it can be hard to tell who is saying what exactly.
Really don't understand why anonymous posts are a thing here anyways - people can make a throwaway account if they really have something important they want to post about anonymously and at least that provides some sort of barrier to entry.
Agree 100%
+1, agreed.
Sorry for off-topic comment/question, but what does OP stand for?
"Original Poster" i.e. the post that starts the thread or the first post
Thank you - I guess that qualifies as #DUH. I should hand over my Series 79 ; )
Anonymous posting, as the first response suggests, is a blessing. Free speech!
The forum has as a whole cultivates a toxic environment. So i find it hilarious when admins get angry at individuals for trolling. The owner literally reposts shit threads on LinkedIn and introduced a monkey shit system, there is a reason facebook didn't introduce the thumbs down button.
We have students who don't know shit about investment banking, giving advice to people trying to break in the industry and those who need critical advice making career changing moves. and when full-time analysts working at elite banks comment, they get downvoted to fuck all by students who apparently know everything.
then we have AMAs from rich kids chasing their dreams with the backing of their daddy's wallet being praised and non-targets making it to BBs getting slam dunked.
Humans in general are toxic when they gather together in online forums in perpetually increasing numbers it seems.
Can't speak to the IB forum, but the RE forum isn't toxic like this at all. I'm sure we have our fair share of college kids giving highschoolers advice, but it hardly reflects your post.
Quant > IB > S&T > AM > PWM > F500 > RE
RE isn't prestigious enough to have elitist college kids trolling.
You know, I think about this a lot. I have had great experience in RE, in that most of the people I work with are generally smart, knowledgeable , and like to have some beers. Since I'm a late career changer, I have experience on other fields to say that we have it pretty good.
RE is generally smart humble people who usually value family time, and hard work. Maybe we are the epitome of work-life balance in the finance world
So spot on. Especially the hypocrisy from the admins/patrick. They are always on GoldenCinderblock 's nuts about him being inappropriate, but have reposted some really questionable shit on their LinkedIn.
Anonymous posting on this site should be for certified users ONLY.
fax no printer
Having downvotes is important though. Disagreement is what causes a society to advance. Also lets be real how many times have you seen something on FB/LinkedIN and wanted to downvote it?
It's not like Facebook doesn't have problems with politics lately.
I think the IB forum tends to have fairly decent posts. There are some people, like Rover-S that contribute a lot to the technical questions without getting much recognition for his work. Unfortunately, it's the shitposts and trolling, which I am guilty of doing myself, that tends to get the silver dildos.
legend
Not all of us can be IRRection or Lloyd Blankfein unfortunately. Regardless of where you lean politically, morally, etc you should limit your exposure for your opinions. I also agree with CRE's input.
yes
I don't think so! People may have withheld their opinions otherwise. The idea that if you cannot own up to it then you shouldn't post is just not right in this industry. Burner accounts are the same. yeah maybe they make it harder to post shit because you have to create one in the first place, but you still see MANY "stupid" 1-off posters with new accounts.
Maybe the new "works at" option would be interesting if it is coupled with user certification. This way one could filter between anonymous and certified anonymous.
Also it's a matter of user experience. I hate having to open a new account every one in a while that I want to ask sth more sensitive. Anon makes it easy. How many email accounts can one open...
I'm not sure how useful is for WSO to have 100s of inactive burner accounts. I assume that the new system creates a higher quality base of active users.
Fishbowl does fine. Good level of discussion. In fact I find myself there more often than on WSO these days but granted because it has a developed consulting section
Disappointed VC section is fused with PE section
Any good bowls to follow? Just joined and the ones for IB/PE recommanded have like 50 members
As someone who was identified IN PERSON by a colleague based on a WSO post a couple years back, I think the anonymous feature is fantastic. It's pretty easy to connect the dots if you dig into someone's post history.
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