By Stephanie Goldberg, Special to CNN
July 19, 2010 12:59 p.m. EDT
(CNN) -- User comments on news sites, while vital to interactive storytelling in the digital age, often read like scribblings on a bathroom stall: anonymous, offensive and full of hate.
"I hate what you people, and by that I mean the blacks, are doing to this city," wrote one Buffalo News reader last month in response to a story about a local shooting. "Each area you move too [sic] quickly becomes over run [sic] with crime, loud music [at] all hours, adults swearing and screaming at kids, children playing in the street, porches with beer and garbage thrown all around."
Rants like this one prompted the Buffalo, New York, newspaper to discontinue anonymous user comments on its website as of August 2. Commenters will be required to register with their name, city of residence and phone number -- more information than most news sites require -- and staffers will attempt to verify their identities.
"It is the ability to remain anonymous that encourages people to say whatever they want [online] ... when people are required to give their names, our thinking is that they'll think twice," said news editor Margaret Sullivan, who added that vetting commenters will be a "challenging" task. "There might be people who slip through the cracks."
Like those bathroom-stall messages, online comments on news stories can be difficult to police. For years, many publications have tried to strike a balance between encouraging open communication among readers and maintaining civil discourse. But a few sites, fed up with rude or inflammatory comments, are taking bold new steps to raise the level of dialogue.
The website of the Sun Chronicle newspaper in Attleboro, Massachusetts, launched a new system July 7 that requires commenters to register with their names, addresses, phone numbers and a credit card number. Users are charged a one-time fee of 99 cents, activating their accounts; commenters' names and communities, based on their credit card information, appear beside their posts on the site.
Although only 22 people had registered to comment on the site as of Friday, Sun Chronicle editor Mike Kirby said the paper, which has a circulation of about 15,000, has received as much praise as criticism over the new system.
"I can't guarantee this is going to work, but I know for sure it seems to improve the discourse online and it will certainly bring some responsibility and consistency," he said.
Or will it? While anonymity often serves as a scapegoat for inflammatory comments online, journalism observers say it's only one piece of a larger puzzle.
"The question of anonymity is definitely something we should think about, but I don't think that's the only element when you consider productive user commenting," said Steve Myers, managing editor at Poynter Online, a website run by the nonprofit school for journalists.
Users also sometimes need to be reminded of a site's commenting guidelines before they post, Myers said. "It's important to tell people what you're looking for," he added.
Rightardia comment: We have seen the same problem on Usenet. Racist comments abound with our president referred to as Buckwheat, the N-word in chief and with other racial stereotypes. Insults between posters abound and some of wing nuts have been Spamming Democratic posts with repetitive counter posts.
Rightardia had its Usenet identity forged and posts directed users to gay porn web sites. We were able to get one right winger who did this thrown out by a Usenet service provider, but these racists just pay a fee and use another Usenet server. We know of another wing nut who has been thrown off two or three Usenet servers.
We have been going through one Usenet conference and flagging Usenet posts to to the Google abuse group that are hateful, abusive or spam. Of course, there are thousands of Usenet groups.
Most of these posts are originated by a handful of right wingers who need to blocked form posting on the Internet. If these people were smarter, they would realize their offensive posts are not helping the GOP, but racists seem to have a blind rage toward people they don't like.
see the rest o the story at http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/web/07/19/commenting.on.news.sites/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Subscribe to the Rightardia feed: feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/IGiu
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July 19, 2010 12:59 p.m. EDT
"I hate what you people, and by that I mean the blacks, are doing to this city," wrote one Buffalo News reader last month in response to a story about a local shooting. "Each area you move too [sic] quickly becomes over run [sic] with crime, loud music [at] all hours, adults swearing and screaming at kids, children playing in the street, porches with beer and garbage thrown all around."
Rants like this one prompted the Buffalo, New York, newspaper to discontinue anonymous user comments on its website as of August 2. Commenters will be required to register with their name, city of residence and phone number -- more information than most news sites require -- and staffers will attempt to verify their identities.
"It is the ability to remain anonymous that encourages people to say whatever they want [online] ... when people are required to give their names, our thinking is that they'll think twice," said news editor Margaret Sullivan, who added that vetting commenters will be a "challenging" task. "There might be people who slip through the cracks."
Like those bathroom-stall messages, online comments on news stories can be difficult to police. For years, many publications have tried to strike a balance between encouraging open communication among readers and maintaining civil discourse. But a few sites, fed up with rude or inflammatory comments, are taking bold new steps to raise the level of dialogue.
The website of the Sun Chronicle newspaper in Attleboro, Massachusetts, launched a new system July 7 that requires commenters to register with their names, addresses, phone numbers and a credit card number. Users are charged a one-time fee of 99 cents, activating their accounts; commenters' names and communities, based on their credit card information, appear beside their posts on the site.
Although only 22 people had registered to comment on the site as of Friday, Sun Chronicle editor Mike Kirby said the paper, which has a circulation of about 15,000, has received as much praise as criticism over the new system.
"I can't guarantee this is going to work, but I know for sure it seems to improve the discourse online and it will certainly bring some responsibility and consistency," he said.
Or will it? While anonymity often serves as a scapegoat for inflammatory comments online, journalism observers say it's only one piece of a larger puzzle.
"The question of anonymity is definitely something we should think about, but I don't think that's the only element when you consider productive user commenting," said Steve Myers, managing editor at Poynter Online, a website run by the nonprofit school for journalists.
Users also sometimes need to be reminded of a site's commenting guidelines before they post, Myers said. "It's important to tell people what you're looking for," he added.
Rightardia comment: We have seen the same problem on Usenet. Racist comments abound with our president referred to as Buckwheat, the N-word in chief and with other racial stereotypes. Insults between posters abound and some of wing nuts have been Spamming Democratic posts with repetitive counter posts.
Rightardia had its Usenet identity forged and posts directed users to gay porn web sites. We were able to get one right winger who did this thrown out by a Usenet service provider, but these racists just pay a fee and use another Usenet server. We know of another wing nut who has been thrown off two or three Usenet servers.
We have been going through one Usenet conference and flagging Usenet posts to to the Google abuse group that are hateful, abusive or spam. Of course, there are thousands of Usenet groups.
Most of these posts are originated by a handful of right wingers who need to blocked form posting on the Internet. If these people were smarter, they would realize their offensive posts are not helping the GOP, but racists seem to have a blind rage toward people they don't like.
see the rest o the story at http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/web/07/19/commenting.on.news.sites/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Subscribe to the Rightardia feed: feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/IGiu
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