jclark: blog 
jclark's blog
some ideas about comments
Published Jan. 22, 2008
I appreciate a lot of the suggestions people have submitted as possible ways to curtail the abusive and disrespectful posts. We’re looking at all of them, and I wanted share with you some that we’ve thought about in the past to verify the identity of posters. This would give us the ability to prevent people from abusing their posting privileges over and over. Using an email address just doesn’t work. I’d love any feedback you care to offer about these or any other suggestions.
Requiring a phone call to verify registration. We’d have to figure out a fast, reliable way to call people back and make sure it is that specific person. My biggest concern there is the time limitation. How long would you wait to get a confirmation call and who would be making that call. This is cumbersome and not instantaneous.
Credit Card Address Verification. No, this is not suggesting you have to pay to post – this is a way to instantly verify you are who you say you are. We can verify your name and address and can keep repeat offenders from posting again under different names. Again, there is no charge to this – only verification. However, not everyone has a credit card, and not everyone is comfortable sharing it. I totally understand that.
Text Message Confirmation to a Cell Phone: (I must admit that this one is on the top of my possibilities list.) You must have a valid cell phone number that we send a confirmation message to. Same deal as above except with a cell phone number. If you get booted, then you can’t come back, until you present another cell phone number. Of course, not everyone has a cell phone or one capable of receiving text messages.
Post Card Confirmation to Home Address: When you sign up, you provide a home address, and we’d mail you a post card with a confirmation number on it. When you get the post card, you enter in the code on our site to verify your identity. The catch here is that it would take a couple of days to get the code and be verified.
The catch to this is how could we use any of these ideas. One possibility is letting anyone who can confirm they are who they say they are post comments without going through moderation, 24/7. Of course, you’d have to abide by the rules – and your comments are still subject to review, but they don’t go through the moderator first. If you don’t provide confirmation, you have to go through a moderator. On that same note, if you get booted, you’ll have a much more difficult time trying to get back on the board.
What do you think about these ideas – or any others?
close57 Comments
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GOLO member since July 19, 2007
May 13, 2008 1:04 p.m.
When one gets out of hand to that extent, we do not need their comment anyway.
January 27, 2008 3:54 p.m.
January 26, 2008 6:40 p.m.
GOLO member since September 7, 2007
January 25, 2008 10:53 a.m.
I think the simplest solution would be to have members block specific ID's from commenting on their profiles and Blogs. The News comments are already moderated, so I suppose that is a step to help keep trollers away there...I know it wasn't a popular decision, but its not one that bothers me...
If someone truly becomes a 'problem' for WRAL there's always IP blocking...of course, theres ways around it for those who care to be THAT persistent- but no plan is fool proof.
GOLO member since September 7, 2007
January 25, 2008 10:51 a.m.
Imyourhuckleberry~actually not so absurb, that's precisely why I do not post often but I don't contact WRAL to complain either. Another poster pointed out that some of us recognize those posters who like to bait and steer clear of responding and also steer clear of stories that we know will be volatile. I am one of those. People have their opinions and I respect that but I don't have to read it either. I am frustrated sometimes about having to scroll through posts that I am not interested in putting into my brain, but then again, that's the price for a public forum. Another poster mentioned pulling profiles that are not in use. I can see this if there really is no activity, but quite frankly, mine doesn't have a lot of activity because I don't engage that often here. I'd hate for my profile to be pulled just because I'm not as active.
January 25, 2008 9:08 a.m.
GOLO member since September 11, 2007
January 24, 2008 11:01 p.m.
January 24, 2008 8:16 p.m.
I'll never give golo my credit card information, and the text message thing could just never work because it is exclusive. Nor would I like golo to have my phone number either. I don't remember what information I had to offer up when I signed up, but I don't want you with my living address either! This is an anonymous community forum. There's NO NEED for any of the things you've suggested. That's my opinion.
GOLO member since September 20, 2007
January 24, 2008 2:23 p.m.
January 24, 2008 7:03 a.m.
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