Ryan Sholin » moderation http://ryansholin.com The future of news. And more. No funny stuff. Thu, 24 May 2012 18:54:43 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 2006-2007 ryansholin@gmail.com (Ryan Sholin) ryansholin@gmail.com (Ryan Sholin) http://www.ryansholin.com/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpg Ryan Sholin http://ryansholin.com 144 144 Ryan Sholin on the future of newspapers, online news and journalism education. Ryan Sholin Ryan Sholin ryansholin@gmail.com no no “Cleaning up the comment cesspool” http://ryansholin.com/2011/05/13/cleaning-up-the-comment-cesspool/ http://ryansholin.com/2011/05/13/cleaning-up-the-comment-cesspool/#comments Fri, 13 May 2011 10:53:16 +0000 Ryan Sholin http://ryansholin.com/?p=8020 Cleaning up the comment cesspool: Ventura County Star editor Joe Howry has penned what is either the most eloquent column a newspaper has ever published on the problem of comment threads and trolls — or the most cliché-laden — or possibly, both.

If you can get past that, it’s an interesting approach they’re taking: They know how to keep a comment thread interesting and useful, but they only have the resources to do it on a few stories a day.

(via Jack Lail)

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]]> http://ryansholin.com/2011/05/13/cleaning-up-the-comment-cesspool/feed/ 0 Gizmodo’s Comment System: How It Works and Why It’s Better http://ryansholin.com/2010/02/03/gizmodos-comment-system-how-it-works-and-why-its-better/ http://ryansholin.com/2010/02/03/gizmodos-comment-system-how-it-works-and-why-its-better/#comments Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:45:25 +0000 Ryan Sholin http://ryansholin.com/2010/02/03/gizmodos-comment-system-how-it-works-and-why-its-better/ A great explanation of how comments work on Gawker blogs, powered by karma, Facebook Connect, and heavy moderation of new commenters before they’re set free on threads.

Gizmodo’s Comment System: How It Works and Why It’s Better

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]]> http://ryansholin.com/2010/02/03/gizmodos-comment-system-how-it-works-and-why-its-better/feed/ 0 6 tips for comments on stories and j-blogs – Teaching Online Journalism http://ryansholin.com/2008/02/18/6-tips-for-comments-on-stories-and-j-blogs-teaching-online-journalism/ http://ryansholin.com/2008/02/18/6-tips-for-comments-on-stories-and-j-blogs-teaching-online-journalism/#comments Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:34:56 +0000 Ryan Sholin http://ryansholin.com/2008/02/18/6-tips-for-comments-on-stories-and-j-blogs-teaching-online-journalism/ These are great basic guidelines for comments on news sites: registration + e-mail confirmation on first comment + pool rules.

6 tips for comments on stories and j-blogs – Teaching Online Journalism

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]]> http://ryansholin.com/2008/02/18/6-tips-for-comments-on-stories-and-j-blogs-teaching-online-journalism/feed/ 0 Who’s your community site manager in the newsroom? http://ryansholin.com/2007/10/10/whos-your-community-site-manager-in-the-newsroom/ http://ryansholin.com/2007/10/10/whos-your-community-site-manager-in-the-newsroom/#comments Wed, 10 Oct 2007 14:49:54 +0000 Ryan Sholin http://www.ryansholin.com/2007/10/10/whos-your-community-site-manager-in-the-newsroom/ Questions I have coming out of the first session:

  • For newspapers with community sites, like Bakersfield and Raleigh, who is the go-to person in your newsroom for managing threads, policing comments, and general cheerleading for the site? Do you have a dedicated position leading it or is it rolled into other Web roles?
  • Is cloud-seeding on these sites only necessary in the early days of the site, before the crowd starts to manage itself, or is encouragement, seeding, and moderation from the newsroom an ongoing task?

A quick informal poll:  Who handles your community site, and is it an every-single-day job or just an occasional role?

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]]> http://ryansholin.com/2007/10/10/whos-your-community-site-manager-in-the-newsroom/feed/ 1 Why journalists make ideal online community leaders – Online Journalism Review http://ryansholin.com/2007/09/29/why-journalists-make-ideal-online-community-leaders-online-journalism-review/ http://ryansholin.com/2007/09/29/why-journalists-make-ideal-online-community-leaders-online-journalism-review/#comments Sat, 29 Sep 2007 16:11:34 +0000 Ryan Sholin http://ryansholin.com/2007/09/29/why-journalists-make-ideal-online-community-leaders-online-journalism-review/ “There’s no need for professional reporters to fear user-generated content. Someone needs to lead the Web’s content communities, and journalists make the ideal candidates.”

Why journalists make ideal online community leaders – Online Journalism Review

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]]> http://ryansholin.com/2007/09/29/why-journalists-make-ideal-online-community-leaders-online-journalism-review/feed/ 0 Photo of lynching posted on TH site – Dubuque Telegraph Herald http://ryansholin.com/2007/08/30/photo-of-lynching-posted-on-th-site-dubuque-telegraph-herald/ http://ryansholin.com/2007/08/30/photo-of-lynching-posted-on-th-site-dubuque-telegraph-herald/#comments Thu, 30 Aug 2007 20:05:15 +0000 Ryan Sholin http://ryansholin.com/2007/08/30/photo-of-lynching-posted-on-th-site-dubuque-telegraph-herald/ A complicated problem with a simple solution: No html allowed in comments. Or use a system that has some granularity to it so you can allow tags but not tags.

