Originally Posted by FailingEnterpriseAdmin

There are benefits that flow to everyone else as more people register. I get complaints that it's too hard to hold a conversation with someone when they're one of hundreds of anonymous posters; you never know if you're talking with the same person.

I agree this will happen. However, it might also increase the amount of posting by some other members as it will be much easier to get a sense of community by "knowing" whom you're dealing with.

But you won't have to! You'll log in once, and then your credentials will be cached in an encrypted form either in a cookie or by your web browser. You'll have to log in once every couple of weeks, at most. Every time you go back to the site, you'll already be logged in! And it will only require you to be logged in if you wish to post.

If you were a registered user, you'd never have to type in your username while posting again. You'd actually speed things up!

Yes, I push for it because I want to nurture and grow the community and people like it better when they can start to build up a consistent identity for whomever they're conversing with. Two-thirds of the people at this part are unnecessarily hiding in the shadows. Actually, from what I can tell, 90% of the users read and never post. 10% post, and of those, most do so anonymously.

I think the most important thing eBay ever did was require everyone to register and log in, and then ask for a thumbs up or thumbs down from both parties after every transaction. It allowed people to earn a reputation in the community which solved the problem of strangers not trusting each other. I want the same sense of community here.

By the way, you occupy a unique position here at Failing Enterprise. You're the only person who has an unregistered consistent identity. I wouldn't consider the public discussion complete until you had weighed in on it.

Think of the benefits: you sign in once, and then every time you come back, you're already logged in.

Here, do an experiment for me: Create a registered username (reality_check_kicking_and_screaming is available) and just try it out. See for yourself the extra privileges you get by being a registered user. If you don't like it, just click on "Log out" and you'll be back to where you started.

You have nothing to lose. Will you give it a try?