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A Norwegian Website Is Making Readers Pass a Quiz Before Commenting (niemanlab.org)
Joseph Lichterman, writing for Nieman Lab: Two weeks ago, NRKbeta, the tech vertical of the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, published an explainer about a proposed new digital surveillance law in the country. Digital security is a controversial topic, and the conversation around security issues can become heated. But the conversation in the comments of the article was respectful and productive: Commenters shared links to books and other research, asked clarifying questions, and offered constructive feedback. The team at NRKbeta attributes the civil tenor of its comments to a feature it introduced last month. On some stories, potential commenters are now required to answer three basic multiple-choice questions about the article before they're allowed to post a comment. The goal is to ensure that the commenters have actually read the story before they discuss it.
"The goal is to ensure that the commenters have actually read the story before they discuss it"
A+ idea.
+1 insightful
Too many RTFA's...
..requiring a literacy test to vote?
And here's the list of questions:
1) Where do hot grits go?
2) Give us a good "In Soviet Russia" joke.
3) Who is Old Ike?
4) What does the acronym GNAA stand for?
5) What movie is it a requirement to watch to join GNAA?
When do we get this on Slashdot? No more trolls, no more frost piss, no more "Didnt RTFA".
Or at least, they'll have a harder time getting through the keyhole.
"But the conversation in the comments of the article was respectful and productive"
[CITATION NEEDED] ;-)
If you post as Anonymous Coward, don't expect a reply.
I don't know why I must pass a test before being able to read a website. Also, do I have to pay for the test? How long is it? I think this is a stupid solution for a non-existent problem.
This sounds like a surefire way to get only the best trolls! ;)
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
Why isn't this quiz being presented in multiple languages?
Well in Norway they make you pass a quiz showing that you read the article before they allow you to comment on it.
Censorship. Dictatorship!
I made a comment on a post to our license funded run "public service" TV on their facebook channel.
That had made a series of programs regarding a woman who had decided to convert to islam, and now had to wear a hijab. The post was a rant about how she was tired of having to answer questions about her becoming religous.
So I asked the question why it was so difficult to figure out that she would meet a lot of questions regarding that when she lived in the number 2 secular country in the world, according to a Gallup poll ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... ) and that a life changing decision like that in a secular culture would lead to question. I linked to the poll on wikipedia for reference too.
Well that question got deleted, but interesting enough, they left all the comments that were nothing but a lot of swearing and name calling, go figure.
I didn't read the article but this is a violation of my rights to free speech!!!
Did you read the article before posting that?
I think it'll be great. It'll be the greatest thing ever.
>> Commenters shared links to books
Serious question: how did they share "links to books"? Was it near-useless stuff like "hey dumb***, read this" or were they actually able to point to specific passages, freely available to all, that were applicable to the discussion?
These Swedes aren't going to make me take a test before I can go to the bathroom, I can tell you that.
Everything you know is wrong, Just forget the words and sing along.
The editors would just take the questions from the summary.
Be seeing you...
I have seen facebook posts by a tonne of accounts that seem to be posting every 2 minutes.I was pretty sure those were bots. Maybe their scripts will need to be more intelligent now?
On the flip side I hope the questions are not biased towards a point of view which would then result in filtering out a complete side of conversation from comments!
Starting April 1, Slashdot will require users to pass a drug test before commenting. Here in the /. offices, we refer to it as the "If You're Not High, GTFO Rule".
Submission of a >0.080 breathalyzer score will also be accepted for full credit.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Norwegian new digital surveillance law mandating quiz taking is an outrage!
now if we could make the "journalists" pass a quiz before writing an article on something they know nothing about.... even better.
Everyone who spouting off on government spending should be asked "Who holds the biggest slice (majority) of the National debt?" (Of the people I ask, most say/guess China. Wrong!) If you don't know, then shut the hell up and find out!
