Mathew's comments - Latest Comments in Comments: Messy and flawed, but valuable

Re: Comments: Messy and flawed, but valuable

andy_at_whyhire_me99 — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:40:50 -0000

HI Mathew.

I have come to conclude that comment threads created, read, dugg up or down are in themselves valuable if one can somehow harness all that data and make meaningful information out of it. An example. If the sum of my comments around the subject of Bonsai are dugg, voted up, piled-on all across my posts across the Internet, then perhaps I become the recognized expert on Bonsai pruning...next thing you know, someone looking to hire top talent in the field of Bonsai care is going to find me. The challenge, how to harness all that data across tens, hundreds, thousands of comment threads and disparate ways of counting and measuring the data?

Disclaimer - I am no expert in Bonsai care...only in my green dreams. And, I did not notice Cameron's Blog handle before I dreamed up the Bonsai reference...love the irony.

Andy

Re: Comments: Messy and flawed, but valuable

Kyle Howard — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 19:25:48 -0000

On a blog, comments are essential. Its all about community building. I think it would be nice to have some kind of mechanism so that comments can be rated by others. The best comments would rise to the top, while flaming and spam would eventually "fall off" the bottom of the list. Would reduce the need for moderation as well.

Re: Comments: Messy and flawed, but valuable

Cameron — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 15:57:54 -0000

With a data analysis background, I am of the opinion that the next step is going to be text mining of the comments to extract valuable information. As commenting grows in popularity, humans will be unable to manage the data -- as we're already seeing when comments grow to high counts. What will we do with the data?

Open-ended questions are difficult to analyze. Comments are open-ended. Providing "votes" or "ratings" can turn into a popularity contest, even with defined categories.

I predict that as commenting grows in popularity, it will lose any importance as there will be no one to read, and react to, those comments...unless, there is a way to mine useful information from those comments.

Cameron
Defining Your Home Garden (blog)

Re: Comments: Messy and flawed, but valuable

mathewi — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:02:15 -0000

Thanks, Mark.

Re: Comments: Messy and flawed, but valuable

MarkDykeman — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:41:11 -0000

Comments are an incredible opportunity for engagement that the blog reading generation comes to expect. Good on you for working with it.

Re: Comments: Messy and flawed, but valuable

mathewi — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:32:06 -0000

I couldn't agree more, Daniel. Thanks for the link to Markus's post.

Re: Comments: Messy and flawed, but valuable

bluelines — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:21:06 -0000

Markus Frind wrote something interesting on his blog yesterday, about the value of NOT asking your users for feedback and suggestions. Not directly related to your piece, but in the same realm of the whole role-of-community debate.

What I do think is needed is a bit more honesty and respect on both sides. Those who are calling for the death of old media need to acknowledge how valuable real journalism can be; and those who are terrified of old media's struggle with the new need to do a bit more embracing.

Re: Comments: Messy and flawed, but valuable

mathewi — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:50:35 -0000

Thanks a lot for pointing that out, Darren -- some great food for thought in there, and in some of the other places that the Tyee points to that have been struggling with the same things, like the Washington Post and Slate.

Re: Comments: Messy and flawed, but valuable

dbarefoot — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:39:32 -0000

The Tyee confronted the comment issue last year and redesigned their system. It might be worth looking at. Here's what they wrote at the time:

http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2007/05/15/TalkOnl...

And here's what I thought:

http://bit.ly/T4Ms

Re: Comments: Messy and flawed, but valuable

mathewi — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:52:43 -0000

Thanks, Melany. At last, someone who agrees with me :-) That is exactly what I see as the primary benefit of comments -- exposure to people who either think differently or are directly impacted by a story, as well as the opportunity to let those comments enhance future stories on the topic.

Re: Comments: Messy and flawed, but valuable

Melany Gallant — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:20:31 -0000

I like the ability to leave comments on a news story and to hear the perspectives from other readers - whether I agree with their views or not. If anything it broadens the context of the news story by allowing readers to share how the story impacts them. Who knows, those comments might even spark a follow-up story, which of course your paper would know is relevant and timely because the idea for it comes directly from your community of readers.

I think it's a good idea and also a fair request to invite your community to help monitor those comments that cross the line. In this way, the community self-regulates and that helps to keep the discussion vibrant and on point.