A newspaper in Maine is going to set up an "Intense Debate" online moderation system after online comments were violated a few days ago. Damon Kiesow, in an article on Poynter yesterday, states that the Portland Press Herald website has re-enabled comments after they were shut down for a little less than two days. The new comment section will have "newly installed moderation tools," according to the article. Comments were disabled on Tuesday after Richard Connor, publisher of the site, said there were "vile, crude, insensitive, and vicious postings" on the Web site, which affected pressherald.com and the Morning Sentinel and Kennebec Journal sites.

Connor said the idea to shut down comments took "months of careful consideration" and was to protect readers from hurtful and vulgar comments. "We halted commenting for about 24 hours as we made the switch," said Connor to Nieman Journalism Lab. "We believe we will find a system that will correct 80 to 90 percent of the problems that can result from a totally open commenting system which we had." Find out how other publications deal with online comments here.

In a letter on the site by Connor posted Thursday, he said comments would come back when contributors were able to become accountable for what they post. A note on the site's Facebook page says, "The Portland Press Herald has ended a temporary suspension of online commenting." The page also adds that comments will be accepted under a new system and will try to keep readers "on (their) toes" while commenting.

Like competitors Disqus and Echo, Intense Debate will meet a lot of the criteria that Connor talked about in his original memo. The system will include a number of different log-in options, such as Facebook and Twitter. The system also includes advanced moderation tools for the online news staff, like filtering, blocking or deleting comments by keyword, e-mail address or IP address.

The paper has not been clear whether or not it would make users put their real name with comments, but the system allows users for Facebook, but not Twitter, to log-in and make comments on stories. "That would significantly increase the percentage of users commenting on the site using verified identities," adds the article. The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, another publication Connor owns in Pennsylvania, also uses the Intense Debate commenting system.

Kiesow said in the Wednesday article that an online community should be managed and moderators involved with the comments. He also said a "persistent identity" should be applied to users as well as advanced moderation tools used like blacklists and reputation ratings. With the right tools, he said, "the community will often do a reasonable job moderating itself."
Plus, in an article on findingdulcinea.com, different tools for maintaining civil online sites are offered. "Some (sites) don't moderate comments and don't require commenters to register, which often spirals into a free-for-all of low-quality conversation," states the author. Some sites might make users register, but not moderate comments before they are posted. Other sites may use registration and moderate comments, which is the best strategy, according to the article.

Some examples of sites that have efficient systems include Salon.com, the New York Times Web site and Jezebel, a Gawker Media site. Salon.com has reader letters and users need to register in order to leave a letter to respond to an article. Readers can click on a letter of a user to read previous letters. "This strategy creates a transparent system that holds commenters responsible for each comment they make, which may encourage them to back up opinions with facts or risk being maligned," adds the author.

The site of the New York Times moderates all comments before they are posted and users must be registered in order to leave a comment. Comments can also be "recommended" by other users as well. This system encourages thoughtful responses and varying opinions without "tasteless or frivolous chatter."

Jezebel, aimed mostly at a female audience, posts a "Reader Roundup" each day of the best comments. Good comments include insight, additional information and reason disagreement, states the article. Users also have 15 seconds to edit a comment they wrote before it goes up on the Web site.

What is the best way to moderate online comments, while maintaining the readers' right to express themselves?

Sources: Poynter (1), Poynter (2), findingdulcinea.com
Image: findingdulcinea.com