« Walrus | Main | Corporate blogging: threat or menace? » Dan Gillmor on Washington Post CommentsDan Gillmor's been posting about the Washington Post's removal of comments capabiltiy from its blog. In his latest on the subject, Dan says that the Post failed to set up its comment system with sufficient due diligence. They allowed freeform comments without authentication/accountability, as noted in a comment from a reader at the Center for Citizen Media blog. My own comment: High volume comment sites, just like sites with forums, inevitably need some form of moderation or monitoring, but that need is mitigated somewhat by an authentication requirement. The need's still there, though, and often overlooked. My guess is that the Post didn't budget for comment moderation and didn't know where to find skilled moderators, so they backed off. An authentication requirement and 8 hrs/day of moderation, along with a real commitment to interactivity, would solve their problem. jon posted this at 8:49 AM |
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