Anonymity, User Engagement, Quality, and Trolling on Q&A Sites

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In online question and answer (Q&A) communities people ask questions and share answers at all levels of topic sensitivity. Identity options within these communities range from anonymity to real name. The amount of engagement on Q&A sites and the quality of that engagement on Q&A sites may differ depending on the identity options available. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between the amount, the quality of engagement, and different types of identity by analyzing three Q&A sites with different identity policies. We find that highly sensitive questions are more likely to be asked anonymously. Furthermore, allowing anonymity does not affect answer quality and only has a weak, negative indirect effect on engagement. On the other hand, anonymity leads to more trolling. We suggest that online communities provide a way for users to ask highly sensitive questions anonymously paired with moderation mechanisms that can help reduce trolling.