Thar’s trolls in dem dar sites.
Ever have one of those mornings where you wake up, watch a show or two on the DVR, sip some coffee and an epiphany drops in your lap? I did. Well it wasn’t so much of an epiphany as it was the glimmer of an idea I had this morning after seeing some comments posted on Digg, Mixx, and Newsvine while performing my customary morning slacking. These were your typical asshat, dumb, troll comments you see on a daily basis.
The idea that popped in my head was in addition to a report this button for comments and users add a “troll alert” button as well. Not every trollish comment comes from a troll. Sometimes a particular topic strikes a nerve and a person decides to add, well not so much, to the conversation by dropping a troll bomb. If the comment wasn’t very offensive or against the TOS, then it will probably remain. Click the “troll comment” next to the comment and move along. Once the comment passes a certain threshold in a given amount of time an icon appears (I’m thinking dunce hat with a troll) and people will know not to feed it.
The same method could be used to users who have a propensity to troll. Simply click the “troll alert” button and after a threshold is met and the powers at be deem it valid that users new “badge” appears in the form of a troll.
An additional plus of this system will allow me to go to “My Account” and select the options to “Hide all trolls” and poof they’re gone. While Mixx has a block user feature, I may not necessarily want to wait until someone annoys me that I block them. What if I never know they’re there? They’ll never be fed.
Just a thought. Talk amongst yourselves.
P.S. I’ve seen this implemented very well on some blogs, 37signals for instance. They have a wonderful picture that displays next to the comment which forever encases the troller in a cloak of shame. Its beautiful.
I’m not a fan of digg, nor have I used it much, but their comment rating system seems to make sense. What about something like that?
Personally, I love the idea of an asshat or troll icon, but the other way seems easier to manage such comments by the community.
That is a really good idea. Ape’s recommendation of a comment system is nice as well. Given mixx’s system, I think the report troll idea is probably more in alignment with the rest of the system.
“but the other way seems easier to manage such comments by the community.”
Its also a way to abuse it to hide opinions opposite of yours.
The troll icon is mainly because it allows the non violating TOS comment to remain, but to show others, don’t bother responding.
The community has a degree of control by reporting the troll or troll comment, but the ultimate decider is an arbitrator that can determine if the comment being reported is trollish.
Can someone give me a solid definition of a troll, I hear this term all the time but no one ever seems to say what it is.Im preatty sure it dosent apply to me but at this point I cant tell.
@mortalwind
a troll is someone who says something, usually really offensive to a lot of people, for the sole purpose of gaining notoriety and rocking the boat. Really effective troll completely kill a discussion by creating a flame war which is usually unrelated to the topic at hand.
@honest ape
You normally have the best ideas, but I’m going to have to completely disagree with you on this one. If mixx implements a voting system for comments, like digg or youtube, we can all say goodbye to 90% of the good discussion that goes on and welcome a huge influx of people trying to say that perfect sarcastic “soviet russia” comment to get 500 votes. It was my opinion the first day I arrived at mixx that the strangely friendly atmosphere was due, at least in part, to the non-competitive nature of commenting. There’s no pressure to make people laugh, no bitterness that someone else’s idea got more votes, only the freedom to speak your mind. It was a stroke of genius. I hate to say it, but the day that mixx creates a way to up or downvote a person’s comment is the last day I post a comment on mixx.
Oh, as for the “troll comment” idea; I think it could work, though I haven’t encountered any really bad trolls thusfar on mixx.