Slashdot Mirror
Leaving a Comment? That'll Be 99 Cents, and Your Name
netbuzz writes "Anxious to lift a ban on comments brought about by incessant trolling and anonymous slander, a Massachusetts newspaper has begun requiring two things of online readers who want to leave their thoughts on stories: a one-time fee of 99 cents and a willingness to use their real names. Says the publisher: 'This is a necessary step, in my opinion, if The Attleboro (MA) Sun Chronicle is going to continue to provide a forum for comments on our websites.'"
i wanted to post this comment, but does anyone have change for a dollar?
But Slashdot makes it easy to ignore said trolls.
Speaking of which, have you visited http://goatse.fr/ lately?
Slashdot doesn't filter them out very effectively, it's forever plagued by them. What it does have is ways for knowledgeable users (it's entire userbase) to reduce the noise and bring out the signal, all the while knowing full well what trolls are and how to ignore them. A local newspaper has a much smaller and much less savvy audience and needs to actually filter it out somehow, which can be exceedingly difficult if even possible at all.
Grow up. The whole point of having a forum for differing opinions is that you end up with DIFFERING OPINIONS. Some people are crazy and angry, and their posts reflect that. So what? Others are full of wisdom and insight. That's life. Trying to create barriers against those whose opinions you don't like is cowardly.
If it's a stupid comment, just scroll on by. Don't try to segregate people to different ends of the bus because you think your version of reality is superior. Instead give readers the power to quickly assess the value of a commenter and move on if it doesn't suit their interests and sensibilities.
The biggest flaw in these news systems is that they aren't using the mighty power of Slashcode, but rather slow, linear and highly limited comment systems which don't allow for meaningful debate, community building and effective personal filtering of information.
-FL