HondaReport.com - Anonymity and Dishonesty on forums

There's a reason why I got rid of the "anonymous" registration on the forums a few years ago, and that reason stands taller and stronger than ever today.

Some folks are still around, posting from time to time on the forums here. They identify themselves, and I tweaked the permission channels to allow their posting once I knew for sure who they were.

Most folks, though, left the premises when I changed gears, and I wasn't surprised. Though the majority of people were here with good intentions, there was a growing rate of negative posts and inflammatory remarks. They were by adults and teens alike, just my intuition after monitoring message boards since 1999. For me, it became a pain in the ass to constantly babysit these few knuckleheads on a 24/7 basis.

So I changed gears and haven't looked back. I've missed many of the internet pals we had here who discussed everything from prep sports to home recipes for fish. But instead of spending too much time deleting rotten messages by the inconsiderate few, I've put that extra time into work, into my aging mother and growing nephew, and it's been worthwhile to the max.

Some forums give anybody a chance to write whatever he/she wants about any topic. On the surface, an interesting idea, but only if you have no experience in dealing with negativity on the internet. I could've told a lot of people that it is not a good idea to let people write whatever they want without any accountability, without any semblance of real registration.

And to no surprise, that's what's happened. There are many intelligent comments on different sites, but there are also myriad comments that intend to hurt and harm other people, even kids. For me, that's not acceptable, but there's nothing I can do. It's the boss's call.

One recent story that went up a month ago (not on this site) drew some unsavory comments. It was an All-State girls basketball story that focused on the close voting by coaches and media for player of the year. Then the poster, dubbing himself/herself "Da Truth," made negative comments about kids who weren't even involved with the story, the complaint, or anything in sight. Accused me of being "biased." Accused me of being pro-Big Island. Completely insulted the new Team Aloha and Big Island basketball kids. It was really sad, and because this poster doesn't have to identify herself/himself, there's no sense of respect and courtesy.

It was enough to cause a parent of one of the Team Aloha (girls basketball) players to challenge this poster to meet him at a Team Aloha practice. I could see his point. I'm not a parent of any of the players, but I felt offended, too. How dare this anonymous poster say derogatory things about this group of talented, hard-working young players?

I asked this poster to show up at the practice so I might also hear exactly what and why it is that the person felt the need to insult the kids.

That day finally arrived. The parent and I were there at the team's practice this morning. This anonymous poster never showed up. I wasn't surprised.

It takes a certain type of pilau attitude and heart to rip kids online. But it takes real courage to stand behind words and show up when challenged, even if it's just to meet face to face and be honest. To agree to disagree.

The rotten few out there who spout all kinds of filth have always felt that they "deserve" the right to put down others, even if they have nothing to do with the story, nothing to do with the team and players involved. It's a sick form of "living vicariously" through the kids.

The parent I mentioned is a good guy, loves his children dearly, and supports them 100 percent. This afternoon, he was en route to Arizona with his daughter, with the team, and he will have a special time seeing all the labor of his daughter bear fruit. It happened when she was voted by coaches and Star-Bulletin writers to the All-State Fab 15. And it happened again when she was picked by Mayor Mufi Hannemann and his staff to Team Aloha.

Can you blame him wanting to protect his daughter from the scuzz out there that hides behind fake names and tries to vomit on kids like his daughter? I can't.

So, while he waited outside the door at Manoa Gym, nobody claiming to be "Da Truth" -- what a misleading moniker -- showed up. No surprise, as I said. After all, though we all know people who are great at uttering opinions and putdowns, even they know there's a fine line between "truth" and "integrity."

And when someone refuses to show face after spewing bile over the rest of us, it just confirms what we know deep down inside: It takes guts to show up face to face. Real courage. Real truth. The parent would have loved hearing what "truth" this anonymous poster had to offer. I would've loved hearing the sad excuses and rationale. I'm certain Team Aloha's coaches and players would've been quite interested to find out why any adult would insult them online but not face to face.