It’s a common problem for websites large and small: How to keep user comments from turning into a sewer. Most news organizations use software to automatically filter out comments that include specific words, such as obscenities and ethnic or racial slurs. Some have learned the hard way that they also need to apply the filter to user names. But that’s obviously not enough.
Many sites require users to register and log in before they can comment. Some, like the Wall Street Journal, require a real name and working email address, which must be confirmed before comments can be posted. Some news organizations have decided not to allow comments at all on certain types of stories that tend to draw a lot of offensive remarks. For example, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune turns off comments for stories about “hot button” topics including crime, Muslims and gays.
The Washington Post is seeking a kind of middle way to keep its comment boards from becoming “little more than cesspools of venom and twaddle,” as ombudsman Andy Alexander writes. The plan, still in development, would assign commenters to different “tiers” based on their track record.
Those with a track record of staying within the guidelines, and those providing their real names, will likely be considered “trusted commenters.” Repeat violators or discourteous agitators will be grouped elsewhere or blocked outright. Comments of first-timers will be screened by a human being. When visitors click to read story comments, only those from the “trusted” group will appear. If they want to see inflammatory or off-topic comments from “trolls,” they’ll need to click to access a different “tier.”
I’ll be interested to see how this plays out in practice. It sounds fairly labor-intensive, but the truth is that moderating comments seems to be the most reliable way to keep them out of the gutter. And failing to screen comments can make it tougher for journalists to do their jobs. Post reporters tell Alexander that increasing numbers of their sources say they’re sorry they ever talked to the paper for stories that resulted in nasty, anonymous attacks.
How does your site handle comments? Have you found a good way of keeping things civil?
