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The editors

 

FAQs -- see commenting guidelines below

I haven’t been updating this blog as much as I said I would, and apologize. The good news is that commenting guidelines have remained prominent, which is good as we still have a lot of users violating those guidelines.

 Today I’ll answer a few commonly asked questions:

 Why is commenting sometimes disabled on stories at the time they are posted?

 There are two reasons for this. One, there might be a legal issue that makes commenting inappropriate, such in a case where a trial or legal proceeding is pending and might be impacted by user comments. (Alleging criminal action where none has been proven is an example.) Two, there are certain types of stories we know will attract comments that violate guidelines, and sometimes act proactively to close commenting. We prefer not to do that, but do it from time to time.

 Are comments moderated?

 Technically, they are posted before moderation. But all comments are reviewed after they are posted, and we remove comments that violate stated guidelines. Given the growth in users commenting, we sometimes fall behind, but do react as quickly as possible, and delete comments where appropriate. We do not inform commenters when a comment has been deleted.

 Why do we allow trolls?

 We don’t, but there are a few that keep cropping up with alternate identities, and using other technology tricks to hang around. It’s best not to engage trolls, but simply report them by emailing me (helliott@thespec.com).

 Why can’t I vote to agree or disagree?

 You can, but you need to refresh the page in order to see your vote added to the total. There is some sort of issue with the commenting platform causing this problem, and our digital division is working on it.

 Why are there so many stories about Justin Bieber?

 Because traffic measurement tells us they’re popular. We don’t always use traditional news judgment to decide what goes on the page, or where it goes. Sometimes we let user popularity be the driver, which means that sometimes pop culture stories get prominent placement. The online product is not the same as the print product, and different rules and standards sometimes apply.

 

 

 

Commenting Guidelines -- please read before you post

• We reserve the right to review, edit and delete any comment at any time.
• Commenters must avoid personal attacks, and stick to debating issues and ideas
• Comments that are threatening, defamatory in our judgment, obscene, contain hateful comments or degrade others in any way will be deleted, and the users will be as well
• Comments should not be repeated or posted in more than one string
• Commenters who post links to other content may find those links deleted. (This happened recently when we learned that links being posted to another site were exposing users to malware)
• There is a length restriction on comments, which we may change in future. For now, comments are limited to about 21 lines in the comment box, which translates to about 11 lines in the comment stream
• Commenters must not copy material from other sources, except in brief quotes, without the source being acknowledged
• The offensive button is only to be used for comments that clearly violate the guidelines, not to express disagreement.
• Users who are found to be abusing the offensive function will be deleted

Drop in, and have your say

This is an experiment we're launching in response the high demand for information about thespec.com, why we do what we do and our philosophy. It's also a place to bring problems to our attention, where you'll know they are being noticed and acted upon. And you can leave your suggestions here as well.I will try to update and respond to issues as they come up, but that might not be immediate based on the demand and my other responsibilities. And so, we begin.

-- Some users didn't see our commenting guidelines posted prominently a few days back. I'll post them here in a separate entry and re-post from time to time as people need reminding.

-- Others wonder why we delete comments and users. Read the guidelines to understand that.

-- Some users who have been deleted for swearing complain they were not swearing because they used ### or *** or xx or -- to break up their vulgarity. That doesn't work. Just avoid swearing save the occasional hell and damn and we won't have a problem. Hiding behind ## doesn't cut it.

-- The problems we've been having trying to clean up commenting are not unique. The editor of one paper wrote this recently:

'Like many newspapers, we had high hopes when we first allowed readers to comment on stories on our website.

We introduced the feature three years ago. At the time, I wrote about the potential. Never in our community’s history had people of different backgrounds, beliefs and interests been able to have these kinds of conversations about developments and issues.

It hasn’t worked out as well as we hoped.

Yes, the comments are popular. We get about 10,000 a month. And yes, they bring traffic to gazettextra.com and allow people to interact. We tally about 4 million pageviews a month on our site, and many are related to comments.

The nastiness, however, is too much.