As very few will bother to gather facts, here's the answer: Social Security holds most of the national debt (via excess SS taxes collected.) This will soon change unless SS taxes are raised, as our population is aging.
Next question, how/when did this come about? Damn it, go answer that one for yourself. Hint: conservatives will need to find alternative facts.
It's nice that people have to qualify for some things. Doctors, for instance, and police. Drivers tests help, but maybe should be more strict. More controversial is that parents should be tested before having children (are some parents unprepared physically, emotionally, financially?).
Qualifying before comments sounds interesting. Unfortunately many sites require commenters to register with an outside data gatherers before you can comment.
...omphaloskepsis often...
It's not a terrible idea in theory. But if it catches on, then almost immediately news sites will start using it to filter out thoughtcrime (i.e. wrong opinions instead of wrong facts).
Every article on immigration will require you to agree on the unqualified benefits of mass immigration (and a gauntlet of other talking points), or an article will require you to say you believe in the wage gap, for example.
... where those who know nothing can still say as much.
Reminds me of this concept that sadly never took off... http://www.broadsheet.ie/2011/08/05/idiot-filtering-captchas/ damn intellectuals on their clever horses...
Why should someone have to pass a test to post?
This is all Trump's fault! Those Democrats and their SJWs are causing this along with Trump!
Although, I think there should be a test for someone posting sarcasm to see if they can actually do it well and be entertaining.
On another note, I just came form SeekingAlpha - an investment site - and so many discussions these days are breaking down to political horseshit. Someone posts something about say, economic growth, and all of sudden, someone posts something about Trump and Democrats and BAM! political horseshit.
Everybody wants to be a pundit.
The problem for charging for anything on Internet is difficulty of assessing value. I do not know if an article will tell me anything new until I read it. Comments are a good case where I am obviously interested enough to chime in, and posting one gives me potentially huge audience. So it's a good opportunity to raise quality bar and help reward the author at the same time.
And those too cheap to pay can still go chime in on umm... content aggregator websites.
... would start with, "What day was the original version of this duplicate post posted?"
Never read the comments.
Does it look like this?
https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y7VXi.gif
Huffington Post, Fox News, Democratic Underground, Alex Jones, Facebook...
This summary was too long, but whatever the concept it proposes is just ludicrous.
I want the voters to prove their eligibility — in addition to being citizens — by the following:
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
... to make people watch an advertisement before writing a comment. Though the sneaky way to do it would be to let people write the comment and then require them to watch the advertisement before they could commit it. But I expect by then. many would have forgotten what the article they were commenting on was about.
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
Just your elementary grammar, math and, perhaps, social studies test (non-biased, stick to the facts and dates only), administered once in a while, would keep all public social media discourse much more civil.
It's not the "fake news" - it's just that loud morons with too much free time and nothing else to do are, well, just that.
Why not make a crossword puzzle? I've got nothing but time on my hand, and there is so little information out there to read. super sarcasm!
I think this is an amazing idea. That being said, I only read the Slashdot summary, not the article, so I guess that makes me a hypocrite.
I want to make a bot that can answer the quiz. My theory is that, once I have done so successfully, it can make more intelligent comments on the article than the average commenter. At that point, I think I have won my own personal turing test.
Next up: A bot that tells you if the news is fake. Has someone already done that? I imagine something like Microsoft's "clippy" popping up in the corner saying "I see that you are reading complete bu11sh*t. Would you like some help posting vitriolic comments?"
I guess it is like here on slashdot.
Nobody RTFA.
The only way this can work with US readers is if the questions are shorter than 140 characters, and the answers were in the readers' twitter feeds within ten minutes of the question being asked.
Also, SQUIRREL!
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
Many have already closed their comment sections.
When I see that, I immediately add the domain to my hosts file. Any form of echo chamber is a bad thing.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
This, this, this, a thousand times this.
+++++++++++insightful
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
There are two official languages; Norwegian and Sami (in certain regions). There are two written standards of Norwegian, none of which are spoken. While only three of the 10 Sami languages (not dialects) are used in Norway officially.
