Are misattributed comments worse than anonymous ones?

A bit of a self-debate here, but I’m actually wondering if misattributing a comment is worse than just doing it anonymously. I’m certainly no celebrity, but I have seen a bit of attention lately. I also don’t have the most uncommon name. However, it’s more than a bit off-putting to see something with a semblance of your name as a comment. It’s part of a personal brand that’s hard to control.

The extreme version of this was the fake Steve Jobs blog. The difference though was that everyone knew it was fake, and appreciated it for the satire that it was. Online reputation is a very important thing, as I’ve frequently said. Comment spam shows no respect for attention, but pretending to be some one you are not is misleading.

The bottom line would seem to be that there is a real advantage to universal login systems like facebook connect, if its your reputation that matters. I always saw that as a convenience rather than a reputational benefit until very recently.