August 2, 2008 at 00:3710 ways to improve comments for a news site
- Transfer
Derek Povazhek (about whom they already wrote on Habré) posted an article on the organization of a comment system on a news site on his blog. Meet me.
Here are 10 ways a news website can use to improve the quality of comments. (In fact, there are many more, but not one editor can resist the temptation to create a list of "10 most-most").
Anonymity is important in journalism, but not for comment.
There are many good reasons to allow anonymity, especially in the news. Sometimes the source needs to speak out against the employer or government without naming itself. Excellent. But there is no reason, really not a single reason, to allow people to write comments without registering for a start.
Just by entering a mandatory registration, you will get rid of 80% of your problems with comments. If it is important to allow anonymous statements, you can give the user the opportunity to remove their name from individual comments, leaving the need to write from under the account. (In other words, the user must log in with his name so that the system can recognize them, but he can comment as “Anonymous.” Anonymous comments are then placed in the moderation queue to prevent abuse).
No one likes to learn about a rule after a violation. Write a human-readable set of community rules ( Habr rules are a great example ). Let users need to agree with them during the registration process, and leave a link to them in each comment form. In this case, if necessary, you can say "We warned you."
Then stick to these rules. Delete bad comments and mark good ones. There is a common misconception that comment moderation is a big responsibility. This is not true. Managing your community usually does not mean much extra work for you.
If you cannot name the community manager, it is probably you.
You would not allow the writer to publish your work without editing - so why allow commentators? If you give people the opportunity to leave comments on your site, someone should check them. Think of them as editors in a publishing house.
You do not have to read every comment before posting it on the site, someone must remove those that violate the rules established in the community. Like graffiti in a city’s space, bad comments attract other similar commentators. But community moderators should be more than just cops - they should be the connecting link between the project team and the participants. They should set an example, participate in discussions and help newcomers, and also do periodic “community weather forecasts” for the team so that feedback from participants can be used.
Although users can write comments on their own, this does not mean that you cannot help them.
Once upon a time, when we were commenting on the Fray website , we were constantly improving the behavior of the form for comment. If you tried to send something too long, she asked you to reformulate shorter. If the comment was too small, you were invited to speak more fully. If you wrote in CAPITALS, we reduced the sentences to their normal form (Flickr does it now). This is not difficult for a computer, and is of great importance for users.
If you think that bad comments annoy you, then good commentators annoy them twice as much.
Yes, you can pay someone from the team and make him a community moderator. In addition, you can give the community the opportunity to act on their own. Give each comment a “-" button. Then make a page for the manager, where he could see the comments with the most votes “against” and take appropriate measures.
Additionally, you can give each comment a “+” button so that users tell you about good comments. Remember that users are not enemies: they also want to keep the site clean.
The worst thing you can do is separate the comments from the content. This creates an “unofficial” channel where users can behave inappropriately, because - why not? All the same, they are "at the children's table."
So connect stories and discussions as tightly as possible. This will give the discussion a central theme.
The Internet does not write malicious letters to the editor, he definitely contributes to this. And this is normal - sometimes people need to blow off steam. Your job is to control the steam valve.
Comments on some news are so crazy because the reader has no other way to respond. People are happy to talk to you one on one, if you give them such an opportunity.
So create a form using which a person can send a letter to the editors, and leave a link to it in the form of adding a comment. Say, “If you want to send a private message, click here.”
This way you can get a few angry letters, but it is better to have them in your mail than on a site where they will only add oil to the fire.
Let your writers engage in the discussion. People quickly cool off when they realize that the author of the news reads their messages (and act much more decisively when they think that no one hears them). I know that writers can consider this an additional burden to work, and most likely they will hate such a duty in advance. Very sorry. This is part of the evolution of journalism - either you're on board or not.
A good way to get writers to discuss their stories is to allow them to moderate comments on their own articles. They can do it on their blog, and they should have the same opportunity in their stories (under the supervision of a community manager, of course).
Well-intentioned participants are usually pleased when authors participate in discussions. Unfortunately, this can also attract trolls - users playing the game "gobble up as much of your time as possible."
Educate your authors on online community behavior. If someone is trying to piss you off, do not give in. A good manager can help authors understand when and how to engage in discussion.
News sites are hierarchically organized communities, unlike the Internet. Get used to the fact that people on the network will not follow your instructions. In general, the only thing you can count on is surprises. When this happens, you will be judged by your further actions. Get ready for surprises.
