Anonymous Collaboration: An AlternativeTechnique for Working Together Andrew Lee Abstract This paper describes an alternative technique for groups to work together, based on anonymity. This is viewed as an alternative to the common direct interaction approach where group members interact with one another at a personal level. Human interaction problems such as over or lack of participation, narrow-mindedness, and personal biases are unavoidable when people work together directly. These problems are the reactions of people when they face others with differences to themselves. It is believed that an alternative interaction technique is needed to solve or reduce the human interaction problems in groups. The philosophy behind the proposed anonymous collaboration (ANOC) technique is to create an environment where collaborators share information and work, without knowing each others' identity or contributions. This kind of human interaction is seen as suppressing direct contact and therefore, also suppressing problems related to human interpersonal interaction. A N O C implementations require the following provisions: anonymity of collaborators and contributions; presence of facilitators; broadcast dialogues; and individual but shared work. Possible implementation scenarios in the areas of electronic discussions, electronic conferencing, and group authoring, are described. A N O C is seen as
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