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Considering comment moderation
Because of the increasing abuse of our online comment space, and the tough time my staff is having at trying to keep up with all the comment violators, we are once again reviewing our comment policy at middletownpress.com.
Our sister paper in Torrington, The Register Citizen, switched to comment moderation a month or so ago. This means that comments no longer go up immediately, but that someone on staff has to review every single comment before it gets posted.
My concern is that this will significantly slow down people's discussions. We would need to have a staff member review comments at least every 10-15 minutes in order for this to be effective, and I have yet to figure out how to set a schedule for this so that it doesn't affect all the other work we have to do. Or should we make it one person's job to solely monitor comments all day long?
We are also thinking about combining our web resources with The Register Citizen and the New Haven Register to see if we can have a few people who monitor comments for all three sites.
I do believe a switch of some sort is needed at this point in order to gain back some credibility in our online space. What do you think? Please comment below.
Our sister paper in Torrington, The Register Citizen, switched to comment moderation a month or so ago. This means that comments no longer go up immediately, but that someone on staff has to review every single comment before it gets posted.
My concern is that this will significantly slow down people's discussions. We would need to have a staff member review comments at least every 10-15 minutes in order for this to be effective, and I have yet to figure out how to set a schedule for this so that it doesn't affect all the other work we have to do. Or should we make it one person's job to solely monitor comments all day long?
We are also thinking about combining our web resources with The Register Citizen and the New Haven Register to see if we can have a few people who monitor comments for all three sites.
I do believe a switch of some sort is needed at this point in order to gain back some credibility in our online space. What do you think? Please comment below.
posted by The Middletown Press at
1:36 PM
8 Comments:
It is a Shame when a few can ruin a good deed by the middletown press.The expense to monitor is a watse of money but maybe needed.Does the current generation have lower standards of behavor?I think so.We have many bright young people and we have some in our community who are outof line.I think if we would have to sign our name to any comment that would help...at least I would hope so.
I think it would help to have to register an e address. It won't stop the problem but at least it may deter some of the silliness.Presently commenting takes little time.I know I would take the section seriously if I didn't read all the nonsense. As it stands it is a joke
I say go with the moderators. They will also keep other comments from getting deleted. Many comments are thoughtful yet unpopular and they get taken down. This really takes away from the discussion.
I still think having a user registration process would be more effective. It would get rid of a lot of the "drive by" commentors and allow you to effectively ban the problem children without having to shut out an entire ip address.
I to think its a good idea to have the comments monitored. It would be well worth the money. May than we can have some positive, productive comments and conservations.
I have been procrastinating about writing you regarding my displeasure with the online comment policy. Seeing this blog entry prompted me to write. I hope this message finds you. I’ve lived in Middletown for over 20 years and have never been more embarrassed to say that this form of unrestricted written Ping-Pong has turned our city into a state wide joke. I work outside of the city and find my co-workers frequently checking your site to see the most recent foolishness. If this is your goal, job well done. I feel this anonymous form of communication is akin to having a large bill board in the center of the city and allowing people to write whatever they want, regardless of the truth, and hide behind complete anonymity. If a person has something to say they shouldn’t fear identifying themselves in some way.
I have noticed a serious drop in the amount of comments being posted.Over all,I found the comments to be
more entertaining and well written than your newspaper.I will never purchase the Middletown Press again.I
only hope that your circulation drops as well.Maybe we can get a professional newspaper in Middletown
eventually.
Whow thats a little harsh.. but it what makes readers comments even better. lets have users register there emails in order to leave comments. not fool proof and its not going to stop negativity but hey it will cut back on drive by negativity...
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