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Filtering commentsFiltering commentsPosted Nov 20, 2004 0:09 UTC (Sat) by corbet (editor, #1)In reply to: RFC: Proposed comment policy change by moore Parent article: RFC: Proposed comment policy change Filtering is certainly a possible alternative. It has a few downsides:
Still, filtering could be the right answer. It certainly has not been ruled out entirely.
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Filtering comments Posted Nov 20, 2004 0:29 UTC (Sat) by lutchann (subscriber, #8872) [Link] I would much prefer that nothing be done than prevent non-subscribers from posting. To me, much of the value of LWN comes from the excellent comments posted by many paying and non-paying readers, and censoring a portion of comments just to improve the already-impressive SNR would be do more harm than good.
Filtering comments Posted Nov 20, 2004 10:07 UTC (Sat) by mdekkers (guest, #85) [Link] I too would hate to see non-subscriber comments go the way of the dodo. This approach is very, very, heavy handed - especially in the light of the amount of really bad posts we have had here (almost none).
I would much prefer an "abuse" button attached to non-subscribers' posts, where the really bad posts can be flagged up, looked at by the editors, and hidden if so required. But who is to say what comments are acceptable, and what comments are not? Who decides what opinions are palatable?
However, any form of censorship abhors me. It is not technological measures or "exclusive voices" that are responsible for the quality of LWN, it is the quality of the editorials, articles and news that draw me here. If LWN is going to start censorship on one level (non-subscribers), the next level would surely be to edit out those that do not conform to "groupthink". Censorship is wrong.
Yes, some of the comments that have attracted or fanned this discussion have been outright trolls, but I personally do believe that some (most?) have simply been strong opinions voiced in a unfortunate manner, or opinions from people who truly do not "get" it. In all of those cases I have been surprised and dissapointed in the reactions of the (mainly) subscribers - rather then educate, or attempt to discuss the merits or lack of merits of a particular point of view, there is condemnation and mock outrage. In my mind, in many cases (although not all) it was the quality of the responses that gave the discussions in questions a "slashdot" feel, not the original comment.
If this is going to turn into a community where dissenting voices are not allowed, I would no longer be interested in partaking in that community. If censorship (especially censorship based on "are you a paid up member of our little club" criteria) finds its way to LWN, I will probably just let my LWN subscription lapse, and will no longer visit, as much as it would pain me to do so. At the end of the day, if I were a troll, I would happily plonk down a few bucks just to annoy those overly sensitive souls who cannot bear to see someone saying something they do not agree with.
Filtering comments Posted Nov 20, 2004 23:17 UTC (Sat) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link] I too would hate to see non-subscriber comments go the way of the dodo. This approach is very, very, heavy handed - especially in the light of the amount of really bad posts we have had here (almost none).As one of those who complained about the recent post, I agree. Further, I can't see what would stop a determined troll becoming a subscriber in order to troll. There's currently a strong correlation between trolls and non-subscribers, but I think that stopping non-subscribers from posting will eventually just make the trolls subscribe; so in the end it'll only cut off intermittent visitors, who might still have good points to make.
Filtering comments Posted Nov 20, 2004 0:38 UTC (Sat) by davidm (subscriber, #35) [Link] Jonathan,
It would be interesting in a couple of weeks to tally up the comments for and against and also tally up subscribers vs non-subscribers and how that counted out.
I'm guessing here but I'd expect that all non-subscriber posts will be against allowing subscriber only posting, and a mix of responses from the subscribers in about a 3 to 1 ratio favoring subscribers only posting.
Cheers
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