Anonymity, Community, & Membership
When we started Buffalo Rising Online, we didn't know as many people would visit to participate in and monitor the conversation among readers as did to read posts. And while it has been incredible to watch that community grow and read the often compelling and thought-provoking dialogue, some issues have arisen that we’ve struggled to deal with and have, quite frankly, sometimes handled less than gracefully.
And the problems have arisen largely as a result of the double-edged sword of anonymity. People feel freer to share what they’re thinking if they’re sitting in front of a computer screen than they do face-to-face. And it’s precisely because of that disinhibition, that freedom from ramification or consequence coupled with anonymity that often causes havoc and lessens the quality of the experience for others.
We’ve come up with a solution we wanted to share--something we’re currently putting into code for the next version of BRO which will launch next month.
While preserving users’ ability to have online personas and identities, we want to encourage people to build reputations so their identities become something of value they want to protect. And we want to discourage inappropriate and negative behavior.
In order to ensure a higher caliber of participation, we’re instituting site membership. It’s a way to make sure people who participate are genuinely invested in higher quality discussion and it’s a way for us to extend to those users some pretty cool benefits. Membership should and will have its privileges.
More on the privileges a little closer to launch, but I can tell you that members will have the ability to shape and direct discussion. Members will also be able to socialize online and communicate with each other in ways unavailable to non-members.
This is a fundamental change. And we make it completely aware that some of the current contributors to the site will not be comfortable becoming members. But there are some things we’d like you to know.
- While all features tied to participation, contribution and sharing will only be available to members, content will be available to everyone.
- Members won’t have to provide their real names.
- Member email addresses will never be published or shared, even with administrators of the site. They will be anonymized and known only by the system in much the same way credit card numbers are protected on commerce sites like Amazon and eBay.
- We’ll never use member’s email addresses for marketing purposes—only to pass on information about activity on the site they’ve specifically requested.
- We’ve made registration short and attached some pretty cool features that make it useful and fun.
We know membership won’t stop people committed to disrupting dialogue (though we’ve come up with some pretty effective ways to mitigate their impact). But it will connect our community to real people, and those people to their actions.
But our goal is not just to limit the negative disinhibitory effects of online behavior by creating a difference between anonymous visitors and recognized community members (though we do fundamentally believe that folks invested in a community through membership are less likely to abuse the community). There’s a rich set of tools and features we’ve baked into the next release of the site that require the system knows who you are.
And we can't wait to share them with you.
Figmo,
Excellent idea and I applaud the concept of initiating this procedure; though, I am not aware of any real hostility being published on this site.
I have noticed that when individuals feel passionate enough about a certain topic, tempers may flare but it is a well-written person who can express their passions in writing without the use of profanities.
However, there is always the one “smartass” who feels compelled to point-out a grammatical error or poor use of syntax but I pass that off as constructive criticism.
As for myself, I normally sign-in with my full name and do not write anything that I would not say in public.
Being raised in an Irish family; I have had enough of hypocrisy in my life and I do not practice this affliction and I have zero tolerance for those that hold this trait “near and dear to their hearts.”
Sounds fair enough to me...
GREAT idea!
...and I think I'm gonna go celebrate at Pangaea!
it would be great if we could have some sort of index of our own comments so we could quick link to them to see if people have replied or at least as a personal bookmark to know to read from, especially on those thread with 30+ posts I often can not make it through them in one sitting.
Great Idea! I was hoping this was something that would happen
Sounds good to me, but like Mark, I'm not aware of much nastiness on this site. You should see some of the other blogs I read!!!!!
This is a good move, and I think you will get the desired results, with a stronger online community, and a touch of accountability. I just hope that you build in a spell check somewhere... I'm sooo looking forward to seeing the new site you guys have cooking behind the scenes!
Supported!
Very occasionally posts seemed more aimed at getting people up in arms than intended to impart useful information or air out a topic in a thoughtful manner. This seemed the case with the most recent Gates Circle post. As many commenters pointed out, what's the point--there isn't even a proposal or rendering available.
This would be something to watch out for as well, though it is rare.
To promote a higher quality discussion, all the facts should be present.
I like the membership idea.
Will the new updated site have a sports tab? (wink wink)
We need more views that don't come from the News and WGR. Uggh I can't stand it anymore.
Great idea and glad to see it coming to fruition. I think in order to take BRO to the next level in dialogue and discussion, this is imperative. Thanks for the heads-up and for bringing about these changes!
Sports Tab? C'mon! Get that BR Gear tab active!
Anyway for members or others to know the geography of the conversation? Urban/sub-urban...Eastside/Westside...pat/ex-pat etc...?
liz, I think BRO certainly doesn't shy away from discussing controversial topics like the Gates Circle development. But I'm really glad they're raising the issue since the NIMBYs are already circulating petitions. I'm glad for places like BRO because now good ideas and plans that many people support can't be stalled or buried in some closed-door meeting at the Buffalo Club.
Great idea. These efforts will lead to a trusted and enriching community experience. Reputation management will be valued and important to those that are truly adding value to this community and discussion.
I can't wait to see the new capabilities offered to members.
One question - will non-members still be able to post comments?
All In... Also, like the idea of sports tab and BR Gear (working) tab.
- One thing... People will feel more or less strongly on various issues and they will desire to express these emotions. Given that, people also come from varied backgrounds wherein words or phrases that are common place may be questionable to others. Certainly rule out pure vulgarity, but please, let passion intertwined with intellect rule the day. P.S. I'm a big fan of WNY, and I love this site!
Figmo:
When you say "site membership? are you referring to a paid membership?
I'm frankly surprised that registration wasn't in effect from day one. This is the norm for news/discussion from /. to fark. (If you have to ask, don't bother.)
Any chance of user-specific RSS, a la youtube & flickr? I imagine some readers might like to know when, say, BfloFan has something to say...
Rather than (or in addition to) user-specific RSS feeds, I'd like to see individual article comment RSS feeds. They make it far easier to check for new comments on just the posts you're interested in. Otherwise, I rarely come back to read the comments.
I think it's a good idea. I'm actually surprised at how nice people have been so far.
Mike, no. Content and access will always be free.
And Derek, yes you will be able to track the contributions of specific users, authors, categories, etc. in some pretty cool and useful ways.
Do I smell a forum in the works? *rubs hands excitedly*
These sounds like great changes. I am looking forward.
Endless, obsessive, non-stop sports talk: So. Old. Buffalo.
Please, no sports tab. It seems like every other Buffalo-related discussion site out there is filled to the rafters with talk der about dem der Bills der, dontcha' know der gutdemmet. What next? Comparison of Friday fish frys in Yum? Women with feathered hair modeling Zubaz and 97 Rock t-shirts in Trend? Lawn shrines in the Arts section?