I like the idea behind suggestion, though, because it increases the "weight" of your online username. If you act inappropriately, you bring shame not only to yourself, but to whomever recommended you.
Metafilter and other communities have used such tactics with reasonable effectiveness, but I think that it may be a bad choice.
If I were interested in the Startup Community, but were based out of Louisiana, I might not have anyone who would 'vouch' for me, even though I might be a very productive member of the community.
Further, I were a new member, and able to convince you to sponsor me, unless I know you outside of the forum, there's no incentive for me to respect that I might make you look bad..
If I make you look bad, I can just disappear, and all is forgotten, at least so far as my username is concerned.
That's why I had hoped we might find a way to give usernames more weight, either by using the same username as multiple other projects, or by using birth names.
I agree with you 100%: somehow usernames have to have weight. The main thing I worry about with linking of real identities is that (as others later in the thread say) it limits people's candor. For example, I think it's generally impolite to air a former employer's dirty laundry in an online setting. It's poor professional form in my opinion. However, HN is a place where I want people to feel free to elaborate on their experiences with failed strategies ideas so we can all learn. I think people will be more likely to sugar-coat those kinds of things if their identity is known and their posts show up in a google crawl, linked to their LinkedIn page. If we were all sitting around in a coffee shop, that would not be as much of an issue because the conversation is ephemeral and the audience is known and limited. HN is a place where the conversation is among friends, but the whole world is listening in. That changes the dynamic substantially.
Regarding your example of the person in Louisiana interested in the startup community, I think that person would still have a reasonable shot at joining the HN community. Remember, I'm only talking about write access to HN, not read. So that person could still read all the great discussion and links here. If that individual is interested enough in hacking or startups they must know some other people somewhere who might be members. I would guess there would be enough HN members sprinkled around open source projects and small companies around the country that a person who has a decent footprint in another hacking community would be able to find someone who knows them well enough to invite them. Are there going to be people you miss with this strategy? Clearly there will be. However, I would be willing to bet that a motivated person who genuinely wants to join the community would still find a way in. I see that as a bonus: anyone who works that hard at it probably has a lower probability of being a troll.
I love this community and I do really hope we find a mechanism to keep it from degrading!
Metafilter and other communities have used such tactics with reasonable effectiveness, but I think that it may be a bad choice.
If I were interested in the Startup Community, but were based out of Louisiana, I might not have anyone who would 'vouch' for me, even though I might be a very productive member of the community.
Further, I were a new member, and able to convince you to sponsor me, unless I know you outside of the forum, there's no incentive for me to respect that I might make you look bad.. If I make you look bad, I can just disappear, and all is forgotten, at least so far as my username is concerned.
That's why I had hoped we might find a way to give usernames more weight, either by using the same username as multiple other projects, or by using birth names.