Anonymity or verification? How do we protect both privacy and community?

At Duckling, we’re currently discussing anonymity and what it means for the kinds of stories young people can share.
The advantage of being anonymous is obvious: you can share more personal and vulnerable stories, for example, about anxiety, or report from dangerous places like Gaza or Ukraine. If the content is based on facts and sources, an anonymous story can still be credible and important.
The downside is that anonymity can also open the door to stories that can’t be verified, or to content from bots, hate, and spam. At the same time, a personal story can have great power when it stands behind a real person.
The discussion is closely linked to young people’s own media culture, where they often use different personas depending on the platform , whether playing Roblox, posting on Reddit, or making videos on YouTube. Well-known examples like MrBeast show how a persona can function as an artistic name: not anonymous, but a filter between the private person and the public figure.
At Duckling, we’re exploring how to find the right balance, so that anonymity gives space to important voices while also protecting against misuse. We’re considering hybrid solutions, such as letting editors know people’s real names without making them publicly visible.