![[Home]](http://meatballwiki.org/meatball.gif)
PublicAccount
MeatballWiki | RecentChanges | Random Page | Indices | CategoriesMany online systems require logins before they are usable. Often logging in either requires the disclosure of private information or is excessively difficult. Other times, the requirement that each user identify themselves may be excessive--anonymity may be preferred. Other times, member privileges are only accessible to those with a specific account even if others need access.
Surely, in each of these scenarios, the underlying architecture of the system was designed to place barriers to those without unique identities. However, often these barriers get in the way.
Therefore, create a PublicAccount. One for which everyone knows the username and password. This circumvents the login system completely.
You can reduce the damage to the infrastructure by making it difficult to know the PublicAccount. A semi-public account, if you will. One way is to not publish this information openly, but merely let it spread by word of mouth.
But, without the support of the site owners, you are asking for trouble. In some cases, it will be illegal to misrepresent yourselves. The owners might also terminate the account. Alternatively, since the account really isn't public property, but merely loaned to the public by some individual who created it, it's possible for a malicious user to hijack the account by changing the password. Without adequate security provisions (e-mail confirmation) or a site administrator on your side, this could lead to disaster.
Examples:
- You can log onto the New York Times by using Slashdot/Slashdot as your user name and password pair. This solved many Slashdot readers' gripes that they had to log onto the New York Times website to read the frequently cited articles.
- If you log onto EverythingTwo as everyone/everyone, you can edit any entry made by the account "everyone". This is part of the Everyone Project there, which essentially brings the universal editing aspect of wikis to Everything2.
- On KuroShin, you can log on as whimsy/whimsy. The idea was to provide a public diary for humour that would sidetrack the submission queue (as do all diaries) and yet be "categorized" just by having a familiar DramaticIdentity.