To Comment Or Not To Comment?

Marie K. Shanahan Assistant Professor of Journalism,

University of Connecticut@mariekshan

#EIJcomment

Hartford Courant File Photo/Stephen Dunn

I’m using your comment section to…

What happens when we don’t monitor our online comment sections

Deep down, all of us have the potential to be a comment

troll.A 2014 survey by YouGov found 30% of Americans admitted to engaging in "malicious online activity directed at somebody they didn't know.”

Graphic by EFF.org/Hugh D'Andrade, via CCSurvey: https://today.yougov.com/news/2014/10/20/over-quarter-americans-admit-malicious-online-comm/Participation inequality study: http://cs.stanford.edu/people/emmap1/cscw_paper.pdf

Is online anonymity the barrier to civility?

“Civility is emotional maturity.”

-Rude Democracy: Civility and Incivility in American Politics by Susan Herbst, Temple University Press, 2010

#Technology #FAIL

We need a better box.

Is social media that box?

photo credit: 4nitsirk via flickr cc

"One of the hardest things to do is scaling openness, whether you

run an internet platform or whether you run a

country.”-- Robert Kyncl, head of content and business operations at

Source: “YouTube promises more measures to tame its comment trolls,” The Guardian. June 2, 2015

What do we really want in our comment sections?

Questions to ponder before initiating an online discussion

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“Now that anyone can talk, the public sphere needs fewer authorities and more moderators... seems like a natural role

for journalism.”

– Jonathan Stray, Tinius Trust, May 2015