Source: Mechanical World
Here are 10 ways a news website can use to improve the quality of comments. (In fact, there are many more, but not one editor can resist the temptation to create a list of "10 most-most").
1. Require registration
Anonymity is important in journalism, but not for comment.
There are many good reasons to allow anonymity, especially in the news. Sometimes the source needs to speak out against the employer or government without naming itself. Excellent. But there is no reason, really not a single reason, to allow people to write comments without registering for a start.
Just by entering a mandatory registration, you will get rid of 80% of your problems with comments. If it is important to allow anonymous statements, you can give the user the opportunity to remove their name from individual comments, leaving the need to write from under the account. (In other words, the user must log in with his name so that the system can recognize them, but he can comment as “Anonymous.” Anonymous comments are then placed in the moderation queue to prevent abuse).
2. Establish rules and enforce them
No one likes to learn about a rule after a violation. Write a human-readable set of community rules ( Habr rules are a great example ). Let users need to agree with them during the registration process, and leave a link to them in each comment form. In this case, if necessary, you can say "We warned you."
Then stick to these rules. Delete bad comments and mark good ones. There is a common misconception that comment moderation is a big responsibility. This is not true. Managing your community usually does not mean much extra work for you.
3. Assign a community manager
If you cannot name the community manager, it is probably you.
You would not allow the writer to publish your work without editing - so why allow commentators? If you give people the opportunity to leave comments on your site, someone should check them. Think of them as editors in a publishing house.
You do not have to read every comment before posting it on the site, someone must remove those that violate the rules established in the community. Like graffiti in a city’s space, bad comments attract other similar commentators. But community moderators should be more than just cops - they should be the connecting link between the project team and the participants. They should set an example, participate in discussions and help newcomers, and also do periodic “community weather forecasts” for the team so that feedback from participants can be used.
4. Drive input
Although users can write comments on their own, this does not mean that you cannot help them.
Once upon a time, when we were commenting on the Fray website , we were constantly improving the behavior of the form for comment. If you tried to send something too long, she asked you to reformulate shorter. If the comment was too small, you were invited to speak more fully. If you wrote in CAPITALS, we reduced the sentences to their normal form (Flickr does it now). This is not difficult for a computer, and is of great importance for users.
5. Let the community help you
If you think that bad comments annoy you, then good commentators annoy them twice as much.
Yes, you can pay someone from the team and make him a community moderator. In addition, you can give the community the opportunity to act on their own. Give each comment a “-" button. Then make a page for the manager, where he could see the comments with the most votes “against” and take appropriate measures.
Additionally, you can give each comment a “+” button so that users tell you about good comments. Remember that users are not enemies: they also want to keep the site clean.
6. Combine stories and comments
The worst thing you can do is separate the comments from the content. This creates an “unofficial” channel where users can behave inappropriately, because - why not? All the same, they are "at the children's table."
So connect stories and discussions as tightly as possible. This will give the discussion a central theme.
7. Allow private messages
The Internet does not write malicious letters to the editor, he definitely contributes to this. And this is normal - sometimes people need to blow off steam. Your job is to control the steam valve.
Comments on some news are so crazy because the reader has no other way to respond. People are happy to talk to you one on one, if you give them such an opportunity.
So create a form using which a person can send a letter to the editors, and leave a link to it in the form of adding a comment. Say, “If you want to send a private message, click here.”
This way you can get a few angry letters, but it is better to have them in your mail than on a site where they will only add oil to the fire.
8. Participate ...
Let your writers engage in the discussion. People quickly cool off when they realize that the author of the news reads their messages (and act much more decisively when they think that no one hears them). I know that writers can consider this an additional burden to work, and most likely they will hate such a duty in advance. Very sorry. This is part of the evolution of journalism - either you're on board or not.
A good way to get writers to discuss their stories is to allow them to moderate comments on their own articles. They can do it on their blog, and they should have the same opportunity in their stories (under the supervision of a community manager, of course).
9. ... But do not feed the trolls
Well-intentioned participants are usually pleased when authors participate in discussions. Unfortunately, this can also attract trolls - users playing the game "gobble up as much of your time as possible."
Educate your authors on online community behavior. If someone is trying to piss you off, do not give in. A good manager can help authors understand when and how to engage in discussion.
10. Release control
News sites are hierarchically organized communities, unlike the Internet. Get used to the fact that people on the network will not follow your instructions. In general, the only thing you can count on is surprises. When this happens, you will be judged by your further actions. Get ready for surprises.
Source: Mechanical World