Photo of lynching posted on TH site – Dubuque Telegraph Herald

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]]> http://ryansholin.com/2007/08/30/photo-of-lynching-posted-on-th-site-dubuque-telegraph-herald/feed/ 0 Assessing Legal Risks and Guidelines for User Comments – Poynter Online http://ryansholin.com/2007/05/31/assessing-legal-risks-and-guidelines-for-user-comments-poynter-online/ http://ryansholin.com/2007/05/31/assessing-legal-risks-and-guidelines-for-user-comments-poynter-online/#comments Thu, 31 May 2007 20:36:40 +0000 Ryan Sholin http://ryansholin.com/2007/05/31/assessing-legal-risks-and-guidelines-for-user-comments-poynter-online/ Real live lawyers! Talking about libel and defamation issues in online comments! Yay!

Assessing Legal Risks and Guidelines for User Comments – Poynter Online

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]]> http://ryansholin.com/2007/05/31/assessing-legal-risks-and-guidelines-for-user-comments-poynter-online/feed/ 0 Crowd wisdom, some assembly required http://ryansholin.com/2007/05/27/crowd-wisdom-some-assembly-required/ http://ryansholin.com/2007/05/27/crowd-wisdom-some-assembly-required/#comments Sun, 27 May 2007 22:35:35 +0000 Ryan Sholin http://www.ryansholin.com/2007/05/27/crowd-wisdom-some-assembly-required/ Scott Karp points out the difficulty in waiting for the monkeys to write Shakespeare and Ian King reminds us all that free content requires filtering that costs time and money.

Both are talking about the NYT bit on Heinz’s ketchup-stained UGC ad ploy.

Which brings me to the point: User-generated advertising content should be amateurish. That’s the whole idea. You’re trying to appeal to an audience that prefers YouTube to slick production values. They’re looking for people who look and act (and are lit) like themselves. That’s pretty basic stuff, I thought.

Now let me put on my news hat: User-generated news content must be edited. (Damn, I just felt my workload increase.)

Seriously, it’s all well and good to aggregate the YourTownNameHere Flickr tag on a community site, but you’re going to need to keep an eye on it, depending on your audience and how much they like your publication.

If we’re talking about crowdsourcing the news, then, yes, the wisdom of the crowd is fully in play.

But if you put out a call for comment and get 100 replies and 4 of them lead to sources, congratulations, you’ve done well, because it’s not the 96 people with an opinion that are going to make your story, it’s the 4 with a personal experience to share. Find them. Give them places to talk to you and give them places to talk with each other.

The Ian King post closes with this:

“Don’t tap the wisdom of the crowd; it doesn’t exist per se. Find the wise people in the crowd, and tap into them.”

I’d expand that: Tap into the crowd of 100 to find the 4 wise people and then do it again and again with every story. Pretty soon you’ll find yourself with a field of community leaders to do some of that UGC filtering for you. (Ah, now I feel my workload going back down a notch.)

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]]> http://ryansholin.com/2007/05/27/crowd-wisdom-some-assembly-required/feed/ 6 Rebecca Dube’s advice to our readers – globeandmail.com http://ryansholin.com/2007/02/15/rebecca-dubes-advice-to-our-readers-globeandmail-com/ http://ryansholin.com/2007/02/15/rebecca-dubes-advice-to-our-readers-globeandmail-com/#comments Thu, 15 Feb 2007 15:48:08 +0000 Ryan Sholin http://ryansholin.com/2007/02/15/rebecca-dubes-advice-to-our-readers-globeandmail-com/ The online discussion moderator at a Toronto newspaper offers readers a few guidelines for making their voices heard in comments, chats, and forums. Note: Not a single reader has left a comment on this story yet. Maybe they all agree with her?

Rebecca Dube’s advice to our readers – globeandmail.com

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]]> http://ryansholin.com/2007/02/15/rebecca-dubes-advice-to-our-readers-globeandmail-com/feed/ 0 Newspaper sites criticized for publishing inappropriate comments – CyberJournalist.net – Online News Association – Citizen Media Monitor http://ryansholin.com/2007/01/08/newspaper-sites-criticized-for-publishing-inappropriate-comments-cyberjournalist-net-online-news-association-citizen-media-monitor/ http://ryansholin.com/2007/01/08/newspaper-sites-criticized-for-publishing-inappropriate-comments-cyberjournalist-net-online-news-association-citizen-media-monitor/#comments Mon, 08 Jan 2007 15:03:03 +0000 Ryan Sholin http://ryansholin.com/2007/01/08/newspaper-sites-criticized-for-publishing-inappropriate-comments-cyberjournalist-net-online-news-association-citizen-media-monitor/ Notes on comment and forum moderation, through the lens of issues at the Sun-Sentinel as tweaked on by the New Times.

Newspaper sites criticized for publishing inappropriate comments – CyberJournalist.net – Online News Association – Citizen Media Monitor

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]]> http://ryansholin.com/2007/01/08/newspaper-sites-criticized-for-publishing-inappropriate-comments-cyberjournalist-net-online-news-association-citizen-media-monitor/feed/ 0