Picking up on my post about how Facebook Comments are benefiting some news sites, others have added valuable thoughts. Mathew Ingram notes that forcing commenters to use real names is a double-edged sword: “Although removing anonymity (or pseudonymity) can remove some of the trolling and flame-wars that consume comment threads, it also risks removing opinions and viewpoints that would never be expressed if the commenter had to put their name on it.”
He also notes Reynolds Journalism Fellow Joy Mayer’s research on engagement, which encourages journalists to get more involved in their own reader comments rather than “outsourcing” the conversation.
In another post, Huffington Post social media editor Mandy Jenkins reminds us that there are ways for Facebook users to operate under fake names and act just as trollish as anyone else, if they are so motivated. She suggests newsrooms still need moderators and whole-staff involvement to maintain good comments.
For more thoughtful feedback, see the comments left on my original story.
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