ReadWriteWeb posted fascinating results about the use of third-party logins earlier this week revealing that Facebook dominates all others. What that means is people are opting to login to other websites using their Facebook credentials more so than others. But, when it comes to news sites, Facebook falls way behind.
It seems that when using a third-party login to post on a news site, Twitter is the clear winner, with only 25% using Facebook. Now, keep in mind that this is only the people who use a third-party login. I’m sure a great deal have separate logins for their favorite news sites that are independent of their social networks. That’s important to note.
This news isn’t surprising to me at all, thanks to my behind the scenes view of some of the outrageous comments people post on news sites. I have what I believe are unique insights into why this is occurring, based on my previous position as Managing Editor of User-Generated Content at WRAL.com and my days as Multimedia Editor at the Sun-Sentinel where I was involved with the website Sun-Sentinel.com. If you’ve read this blog for a while, you know about my love/hate relationship with comments and some of my crazy experiences related to managing an online community.
(Feel free to read through some of the archives of this blog to learn more about this love/hate relationship in posts like: “Why did you post that comments?” “It’s never too late to start moderating comments” or “Giving up comments is the wrong thing to do” or The Cleveland Plain Dealer finally acknowledges user comments)
Because of my experiences I believe the results presented on ReadWriteWeb via Gigya are absolutely true, but I also have assumptions about the results that I’d like to share:
Here they are:
- The 25% logging in with Facebook credentials are probably doing that largely to “share” a link, as opposed to cross-posting their personal comments.
- People live double lives in the comments sections in news stories. They wouldn’t dare want to tarnish their real life image.
- Facebook is just too close to home and they fear being stalked by the trolls.
- People do not want their real identities closely connected with their opinions on news topics.
- The comment bullies don’t want people to find out they’re actually the opposite sex and their entire profile on the news site is a lie.
- They are posting really embarrassing comments or maybe even talking about people in their real lives who are also their friends on Facebook and they’d find out about it.
- News sites are the only place they can display the racist views they typically keep hidden without repercussions.
- They like to use expletives and start fights.
I could go on and on, but I stopped at 8 because I didn’t want to write a top 10 list. In an effort to allow communities to express their opinions, news organizations often open themselves up to a lot of craziness, and given the topics that make the news, that will always be the case. I personally believe that moderating comments is the answer, but I’ll spare you all that I can say about that.
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July 8, 2010 at 4:26 pm
Rob Rohena
I love this article. Prehaps I am a bit bias because one of DIR Incorporated’s products is a Customized Facebook page with unique tabs that allow individuals to express themselves seperately from their personally FB page.
But, I also strongly agree with points #1 – The 25% logging in with Facebook credentials are probably doing that largely to “share” a link, as opposed to cross-posting their personal comments, and #6 – “They are posting really embarrassing comments or maybe even talking about people in their real lives who are also their friends on Facebook and they’d find out about it.”
Thanks for writing this great sells tool!
July 8, 2010 at 4:28 pm
Angela Connor
Hey there Rob: Thanks for taking the time to comment and even following up with a phone call. It was nice chatting with you. I know my assumptions aren’t scientific, but I will defend them until the cows come home!
July 9, 2010 at 11:13 am
Kaushik
This is a very interesting insight. I have something similar to share as well. We are working on a community/forum site with students in india to be able to interface with industry professionals. While it is pretty easy to setup a facebook connect/login option we quickly realized that students would not like to mix their personal profile with their professional interactions with the industry and so we had to move back to a traditional login. I do believe that the facebook login/profile is not likely to become a single universal profile and people will want to maintain multiple profiles and separate out their multiple lives.
July 9, 2010 at 11:29 am
Angela Connor
Wow, Kaushik! Thanks for sharing that story. I have to tell you that I am so impressed that you all actually adjusted your strategy based on the feedback you received. Do you know how many people would have ignored the fact that students didn’t want to mix the two and just do it anyway? I wold never use Facebook as a single universal login. I think your assumption is correct. I’d love to know more about your community and will reach out to you on Twitter and possibly LInkedIn.
-Angela
July 10, 2010 at 10:15 am
Kaushik
Thanks for the response Angela. I would love to connect with you and will add you on my Linked in and twitter connections. I have been recently reading your book on the 18 rules and its been a great learning. I hope to be able to apply those concepts on our community building exercise
July 16, 2010 at 10:13 am
Janet Gershen-Siegel
This makes a great deal of sense, and I think some of this is why the Blizzard forum experiment in real names for users was such an immediate and egregious flop.
The ‘net, like it or not, is for many people a place of masks. You pretend to be younger and thinner than you are. You pretend to be unmarried. Or you’re a teenager and pretend to be an adult. Or you pretend to be the other gender or richer or lovelier or more conservative or whatever.
The masks can be freeing to many — perhaps they were freeing when the ancient Greeks donned them while performing “Oedipus Rex” for the first time. Hence I think that there is more of a place for them than perhaps we’d all care to admit. There seems to be a value to being able to spread war paint (or lamp black) on one’s face, or wear a Halloween costume.
This is not the same as our reality. It is related but not identical. The librarian who goes out for Halloween dressed as a dance hall girl wants to be known as someone who takes risks (and maybe foolish ones, at that), but when the morning after rolls around, she’s back in the library helping others do research.
This kind of anonymous commenting allows for something like this. The sympathetic guy who’s really seething inside gets to call people out, bully and be an all-around racist jerk (I have worse names, but don’t wish to besmirch your blog), and then surf to a different site where he can chat up the ladies with his sensitive New Age guy demeanor. And then when the time to log off comes, he goes home and kisses his wife and plays with his children. And this is all one guy.
To comment through Facebook would be to cut off the dance hall girl, the racist jerk, the ladies’ man and any number of other secret selves in favor of a drab and ordinary world. Even on a news site, which is pretty much the definition of drab unless there’s some sort of a hot story, the jerk, the dancer and the Romeo all want to be free.
But we shouldn’t take their opinions as seriously as the real people because, even though those personae live in real people’s skins, it’s the real people who vote, marry, pay taxes, work, make the news and are members of our real society.
The trouble is telling them apart and knowing which one is real.
July 16, 2010 at 4:31 pm
Angela Connor
Janet! You’ve written another blog post in the comments section. I love the way you’ve characterized it all. People do use the internet as a mask and as you’ve put it here, it’s not all bad. IN many cases it is very much needed in your opinion, right? Interesting perspective. I suppose that helpful librarian could have very well been a dance hall queen the night before. Have a great weekend.
July 16, 2010 at 5:01 pm
Janet Gershen-Siegel
Thank you, you too! I think it is somewhat needed. The ‘net has just sort of tapped into that.
Maybe I’ll make this a post on my own blog.
Enjoy your weekend.
November 17, 2010 at 9:15 am
Adventures in Career Changing » Blog Archive » Why use a screen name?
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