Unfortunately, a registration system cannot be developed and perfected overnight. It would take a lot of time to get that up and running, and at this juncture, we have already committed time and effort to finishing the projects we've already begun.
If we were to start a registration system, we would want it to be as kink-free as possible to best serve our readership - this means taking the time to do it right, the first time.
We also agreed that there is some benefit to anonymous commenting. People tend to be much more honest with their opinions when their names aren't attached and they aren't afraid of retribution. This tends to benefit the debate process.
The problem comes when these people get offensive with their commentary. Virginia Tech's Principles of Community state that we as a university community will value each person's sense of dignity. It's not up to the editorial staff to determine what is offensive, because we are not in the business of curtailing commentary.
We leave that to the community to flag comments they feel are an abuse of the system. Censorship is not our goal; however, common decency, journalistic integrity, and the Principles of Community dictate that the editorial staff can't let those blatantly libelous or offensive comments that ignore the desire for mutual respect continue to slide. In the end, even with registration there is no way for us to be certain people are who they say they are.
It is important to clarify that the CT is not constantly moderating the comments. We have done that in the past during sensitive breaking news stories, but it is not a 24/7 process. We are still looking to hire a community content editor. Part of this editor's responsibility would be to run through comments that have been flagged as offensive by users and determine whether they should be removed. It's not a glamorous job, but it's a necessary one.
We have yet to fill this position since I last wrote about it. If you're interested in applying, head to collegemedia.com/join.
If you have any suggestions for the most effective way to prevent abuse of the comment system, please e-mail me at publiceditor@collegiatetimes.com.
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I applaud you for your objective and honest evaluation of this seriously sensitive and philosophical issue. On the other hand, please ignore the complaints of those faculty; they sound like the same power-grabbing ones who try to regulate every action of their students in the classroom, and have no place in discussions like this. The value of open discussion, as you've noted, is beyond critical in personal development, and the 'flag' system will work fine if used to 'censor.'
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Anyone who has run a blog knows if you don't want any comments by trolls, flamers, kooks, etc, you might as well shut off all comments. As a moderator you delete blatantly offensive comments, but you can't monitor it all the time. There are "troll" rating systems with only registered users but they are complicated and they discourage debate. Its best not to respond to a troll (difficult I know) since they just want attention. http://www.consumersavvytips.org/avoiding_an_internet_troll.html
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This could be done by only having users with @vt.edu email accounts register and eliminate anonymity, but then non-VT people couldn't add their opinion. Also, anonymity is good for articles discussing issues like marijuana possession penalties. No one would be able to openly admit to smoking pot in their argument if they can't use a pseudonym.
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The principles of community is a non-binding statement to which no member of the campus community, to my knowledge, is required to adhere. Further, the principles of community cannot be binding on people who aren't part of the campus community to begin with. From my standpoint, this is a pretty easy 'if you can't stand the heat' sort of situation. Commenters being rude to you on the forums? Reading postings you consider to be inappropriate? There's a pretty simple solution - just don't read the forums. There is no right to freedom from insult or offense - and while I'd hope that those who comment on these forums would try to do so tastefully, I'm not going to stand in their way if they want to be abusive.
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Take a cue from Gawker: "We're looking for comments that are interesting, substantial or highly amusing. If your comments are excessively self-promotional, obnoxious, or even worse, boring, you will be banned from commenting."
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Not exactly sure what the policy on privacy is, but Id just record the ip address of the commenter (really easy in PHP) and if you keep seeing offensive comments coming up from that IP, ban the IP. It wont solve the problem completely but it will take some of the steam away from people who sit at work or home and troll the comments. Im sure theyll be much less likely to say that stuff when they find that most of the computers they normally use have been banned from posting comments. Again, its not a solution, but its a deterrent.
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No further explanation required. ,
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