Comments on: Stronger communities, better comments http://newsnext.ca/2010/04/stronger-communities-better-comments/ Notes on teaching, technology & online news Mon, 19 Apr 2010 20:20:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Costas Halavrezos http://newsnext.ca/2010/04/stronger-communities-better-comments/comment-page-1/#comment-63 Costas Halavrezos Mon, 19 Apr 2010 20:20:25 +0000 http://newsnext.ca/?p=341#comment-63 The "broken windows" in the Comments clearly devalue the online neighbourhood created by news organizations. Maritime Noon callers have mentioned (on the 2 occasions we've explored this topic)that the Comments on CBC sites rarely add to civil public discourse and are much more likely to range from the inane to the offensive - in sharp contrast with the other editorial content. Dan Leger's article today alludes to the staffing issue (i.e.with skeleton crews for newsgathering & editing, can you afford a full-time Comments Editor ?). Question: would people stop reading online sites if they couldn't post Comments ? The “broken windows” in the Comments clearly devalue the online neighbourhood created by news organizations. Maritime Noon callers have mentioned (on the 2 occasions we’ve explored this topic)that the Comments on CBC sites rarely add to civil public discourse and are much more likely to range from the inane to the offensive – in sharp contrast with the other editorial content. Dan Leger’s article today alludes to the staffing issue (i.e.with skeleton crews for newsgathering & editing, can you afford a full-time Comments Editor ?). Question: would people stop reading online sites if they couldn’t post Comments ?

]]> By: Dan Leger http://newsnext.ca/2010/04/stronger-communities-better-comments/comment-page-1/#comment-62 Dan Leger Mon, 19 Apr 2010 20:00:14 +0000 http://newsnext.ca/?p=341#comment-62 Tim, thanks. I would add that even with registration and filters, the Herald will likely continue comment moderation. We are also very interested in this notion of "trusted users" or "starred commenters" who should be able to interact with little or no supervision while the trolls are shunted aside to abuse and bully each other in peace. Tim, thanks. I would add that even with registration and filters, the Herald will likely continue comment moderation. We are also very interested in this notion of “trusted users” or “starred commenters” who should be able to interact with little or no supervision while the trolls are shunted aside to abuse and bully each other in peace.

]]> By: Howard Owens http://newsnext.ca/2010/04/stronger-communities-better-comments/comment-page-1/#comment-61 Howard Owens Mon, 19 Apr 2010 19:46:17 +0000 http://newsnext.ca/?p=341#comment-61 Thanks for the mention and link. Call me arrogant, but I'm confident I could make the policy and enforcement scale to any size site. A bigger site would require a bigger investment, but it could be done, and it wouldn't cost that much, relatively speaking. Thanks for the mention and link.

Call me arrogant, but I’m confident I could make the policy and enforcement scale to any size site. A bigger site would require a bigger investment, but it could be done, and it wouldn’t cost that much, relatively speaking.

]]> By: Giles (Webconomist) http://newsnext.ca/2010/04/stronger-communities-better-comments/comment-page-1/#comment-59 Giles (Webconomist) Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:03:07 +0000 http://newsnext.ca/?p=341#comment-59 Great article Tim. I too like Gawkers approach and I suspect that much like YouTube and the rating systems, it will be "users" who will determine the junk and can push it to obscurity. That doesn't solve the anonymity issue but helps control the junk. Great article Tim. I too like Gawkers approach and I suspect that much like YouTube and the rating systems, it will be “users” who will determine the junk and can push it to obscurity. That doesn’t solve the anonymity issue but helps control the junk.

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