We’re not the only newspaper struggling with the issue. Papers around the country are assessing comments and implementing or looking for ways to make conversations on their websites more civil.

Starting today, the Gazette is taking a step that we hope will at least partly address the issue. It won’t solve the problems, but we think it will cut down on the ugliness.

We no longer allow comments on stories that involve crimes, courts, accidents, race or sex.

We and other papers identified those topics as the most troublesome. The comments typically start out OK, but they deteriorate into insults, innuendo or otherwise offensive remarks.

Those of us who monitor conversations on gazettextra have found ourselves consistently removing comments from such discussions and ultimately disabling threads. People simply can’t or won’t behave.'

Here's a link to the full story:

http://gazettextra.com/weblogs/editor/2010/nov/07/comments-eliminated-on-some-types-of-stories/

We are not planning anything like this at this time, but it does demonstrate how serious commenting problems can become if not managed appropriately.

Thanks for looking in. Check back again, and leave a comment if you're so inclined.

 

Stadium debate centre stage again

The Hamilton Tiger-Cat plan to develop a hotel and commercial complex adjacent to the Longwood stadium site has re-ignited the debate. The project is still more than $50 million short. Councillor Sam Merulla will introduce a motion to scrap the plan as unaffordable and go back to the Ivor Wynne option, upgrading the stadium for about $20 million over several years. Others see the new stadium plan as an economic boost for a city that needs one. What do you think?

Galloway's Mac visit

Campus tensions are surfacing around ex-British MP George Galloway's upcoming visit to McMaster University this month.

Judy Schwartz, the director of the McMaster Jewish Students Association, said the campus group respects Galloway's right to his opinion and believes in the freedom of speech, but found it “hard to consider that any group with a conscience and who desire peace would want to have the presence of a gadfly radical like Galloway at McMaster, which degrades the university and diminishes its value.”

“By extending an invitation to this individual, the sponsoring groups only reveal their true intentions — not real dialogue or sharing of information or educating people, but only to demonize Israel and to intimidate Israel's many supporters on campus,” Schwartz said.

Galloway was banned from entering Canada last year because of his financial support to Palestinian group Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by Ottawa. But a Federal Court ruling was critical of the government and immigration officials eventually let Galloway into the country.

The former Labour member of Parliament, who is an outspoken supporter of the Palestinians in the Middle East conflict and a critic of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, is visiting 10 cities on his Canadian tour this month.

Campus groups Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), Students Resisting War and Occupation (SRWO), Independent Jewish Voices and Students for Social Justice, along with the Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War (HCSW), have come together to bring Galloway to the campus in what they are calling an educational opportunity.

Organizers are expecting about 600 people to attend the Nov. 21 event.

What do you think?

Vigilante validation?

David Chen, the Toronto grocer who was arrested after chasing down and apprehending a shoplifter last year, walked out of court a free man after charges were dropped against him Friday.

The case became a cause célèbre across the country, with many hailing Chen as a hero for taking the law into his own hands against a serial shoplifter when police wouldn’t respond. Some argue the decision supports vigilante behaviour, while others say his actions were justified even if illegal. What do you think?

Re-opening the stadium site debate

Newly-elected Hamilton mayor Bob Bratina wants to revisit stadium locations, putting Confederation Park on the table. Pan Am Games organizers say it's too late for that, and it would trigger an alternate city being considered. What do you think?

How was your voting experience?

Was it easy to vote? Was there a lineup and a wait? Was your polling station efficiently managed? Share your experience with  other voters. Who you voted for is your business, but feel free to share that, too, if you like.

Jobs, taxes, poverty

Almost four in ten Hamilton voters are focused on money, whether it’s property taxes, the economy, or jobs.

A Spectator/Nanos poll found that 37 per cent of the 1,000 voters polled picked those issues when they were asked an open-ended question about Hamilton’s challenges. Infrastructure (9.2 per cent), leadership (7.4 per cent), the Pan Am stadium (6.2 per cent), poverty (4.2 per cent) and downtown development (4.2 per cent) were also identified as top issues.

Do you agree? Why or why not?