To:       Glenn Greenwald - GGreenwald@salon.com

Cc:       Paul Krugman - (Address unknown, please forward)

Cc:       Doc Searls - dsearls@cyber.law.harvard.edu

Cc:       Dave Winer - dave.winer@gmail.com

From:  Doug Skoglund - skoglund@pdmsb.com

Date:   Thursday, March 31, 2011

Subject: My Way V - Speaking of Comments...

Last Friday, the 25th of March, Megan Garber posted a report entitled, "Journal Register's open advisory Meeting" that included the following:

The commenting conundrum

The board’s discussion, as happens a lot, spent a lot of time focused on the ideal way to run comments systems. How do you reward helpful participation while punishing -- or, at least, discouraging -- trolls and other conversation-killers? "Every community is going to have bozos," Jarvis noted. "The Internet’s just a community; so it’s going to have bozos."

A more productive approach than one focused on troll-fighting, the board suggested, might be to focus instead on rewarding good behavior -- the Gawker/HuffPo approach that empowers community members to elevate the good comments and demote the bad. Ultimately, though, no one’s "figured out" how to do comments; and that’s partially because each community is different when it comes to the kinds of conversations it wants to conduct and convene online.

What the board -- and, from the sounds of things, community members -- agreed on, though, was that it’s a good idea to expand the notion of comments beyond the current definition of them as things-that-follow-a-story. Reframing commentary as something that’s not simply reactive, but productive -- instead of "What did you think of this story?" something like, "How should we write this story?" -- could be a useful exercise not only in terms of conversation, but also in terms of engagement and transparency. And, of course, it could keep improving the overall quality of the journalism Journal Register papers put out. "I’m going to be honest -- it used to be a joke," Melanie Macmillan, a reader in attendance at the meeting, noted of the Register Citizen. But now, she said, with the strides it’s making toward openness and community involvement, "it’s something I’m proud of."

First, and foremost, we need to correct the thinking of Jeff Jarvis and his followers, to wit:

"Every community is going to have bozos," Jarvis noted. "The Internet’s just a community; so it’s going to have bozos."

The Declaration of Independence states:

"WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these rights are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."

Please explain, to me, how a person like Jeff Jarvis has become a well known leader (and teacher) in the Journalism community.

Ultimately, though, no one’s "figured out" how to do comments; and that’s partially because each community is different when it comes to the kinds of conversations it wants to conduct and convene online.

And that is pure BS -- the answer lies in treating comments with the same tender care that you treat the original post -- no more, no less. In short, re-program the Personal Computer AND the Internet.

To be continued (I really, really do hope)

I don't provide for comments since that is a system designed to control the communication process -- I do provide an e-mail address!! (Please put a [MYWAY] in your title to get my attention)

Development of a better system is hindered by some of the problems we refuse to recognize and correct.

Thanks for your time,

Doug Skoglund - skoglund@pdmsb.com

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