A couple of housekeeping items:

1) If you haven’t taken the reader survey yet and want to participate, please do so as soon as possible. We’ll be closing the polls at 5 o’clock today. Update: Polls are closed. We’ll have the results for you on Wednesday.

2) One interesting result of the survey so far is that about half the respondents are in favor of requiring registration. We’re not ready to require it yet, but we would like to take an intermediate step of strongly encouraging readers to register for a TypeKey identity. In addition to providing greater continuity in the discussion threads, it also helps us weed out the trolls from the real posters. Over time, if you stick to the same identity, you also start to develop the respect (or at least the recognition) of fellow readers which makes the sense of community stronger on the site.

Thanks


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

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  1. I’m not opposed to Typekey (I finally just signed up for it myself now, too). But I agree that it might stifle free discussion. Even though on the B’stoner survey I indicated that I’m open to it (and this discussion finally prompted me to sign up!), I don’t believe it should be mandatory.

  2. Please fix the posting software…every time I post something, after a long delay an error message comes up….if you try to repost something the message ends up being posted twice. Seems this site has so many multiple postings and my guess its because of faulty software… P.S. I love the site!

  3. In principle I have no problem with typekey registration, but I don’t see the benefit. In particular, (1) I don’t see how typekey registration “helps us weed out the trolls from the real posters”. Some of the trolls plaguing this site routinely use typekey registration, and such registration seems in no way to be a hindrance to them. Also (2) if I’m not mistaken, typekey registration requires nothing more than a valid email address. So, since email addresses can be had freely and in abundance, there’s absolutely nothing to stop someone from having a multitude of typekey identities.

    I just don’t see benefits of typekey.

  4. I’ll do the survey, but re required registration:

    1. I personally would refuse to register, for privacy reasons. I’m protective of my real identity, and I don’t trust Typekey, ever since the first registration-required period, when several regulars gave away their real names, apparently inadvertently, by registering. (I won’t elaborate on how… those of you who care will probably remember.)

    2. I’m willing to ignore troll posts in order to gain the posts from people who otherwise would not post at all.

    3. When the site was registration only, it became almost like a club for like-minded regulars to agree with one another. Obviously requiring registration doesn’t force this to happen, but it often has that effect — registration-required sites tend to become homogenous and cliquish.

    4. I suspect, but cannot prove, that it would be a bad business move.

  5. I hope you will have time to take care of the multiple postings on the forum!

    I don’t have a 9-5 office job, so I hit brownstoner when I can. It’s usually first thing in the morning, last thing at night and yes…weekends. I find myself reading it alittle too often the days I have to catch up on my office work (like right now, for instance).

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