In the example above, "Our local Bethel branch is closing down" already gives the country away (at least short-lists it but + timing = good degree of certainty) and really, they have already done a very good job of describing lots of personal details that could identify them. Adding the country does not.
Ok, well assuming that they didn't reveal that the local bethel was closing down, the country they're from could still take it to the point where they went from relatively anonymous to relatively identifiable. I personally don't care too much whether my country is revealed to everyone but I can see it being somewhat detrimental if it's included. It probably won't make a lick of difference for folks in the US, Mexico, Canada, etc, but for those that are in small countries with small JW populations, it makes things a little more risky, and that might push someone over the edge to the point that they're not willing to risk joining.
Sure, the fact that the flag is included next to each post might be a factor in what this theoretical person posted, but I wonder what benefits the community more - knowing the poster's country, or getting a slightly more personal version of their story (or getting it at all)?
Now, should someone who would do that be able to pretend to be a member of the community just like others? Would it have been better or worse if you could see whoever had been pretending to be your friend wasn't where they claimed? Something to make you suspicious and more guarded?
I suspect that anyone who's really intent on tracking someone down would likely A. Be from the same country anyway, and B. know how to use a proxy if they're not and want to make it appear so. This could well be a two-edged sword - maybe some will be exposed as liars based on their IP, but others may well be talked to more openly, not because of where they are, but because of their ability to use a proxy.
Another thing that I would point out (maybe it's been mentioned already, I'm not sure) is that having country flags next to each post might give the forum a distinctly nationalistic feel. normally not a problem, but if your goal is to get the occasional active JW to linger a while, it's probably best to avoid evoking any of the cult defense mechanisms with something that's relatively trivial.
- It adds the posters context to the discussion, especially if it is about some cultural specific story (e.g. US gun control, Chinese aviation or whatever).
It's simple enough for someone to give the context if its necessary. The bulk of what's discussed on the forum is not in the context of a particular country, but in the context of the watchtower cult. Forcing everyone to give this context when only a few actually need to provide it seems a bit heavy-handed.
- It shows up potential spammers / scammers - if someone is from China or Nigeria and they are claiming to be some grandmother from Wisconsin then you know there may be something up - yes, people can fake their location but why not raise the bar and make it more difficult for them ... Even if people aren't scammers, I don't see why we need to enable anyone to portray a false identity (e.g. claiming to be in the US when they are maybe in the UK).
If someone's a scammer, I suspect that there's more than even chances that they'll be able to work out how to use a proxy that will always appear to be from a particular country.
- It shows up people using anonymizing proxies. If someone's location changes every other post then it's more visible than the IP hash and I think people should at least be aware of that so that they can chose to be more guarded with what they share.
If someone's using a proxy already, they could easily use one that provides an IP that consistently shows up as being from a particular country. Correct me if I'm wrong here.
- It looks cool and shows what a global community we are.
fair enough.
- It's a public internet forum, not a secret society or whistleblowing organization.
While it's not a secret society, I suspect that there are very many who tentatively join (I was one) after much thought and only after going to great lengths to protect their identity (i.e. using a one-off email, etc). Some, particularly those in countries with small JW populations, might see this as one risk too many. It would be a shame if an attempt to show how international the forum was actually reduced the level of diversity. There are many tales of JW elders or even r/f who have gone to great lengths to catch someone in the act, so I think it's quite understandable that many want to protect their identity.
Since the only advantage that doesn't have a counterpoint is "it looks cool" and there are at least perceived risks (a perceived risk is all it takes to cause damage, even if the risk isn't real) it seems to me that it's not really worth it to have the country flags. I don't care personally (I suspect most anyone can have a pretty good guess of where I'm from based on how I spell color) but I think there's a greater potential for damage to the community than the benefit can justify.