Let's Talk About Commenting
We twittered about this a few days ago, but we’d like to open it up for discussion: What can we do to improve the overall the quality of comments on the blog, to encourage lurkers to get involved without alienating some of the more active and, um, spirited commenters? We hear quite often from regular…
We twittered about this a few days ago, but we’d like to open it up for discussion: What can we do to improve the overall the quality of comments on the blog, to encourage lurkers to get involved without alienating some of the more active and, um, spirited commenters? We hear quite often from regular readers who feel uncomfortable, even intimidated, with the prospect of commenting. This isn’t surprising given the verbal beat-down one new commenter received from a gang of regulars a couple of weeks ago. Nor is the level of discussion going on in today’s Open Thread really where we’d like it to be. Short of active comment moderation, which really isn’t a practical option, what do you think we can/should do to elevate the quality of discussion and make newcomers feel more welcome? We’d be particularly interested to hear from some folks who usually hang back on the sidelines. It’s in the best interests of the blog and everyone who reads it to have as many people contributing their knowledge and opinions as possible.
Thanks,
Mr. B
there’s a party going on in the open thread. but if you have less than 100 posts please wait your turn behind the red velvet ropes.
*rob*
> “I can see the value in an “ignore button”.”
I think this is the best and simplest idea.
I think the point is Mr. B is does not want his website to be a chat room circa 1997. It seriously sometimes reminds me of when chat rooms first came out and they would have a designated topic or theme and the same people would be in these chat rooms everyday but almost never talked about whatever the theme was. Not saying that the regs don’t contribute valuable information on a variety of topics, but sometimes it’s just kind of ridiculous. Part of the problem is that the same topics are discussed to no end. I think brownstoner should introduce some more topics for people to comment on that may include a broader range of people.
I agree with Heather that I would love to see some of the interiors of brownstones that are being renovated or have been already. A house tour section similar to Apartment Therapy but more focused on architectural detail and less on kitschy furniture would be of great interest to a lot of people. People who have great stories to share about the history of their homes would be nice. Maybe some of these regulars would like to open their homes and share a little about where they live…
I would love to see the What commenting on pocket doors and dumbwaiters every once in awhile instead of just the mutant asset bubble or whatever it is. My 2 cents.
So…when this thread ends are we having a group hug?
First, I love *rob*. Pardon my emoticonlessness.
I was just throwing out an example of how uncontrollable this cyberspace reality is. Conversation is organic. Cat ownership and the aesthetics of recessed lighting fixtures within the context of a blog about historic brownstone renovations is relevant to somebody out there… that’s the magic!
I can see the value in an “ignore button”. If it would function as a personalized filter or kill file for everyone who uses the site, that might be interesting and constructive. It’d be like having your very own Brownstoner, which you can moderate to suit your own taste. Definitely worth thinking about and kudos to whomever suggested it (alas, I don’t have time to track you down…).
Come to think of it, if Mr. B implemented this suggestion, why couldn’t he then reinstate guest commenting? Those who didn’t want to read guest comments could simply ‘ignore’ them.
An ignore button that only let’s you give someone a consequence-free thumbs up or down seems less sensible to me, simply because I don’t think anyone cares about consequence-free ratings of this kind, least of all the person being rated.
rob,
ratings dont’ affect comments unless brownstoner chooses to let them. Further, i’m not talking about rating a USER necessarily, but rather rating a COMMENT (by a user 🙂 ).
And even then there’s many ways to deal with the ratings.
#1. do nothing just make it visible what the community has rated this post. This adds a negative or positive reward to actions.
2. filter it but possibly provide options for users to unfilter the poorly rated comments.
3. Promote it to a highly rated section (like to comment of the day) but still gives users the options to view all comments unfiltered or promoted.
4. delete it. This, in my opinion, is mean and big brotherish.
ok, that’s it for me. I feel like I should be billing for this.
🙂
IMBY…I think rob has much more relevant things to say about this than you do. Se his post above yours, which i think is spot on and the first post of this thread. He seems to be one of the few that actually “gets it.”
Anyone remember the rating system in Ender’s Game that his brother and sister game as part of their political maneuvering?
I actually don’t think a rating system should be used to hide/reveal comments, but it could be used as a way for lurkers to give an anonymous thumbs up/thumbs down on different specific comments (rather than commenters).
I do think an Ignore function would be the best single addition. I have registered for sites specifically so I could use the Ignore function. I think there was one site where I had over 40 people on ignore (mostly trolls of the BHO type — I’m actually fairly tolerant about this stuff, but insistent trolling gets boring).
I’m partial to the ones that let you manually override the “ignore” on individual posts (in case it is a topic that you really do want all opinions on).