Remaining Anonymous on Taro?
I've noticed that a lot of people don't use their real names on Taro and prefer to be anonymous. I'm assuming this is because they are concerned people at work will find out what they are saying when talking about career moves and such. Are there other good reasons to remain anonymous or semi-anonymous (if someone wants to find out who you are, with some research they can)?
like most questions, I'm sure the answer depends on who you are, but would love to hear the plusses for each side.
Discussion
(3 comments)- 4a year agoTech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
We've thought a lot about this. There have been many apps in the past which focus on pure anonymity. Blind is the most prominent example in tech today, while Secret and Whisper existed back in the day (I remember them being very hot around 2015/2016).
The issue is that, once you hit a certain scale, anonymity could create very bad outcomes when no credibility or reputation is staked on an interaction. That's why we haven't opened up anonymous answering.
Philip Su explained this really well since he built an internal tool at Facebook which eventually got shut down due to toxicity.
There are good reasons to remain anonymous when asking a question:
- if you have a sensitive question that may damage a relationship, e.g. a difficult coworker or manager
- if you're concerned about the optics of asking (IMO asking for help is totally fine! but if there is a stigma, we don't want to prevent people from benefitting from Taro)
- they don't think the answer depends on their identity. This is usually not true, knowing things like company/level/geography are really valuable when I mentor anyone.
- 0a year agoAnonymous User [OP]Taro Community
I actually meant remaining anonymous on Slack where you can use your actual name, rather than on the app where it just lists your company and level. Is the answer different on Slack?
- 2a year agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
A lot of the value of Taro Premium is in the community: It's much harder to meet people and network if you're just a mysterious avatar and handle. And Slack is the main hub where folks hang out.
That being said, Rahul and I 100% understand the sensitive nature of work-related topics and the desire for privacy overall, which is why we allow identity to be very customizable within the Taro ecosystem. Please do whatever you're comfortable with 😊
