Board Thread:New Features/@comment-5275700-20150722200934/@comment-5558012-20150722221211

The main wiki I edit is a COPPA wiki, but I was around before anonymous editing was disabled. I didn't notice any big change in activity. Most of the anonymous editors I've encountered make a few edits and are gone. Now, I still see new accounts doing the same. There's more activity overall after but it's very hard to say that rise was attributed to disabling IP editing.

I made my first few edits anonymously, but I didn't edit because I was "hidden" (or wished to be) but because I didn't know I needed/wanted an account. Some might do the same for the same reason. Others wish to hide or simply don't want to create an account (due to laziness, don't want to submit information to make an account, or know they won't edit often). Some might be anonymous because they are underage.

Personally, I could care less either way. IP editors produce vandalism likely more often than registered users (I have no data here, so who knows I could be wrong) but they can have constructive users. I'm sure this varies wiki-by-wiki. Usernames give a sense of community, which Wikia is known for, that IPs can't do.