I've been thinking about the signal-to-noise problem in various online communities. So much of the moderation overhead and user frustration seems to stem from trolling, spam, and bad-faith actors operating behind a shield of complete anonymity.
This is purely a thought experiment, not a product pitch:
If certain services (e.g., marketplace, social-media, a niche forum for professionals, a comments section on a serious publication) offered a strictly voluntary, opt-in "verified" mode, would you use it?
In this scenario, you'd verify your identity once with a trusted third party, and this would grant you access to these higher-trust spaces. Your real name would not necessarily be public, but your account would be linked to a unique, real person.
The theoretical benefit would be a dramatic reduction in scams, spam, and trolling, leading to a higher quality of interaction. The obvious downside is the privacy trade-off.
Would you ever consider making that trade? If so, under what specific conditions?
