I can't believe we have this discussion year after year. We get the proclamation that any OT should be verboten. We get the panic that some professional super or archie will loose his mind and go looney and post false and bombastic or controversial remarks.
Yet, after all these years, how many annonymous posters have caused such a ruckus that the rest of us - as presumably intelligent adults can't recognise them for what they are, and agree or discount such annonymous controversial remarks, when they are misleading or false? The few flame throwers that have been on GCA.com over the years were soon deleted, not because of controversial posts, but because of mean spiritedness. There is no room for that!
We have enough confident supers and archies who do post under their real names, who are clearly recognised as top professionals in their fields, who act as 'go-to-guys' and references for the rest of us, when a controversial or technical topic is raised. It works like peer review.
So, if an archie associate, wants to express him/herself on a matter, and it would jeopardise their position in a firm, then why not let them have their annonymous say? The same with a super or an assistant super. If such annonymous poster says something out of line, or mis-states a fact, thankfully we have enough respected posters in those fields who will point out the errors of their thinking, and the rest of us will pretty much understand who is the real authority on a matter in question.
Don't tell me that there aren't competent and well trained professional supers, assistants, and archies and associates that are not under the thumb of some tyrant boss or green committee gang of jackels. It is a pity that such environments exist that people have to be in fear of telling what they know. But, I personally have had this point clearly demonstrated to me a couple of times this very year, and often in the past. Recently, I had communication with one archie associate and one super, (different matters) both of whom could not and would not allow their thoughts to be expressed in open discussion and ascribed to them, due to FEAR FOR THEIR POSITIONS!
I am in favor of letting the status quo roll. I don't know about you, but OT threads have never ruined my day. Annonymous posters have never left me shivering and screaming or crying or rolling on the floor in pain. I am not afraid to respond to an annoymous poster who I think might be off base. And if I do so, I'm willing to let my remarks be interpreted by the rest and give them the weight they do or do not deserve. What's the real problem here folks? Insecurity?