Comments on: If anonymity is no longer needed, let’s ditch the witness protection program http://blog.angelaconnor.com/2009/11/05/if-anonymity-is-no-longer-needed-lets-ditch-the-witness-protection-program/ Angela Connor on Growing Successful Online Communities Thu, 09 Sep 2010 07:26:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Angela Connor http://blog.angelaconnor.com/2009/11/05/if-anonymity-is-no-longer-needed-lets-ditch-the-witness-protection-program/#comment-2659 Angela Connor Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:27:13 +0000 http://blog.angelaconnor.com/?p=1617#comment-2659 Hi <strong>Karen</strong>: Thank you for such a lengthy thought-out response, and kind words. I can relate to what you shared about having the comments at lease one click away from the news stories. I've been in those conversations as well. What you're suggesting takes time and effort and you and I both know that some organizations feel that too much effort for for community building is a no-no! I hope you're right about the promising candidates. :-) Hi Karen: Thank you for such a lengthy thought-out response, and kind words. I can relate to what you shared about having the comments at lease one click away from the news stories. I’ve been in those conversations as well. What you’re suggesting takes time and effort and you and I both know that some organizations feel that too much effort for for community building is a no-no!
I hope you’re right about the promising candidates. :-)

]]> By: Karen Gutierrez http://blog.angelaconnor.com/2009/11/05/if-anonymity-is-no-longer-needed-lets-ditch-the-witness-protection-program/#comment-2641 Karen Gutierrez Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:57:09 +0000 http://blog.angelaconnor.com/?p=1617#comment-2641 Angela, Thanks for bringing community issues to the forefront with posts like this. Like you, I've wrestled with the craziness that can ensue in a community when there is a culture of anonymity. But at the same time, we know there are great benefits to letting people be more candid than they otherwise would. To me the key is "community." If you've established a true community, people care deeply about their reputations and relationships within it, even when no one knows them by their real names. This serves as a check on how far they'll go in comments. It's especially powerful when the community is local and there's a chance members will meet IRL. Opening up newspaper stories to anonymous comments by readers does not establish a community, nor does enabling live chat next to streaming video of the U.S. Open. It's okay to try those things, but know in advance what you're going to get, and have a plan for managing that. At Enquirer Media, where I managed a moms community for several years, the eds made a decision to hide comments on newspaper stories, so people at least would have to click if they wanted to see the crazy. (Readers were complaining that they hated the hate, so to speak, but had no way to avoid seeing it.) An option for initiatives such as the golf chat might be to empower someone within the community of golf fans to moderate on a short-term, volunteer basis. Well in advance, seek out candidates who've already left a trail of thoughtful comments on other golf sites or their own blogs. There aren't that many people with the right combo of wisdom, patience and knowledge to moderate, but the good news is that promising candidates are easy to spot. Angela,
Thanks for bringing community issues to the forefront with posts like this. Like you, I’ve wrestled with the craziness that can ensue in a community when there is a culture of anonymity. But at the same time, we know there are great benefits to letting people be more candid than they otherwise would. To me the key is “community.” If you’ve established a true community, people care deeply about their reputations and relationships within it, even when no one knows them by their real names. This serves as a check on how far they’ll go in comments. It’s especially powerful when the community is local and there’s a chance members will meet IRL.

Opening up newspaper stories to anonymous comments by readers does not establish a community, nor does enabling live chat next to streaming video of the U.S. Open. It’s okay to try those things, but know in advance what you’re going to get, and have a plan for managing that. At Enquirer Media, where I managed a moms community for several years, the eds made a decision to hide comments on newspaper stories, so people at least would have to click if they wanted to see the crazy. (Readers were complaining that they hated the hate, so to speak, but had no way to avoid seeing it.)

An option for initiatives such as the golf chat might be to empower someone within the community of golf fans to moderate on a short-term, volunteer basis. Well in advance, seek out candidates who’ve already left a trail of thoughtful comments on other golf sites or their own blogs. There aren’t that many people with the right combo of wisdom, patience and knowledge to moderate, but the good news is that promising candidates are easy to spot.

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