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Cursed Thing, via Flickr (CC license)
What do you do when online comments get nasty? |
Today,
Bill Densmore of the
Media Giraffe Project is on a panel called "What to do when blog comments go awry?" held at
The Day, a daily paper in New London, Conn.
He sent out a query to me and some other media colleagues asking for perspectives this topic, including: "If you were to advise The Day's editors about how to handle blog comments, what would you say?" Here's my recommended strategy:
- Configure moderation. Set your comments to place the first 1-3 comments from any new user under moderation. People who have demonstrated that they can behave well (by getting prior comments approved) then get automatic approval -- which can be revoked at the discretion of the site manager.
- Comment policy. Post a clear, plainly worded comment policy that says what is encouraged and what is not allowed. Spell out the consequences for violating the policy. I recommend this progression:
- Revert them to being moderated, temporarily.
- Temporary suspension from the site/forum.
- Permanent expulsion from the site/forum.
- Work behind the scenes. If you suspect bad behavior is due to passion, culture clash, or misunderstanding -- rather than maliciousness -- first contact the user privately (by e-mail) to find a way to work with them.
- Routine engagement. Make sure that you and others from the staff/management side of the side routinely interact with the comments/forum on a daily basis. Otherwise you get a dynamic like a high school class where the teacher never shows up.
- Emergency moderation. If a hot-button issue or flame war breaks out on your site and you get slammed with comments, consider implementing across-the-board moderation until things cool down.
What's your preferred method of fostering constructive community through comments? How do you handle emergencies? Please comment below.
Amy, thanks for the tips. There's a blogsite that features...