1) "the tech vertical of the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK" - sorry, I guess I'm meme-impaired. WTF is a 'tech vertical'?
2) It might not be politically correct, but I'm just going to say it anyway: the primary reason their discussion was cogent and reasonable probably had everything to do with them all being Norwegian. Not to say that Scandinavians can't be as big of assholes as other people on occasion, but their culture is pretty unique in their level of open-mindedness, consensus, and reasonability generally. I don't care how many quizzes you offer, a similar conversation amongst other cultures wouldn't be likely as constructive as ANY conversation amongst Scandinavians. Even within the US, there are regions where I'd expect the conversation to be more productive (NH/VT/ME) or less so (New Yorkers or San Franciscans)
-Styopa
This should be done everywhere.
Oh, there is. It goes like this:
[ ] Check if you think "interstate" is a synonym for "intrastate"
[ ] Check if you think "unreasonable" means "ignore the rest of this amendment"
[ ] Check if you think "ex post facto" means "pile on punishment at will post-sentencing"
[ ] Check if you think article five says "SCOTUS shall make any amendments it likes"
[ ] Check if you think article three says "article five was just there for humor's sake"
[ ] Check if you think "shall not infringe" means "infringe"
[ ] Check if you think "rights reserved to the people" means "things congress can tell them they can't do"
[ ] Check if you think "speedy and public trial" means "rot in Guantanamo indefinitely"
[ ] Check if you think "inflicting cruel and unusual punishment" means "withholding waterboarding"
[ ] Check if you can keep a straight face while intoning "support and defend the Constitution"
Bonus questions:
[ ] Check if you will take bribes from lobbyists
[ ] Check if you will do what the party "leadership" tells you to
Did you check all the boxes? Congratulations! You have qualified to pass the initial screening process of our two political parties!
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
That bot is already in operation. You can see it in action right here.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
What if I am only replying to someone's post, such as yours?
I surely didn't need to RTFA in order to counter your argument, now, did I?
That was funny. Unfortunately, lately I've been posting every day, so I don't get mod points.
No need for it to be so complicated. Asking "who is the current vice president?" will eliminate the half of US adults who have no interest whatsoever in paying attention to national policy issues. It could certainly be argued that the half who do know his name are better prepared to decide whether or not he should keep his job.
But what do we do when the Captcha-breaking bots start making meaningful and insightful comments?
It won't take advertisers long to pay websites like this to avoid users from using adblocks. A fourth question will be added along the lines of - "what is the monthly rate of AT&T's new unlimited data plan?". Get it wrong?, whoops, looks like you might be using an add blocker or are not focusing on the important message from our sponsor please disable add blockers and re-read the article.
That may be an acceptable replacement for (or an addition to) the second item, but it may get dangerously close to being partisan in itself. For example, some Americans today find it hard to accept Trump/Pence as the Administration — forcing them to spell out the name(s) to a computer could make them unnecessarily uncomfortable.
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
I'd really like to see this apply to levels of government responsibility as well. If you think the federal government is responsible for your parking tickets, or the state governor can declare war, you're not really prepared to make an informed decision.
I can't believe they're doing this! What bullshit!
Oh wait, was there an article I was supposed to read? I don't have time for that! I'm just foaming at the mouth about the headline. Carry on.
Your, you're
Their, there, they're
Have, of
To, too, two
Good luck.
Nonsense.
Good for him. So?
Are you enjoying constructing and embellishing your strawman?
And yet, here you are, doing exactly that. The only question remaining is: have you also written a program?
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
Great idea, and a better one is to make it an attitude and comprehension test. For example:
The Dep't of Ed. received budget cut-backs because:
A) Teachers are paid too much,
B) Teachers want less funding for schools,
C) Children can't vote,
D) Unknown.
Check your local Dep't of Ed. website for the answer. (Hint: Politicians never excuse the de-funding of infrastructure.)
