On June 16, 2025, Ethos shipped anonymous reviews, letting people review someone on the network without attaching their name to it. Ethos introduced the feature with a simple question: “Ever wanted to review someone anonymously on Ethos?”
Ethos is a network where people review each other. Anonymous reviews gave reviewers a way to share what they know about an account without putting their own identity on the line.
What shipped
Ethos described the feature in five points:
- 100% privacy preserving
- Negative, neutral or positive reviews: anonymous reviews could carry any sentiment
- Author reputation included as a qualifier: an anonymous review was labeled “from reputable account”
- Reputation required: an author needed to be reputable to leave an anonymous review
- Powered by @kairosAgent
Anonymous, but not unaccountable
The obvious concern with anonymous feedback is that anyone can say anything. Ethos addressed that in two ways in its announcement.
First, not everyone could post anonymously. Being reputable was a requirement for leaving an anonymous review, so the option was limited to accounts that already had standing on the network.
Second, the author’s reputation still showed up on the review itself. Readers would not see who wrote it, but they would see that it came “from reputable account.” That qualifier gave the review weight without revealing the person behind it.
Why it matters
A reputation network depends on people being willing to say what they know. Sometimes the people with the most useful information are the least comfortable saying it publicly, especially when the review is negative or the subject has a large following.
By allowing negative, neutral and positive reviews alike, the feature was not limited to warnings. Someone could just as easily leave quiet praise or a measured, neutral assessment without having their name attached.
Pairing privacy with a reputation requirement was the core of the design: reviewers could stay anonymous, while readers could still tell the review came from an account the network considered reputable.
Built with Kairos
Ethos credited @kairosAgent with powering the feature. The announcement did not go into further detail about how the integration worked.
This post first appeared on X.
