Prediction about comment sections for 2016

Dec 2015

http://www.niemanlab.org/2015/12/time-to-rebrand-comments/

It’s time to stop using the c-word. “The comment section” has moved in people’s minds from being an empty box on a website into a viper-filled pit of hell. We need to start again. We need to do better.

Indeed because your "viper-filled pit of hell" is YOUR fault.

It's not the fault of the idea of comments or user-contributed content.

It's not even the fault of trolls and flamers because they are simply being themselves.

As always, 100 percent of the blame for nasty comment sections belongs to the site owners who failed to innovate a way to make comments work.

July 2011 dashes.com post : If your website is full of assholes, it's your fault

If you run a website, you need to follow these steps. if you don't, you're making the web, and the world, a worse place. And it's your fault.

Put another way, take some goddamn responsibility for what you unleash on the world. And people who make communities on the web have to moderate them.

"Moderate" could mean many things, in my opinion. I don't believe that it simply means approving comments or flagging and deleting comments.

I think "moderate" could mean how the site is designed for user-contributed content. What barriers to entry are implemented? Is it super-easy to post a comment, or does a user have to go through a bunch of hoops, which could irritate the trolls?

I use multiple barriers to entry at ToledoTalk.com, which has improved the discussions considerably over the years. It's a small site but enjoyable.

• a real email address must be submitted at user account creation time.
• new account is pending until the user clicks the activation link that's contained in an email message.
• a new user must wait 48 hours before being allowed to post a comment and 72 hours to start a new thread.
• at times, the new user sign-up process is disabled for a few days to a few weeks to slow down new users.

More is not always better,. I like the concept of "less but better."