By Jonathan L'Ecuyer
When a reader using the screen name "Hostess" last November praised the efforts of Rockport Selectmen Ellen Canavan and Andrew Heinze in the gloucestertimes.com anonymous online story comments, it was praise from a source close to the matter — very close.¬
"Hostess" was the name used briefly at that time by Canavan herself, a Times look at e-mail addresses shows. And fellow Rockport Selectman Charles Clark says that's just one part of what he says is a deceptive practice being carried out by a few town residents and officials.
Clark came to the Times last month with an inch-thick paper stack of Times online comments and other information he had printed out, saying that he believed 459 comments against a majority of selectmen, including himself, and Town Administrator Michael Racicot — posted under a total of 88 "aliases" — had in fact been the work of four people.
Clark told the Times he would review comments posted online following a story, letter or editorial and studying the postings further, he found many to be "repetitious," using similar language and style and promoting similar views and criticisms.
Clark cited Canavan, whose platform of transparency helped win her election a selectman last year, as using three names. But Terry Collins, a vocal critic of the selectmen and Racicot, had posted 216 comments under 55 names, while Herbert Wescott had used 10 names and, Clark said, former Selectman and current MBTA Station Planning Advisory Committee Chairman Nicola Barletta used as many as 20 names.
"I believe such a practice is deceitful, especially when practiced by elected or appointed public officials or activist members of the public who are advocating support or rejection of a public issue or candidate," Clark said. "In an age when transparency and full disclosure are the buzzwords, hiding behind a veil of anonymity is hypocritical.
"This has nothing to do with the comments themselves," he added in raising the issue. "It is the creation of multiple identities which create the illusion in the public's eye that there is a greater population of like opinion than there really is — which is troublesome to the public."
Looking into Clark's questions, Times Editor Ray Lamont confirmed that many of the names Clark attributed to Collins show up under Collins' online profile, which also includes his own name, and can be traced to e-mail addresses Collins has used in writing letters to the editor. In many cases, the identities of posters using multiple names is essentially public; anyone can click on a commenter's profile and see which names, or aliases, that commenter has used.
The pseudonyms used by Canavan and Wescott were actually "outed" by other online posters. Canavan has been posting online now for several months using her real last name, while Wescott — a former selectman's candidate best known for contributing signed letters to the editor of the Times for years — has also continued to post under his real name since another poster found his aliases listed under his profile in January.
"I joined under 'Hostess' because that is my usual online name and everyone else was using made-up names," Canavan said. "Later, I used 'The One' because I had been informed by several people that the town administrator was calling me that in a derogatory fashion at public meetings. I hoped to have someone online mention it, to give me an idea of how widespread this action was of the town administrator.
"I switched to my own name after someone else did the same," Canavan continued. "It was more comfortable for me. I do think that elected officials should stand up and speak to their views."
The Times' look into Clark's concern revealed that screen names Clark attributed to Barletta did not match addresses that Barletta has used in communicating with the Times. Lamont said that many of the names Clark suspected as Barletta can, however, be traced to e-mails used by Collins — including "Joe Harris," "Jane Moppet," "Bud Fears" and "C. Clarke."
Collins yesterday admitted to using as many as 55 aliases and agreed people could perceive that as "misleading," but added he did not post with the intent to fool residents. Collins said he knew Barletta posted as "Joe Harris," but said he did not give Barletta permission to use his e-mail address for online comments.
Barletta said he has posted anonymously to the paper's Web site, but declined further comment.
In one case, the Times also found that e-mail addresses used by another Rockport official — Open Space Committee Chairman and 2008 selectman candidate Christopher Lewis — turned up posts under Lewis' own name, and under the screen name "Funbytheton." In one case — while debating Wescott, who used his own name — Wescott noted similarities between "Fun's" views and those espoused by Lewis at last spring's Town Meeting. "Funbytheton" responded by with a comment beginning with "I just spoke with Mr. Lewis ..." Wescott suggested "that must have been an intimate conversation."
Lewis said he was unaware of any "controversy" regarding the comments, and declined comment for this story.
Lamont said he "recognizes and appreciates" the issues Clark raised, but noted that anonymous online comments in general should be taken with a grain of salt.
"Because they are anonymous, I think most people realize they don't have a full stamp of credibility," Lamont said. "They do, in the vast majority of cases, add a lot of interesting and spirited discussion of issues. But they are more for the entertainment of the readers and posters than anything else.
"We would never take something voiced in an online comment and use it in a news story, for example, without doing a lot of other, independent verification," he added, "and my sense is that officials don't use them as any basis for setting policy or as real opinion polls. What is said — the discussion — is far more important than who's saying it.
"That said, it's better when people use the same name, so other posters come to recognize their screen names and views."
Clark says he thinks the use of multiple aliases, some talking to each other in consecutive comments, and particularly among people in the public eye, is deceptive.
"Name calling, such as calling an appointed official 'sick puppy' as what occurred last fall or, more recently, calling Selectman Aparo 'pretty boy' or Selectman (Sarah) Wilkinson 'Miss Manners' is not conducive to a collegial atmosphere," Clark said — alluding to online comments made by Canavan. Her comments about Aparo and Wilkinson, however, were made under her own last name.
Canavan and Wescott noted they were simply using an option available to them under the Times online comment board — and in the still-evolving tradition of anonymous story comments posted at gloucestertimes.com and countless other media sites across the country.
"I stand by my comments," Canavan said. "I do not feel that my postings are unprofessional nor have I any intention of stopping. I'm sure they would like to shut me up; mostly I am very concerned that the days of bullying be over, that committees and commissions be given their free reign to fulfill their duties. They should not be doing the bidding of the Board of Selectmen nor should their chairpersons be subjected to censure or firing."
Lamont said the Times continues to evaluate its rules regarding the online comments — including a change this week that requires posters to register under a legitimate and verified e-mail address.
That doesn't necessarily stop posters from using multiple screen names or from commenting anonymously, but Lamont said the Times is adopting a policy urging posters to use only one screen name. In addition, the Times reserves the right to ban a poster's IP address if it believes a poster is using multiple screen names under multiple e-mail addresses in a deceptive manner.
Officials in other communities also post occasional online comments on the Times site, notably Gloucester City Councilor Jason Grow, who also posts under his own name.
Times Editor Ray Lamont contributed to this story by Jonathan L'Ecuyer, who can be reached at jlecuyer@gloucestertimes.com.