I've written programs, but not programs to build hosts files. I have, however, written an article about the pros and cons of using programs like APK's.
I guess people assume net debt, which would exclude debt that the U.S. government owes itself. So they're probably trying to answer the related question: "Who holds the most U.S. Treasury debt, excluding debt held by another U.S. government agency or by the Federal Reserve System?"
Every ten years, state legislatures and governors have the indirect power to declare war. Here are the steps:
1. Wait for a substantial increase or decrease in the state's population.
2. Redraw House districts in favor of the major political party more likely to declare war.
3. Wait for the new House to take office and pressure the Senate to join the House in declaring war.
The U.S. Republican Party did this in 2010, calling it the Redistricting Majority Project.
It also works on dating sites.
The best equivalent I've seen is in the online game Kingdom of Loathing, where The Ghost of the English Language gives you a grammar quiz before letting you into chat.
This is the exact type of thing you should have to do before you are allowed to vote. You should at least have to answer a few questions about each political party. Such as what are their 3 main platform objectives, etc. Just because you are of legal voting age, doesn't mean you have any clue what you are doing.
Like they, their, they're and the like.
NRKbeta is Norwegian Public Broadcasting's sandbox for technology and new media:
"We advice and build a lot of hardware and software used in NRK productions. Together with our audience we advice and help the NRK utilize new technology to create awesome media. This includes everything from technical innovation in our slow TV-programming to contributing to SKAM’s social strategy."
"NRKbeta is also a blog for NRK’s employees to share a behind the scenes look at new innovation they create – or details about product development, design, you name it. Seriously, odds are we have an interesting story about it."
https://nrkbeta.no/about/
Bridgekeeper: Stop. Who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, ere the other side he see.
Sir Lancelot: Ask me the questions, bridgekeeper. I am not afraid.
Bridgekeeper: What... is your name?
Sir Lancelot: My name is Sir Lancelot of Camelot.
Bridgekeeper: What... is your quest?
Sir Lancelot: To seek the Holy Grail.
Bridgekeeper: What... is your favourite colour?
Sir Lancelot: Blue.
Bridgekeeper: Go on. Off you go.
Sir Lancelot: Oh, thank you. Thank you very much.
My favorite was 4 ago when Florida Spring Break beach goers were asked "Did you vote against Mitt Romney because he is black?" and "Did you vote for Obama because he's Mormon?" They swore they were not racist nor religionist, that they voted because of what Obama stood for. "Like what?" Uhh.
Hey slashdotters, if this shoe fits, then go spend some quality time learning this stuff from quality sources. Now.
That's an argument to repeal the 26th Amendment and allow the states to up the voting age back to where it was before Vietnam War. Back then it was lowered under the questionable argument "Old enough to die, old enough to vote."
However invalid it always has been, that argument is simply moot now that there is no military draft... Of course, the Illiberal kind want the voting age lowered even further — to 16 and even 14.
The truth is, age should not be the deciding factor — as it is a poor indicator of maturity. Pompey celebrated his first triumph before qualifying to sit in the Senate...
With my proposal, we could eliminate it altogether — whoever can do those two things I listed, gets to vote even if they were just born (or, Heaven forfend, aborted).
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Yes, poor terminology on my part. News media. That's what I was thinking of.
Entertainment media. Not a particular concern of mine.
No. News media sites. Although I have said this.
Well, what I use it for is to not bother reading / showing up on any site where I can't put my oar in if I so choose. That's the use I imagine it being put to by others who aren't interested in providing eyes and/or revenue to sites that are effectively echo chambers for the article authors and their publishers, if any.
I'm not concerned with Disqus tracking me. Or really with corporate tracking in general. I'm concerned with sites that refuse to publish, or actively delete, contributory posts that use Disqus, though. For instance, "The Hill" has a history of egregious censorship of this nature, as does "The Rolling Stone." So I don't go to those places any longer.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.