Creating a courteous and constructive comment culture

Or “Why do some apps have a great comment culture but others don't?”

By Daniel Rhodes of Warp Asylum

Www.warpasylum.co.uk

Introduction

•I'm fascinated and baffled about why some apps seem to generate rubbish user comments but other apps don't (and to a lesser extent why some apps generate more comments than others)

•Sometimes even with different apps of same type!•Let's look at crap comment culture first:

Crap comment culture

•YOUTUBE•Many one line responses•Many one word responses•Many off topics responses•Juvenile insults and bickering•Chain letters•“Press Ctrl-X to see boobies”

Crap comment culture

•ADDICTINGGAMES.COM (Flash games)•Short, one wordy answers•Lots of “this sucks, too hard”•Lots of “this sucks, doesn't work”•Mostly negative comments•Positive comments short like “good game,

thanks”

OK, so what is “crap” comment culture

•Crap comments are:•Short•Negative / unhelpful (to both creator and viewer)•Off topic•Let's look now at cool comment culture:

Cool comment culture

•VIMEO•Tend to be at least two sentences•Mostly positive•Almost zero spam / abuse etc•Some negative comments but well explained and

maybe “compliment sandwiched”

Cool comment culture

•KONGREGATE.COM (Flash games)•Mostly positive, considered comments•Very on-topic•Negative comments point out specific flaws (eg.

“the jumps control are tricky”)

OK, so what is “cool” comment culture

•Cool comments are:•Not too short•On-topic•Never hateful – even if negative•Interesting to creator and other viewers

Yeah, so what?

•People are just gonna spout any old gibberish aren't they?

•Yes, but why do some apps have much nicer comments?

•We can't control the people, but we can control the mechanisms:

Mechanisms for commenting

•Need be logged in [yes/no]•Moderated [yes/no]•Spam checking [yes/no]•Sub-comments or flat level?•Can be up or down voted [yes/no]•Rewarded for commenting [yes/no]•Punished if comment is down voted [yes/no]

Kongregate.com case study

•Must be logged in•Get a point for commenting•Can up and down vote comments•Comments with -VE votes are hidden (but u can

click to c)•Flat level BUT developer can do an official sub-

comment

Conclusions

•Not needing to be logged in will increase spam•Rewarding commenters will increase the amount

of comments•Allowing downvotes can be a way to discover /

hide crap comments...•...but will be abusable•Allowing upvotes can be a way to discover the

coolest comments – with no side-effects

Conclusions

•[OPINION] “reply to” and subcommenting may encourage bickering and off-topic discussions

•Too short comments can be easily detected, but then what to do? (fail and ask for more text or simply don't add the comment?)

The end

•This presentation is mostly an ideas starter•Took less than 10 minutes to make so please

forgive ;-)