Beyond the comment box: Making the most of online communities

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With so many platforms now available for people to find and react to stories, the concept of ‘online community’ has also evolved.

So how can news organisations foster and later preserve the relationships formed with their audience in these spaces?

“In journalism, online communities are important to not only augment what has already been reported, but to plant seeds for what can be reported in the future,” said Greg Barber, director of digital news projects at The Washington Post, speaking on a panel at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia today (7 April).

Barber, who is also in charge of strategy and partnerships for The Coral Project, said the first thing news outlets should do is make their presence known in these communities, whether that is the comment section of a story or a Facebook group.

“It's about creating value for participants and communicating the value of the contribution people have made, especially if that's the kind of contribution you want to get from your readers,” he added.

Identifying people's needs

The Washington Post has different communities formed around certain sections of its website, such as blogs or advice columns. But often, even if people are there for a mutual reason, there are differences in how they expect the conversation to take place in that group.

“There's been some tension between people who want to stay on topic and people who want to talk among themselves about something related to the topic,” Barber said.

To accommodate both categories of commenters, the outlet this week started experimenting with a new feature that allows readers to mark their own comments as ‘off topic’.

Mary Hamilton, executive editor, audience at the Guardian, said there are different types of online communities, where people have shared circumstances, aspirations or needs.

The outlet aims to identify these needs and build conversation spaces where people already are. For example, the Guardian deliberately chose Facebook to create a community around its project The Counted, which tracks people killed by police in the United States.

“We wanted to reach people who cared about the issue, but who might not necessarily care about the Guardian brand,” Hamilton said.

“It’s important to think about what your audience wants from that community. Sometimes we think about a discussion we, as journalists, would like to spark but not necessarily which is the ideal space for it to take place."

Humans or computers?

Some news outlets have closed the comment sections on their websites either because they felt they could get the same value or better elsewhere, such as on social media platforms, or because they lacked the resources necessary to moderate the conversation.

Nicholas Diakopoulos, assistant professor at the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism, said news outlets are struggling to devise a strategy that can be effectively applied to both long and short term communities.

On whether moderation of online comments should be done by humans or computers, Diakopolous said a combination of both is ideal.

Algorithms can help identify and rank low and high quality comments, quantify users’ commenting background on the site and send alerts to moderators, he explained, but the process ultimately benefits from a person’s judgement and input.

“When people change their name in a comment thread for example, what does that mean?” Diakopolous asked.

“Is that a signal that people are uncomfortable representing their identity in that thread? In that case, it might be helpful to have an adult in the room.

“But even to use algorithmic moderation, you need to be able to articulate what you expect from that space and the rules you're building into that system,” he said.

Outside the box

His view on automated moderation was echoed by Barber, who said “software creation by itself is not the answer”.

“The real purpose is to connect your organisation with the community at large and human participation is an absolutely critical part of these spaces,” Barber added.

He also argued that sometimes, the traditional comment box on the website might not even be the most appropriate way for people to connect on an issue.

“We should push back on the notion that comments as constructed are the perfect form of discussion, on every article.

“In some cases maybe a poll is what you need, or a place where you can ask people for their personal experiences.

“It's like having a toolbox with just a hammer in it,” Barber said. “But perhaps sometimes what you need is a screwdriver.”

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