User blog comment:BertH/Anonymous editing and your community/@comment-25980608-20150728011522

Many people stop by, see something they'd like to edit, and do it without making an account. If they had to make an account first, they might never start.

I had a user on Discordian Wiki who did that, made a couple edits anonymously. I thanked them on their anon talk page, and they later signed up and have been productive.

A few days ago an anonymous user on that same wiki made a small edit that ended up being an unintentional error. I fixed it and let the editor know about it and encouraged them to write more. That anonymous user just started an article, and it's a good one.

I started out as an anonymous user. I think if I had to make an account and put a name on it, I wouldn't have done it, at least not for a long time. I've written dozens and dozens of articles on wikis, and if I hadn't been able to start out as anonymous, I might never have started.