Place overhauls comments: register, upvote, reply
We are revamping our comment section to encourage constructive and engaging debate, writes Paul Unger, publisher of Place Media Group.
Creating spaces for conversation and open dialogue are core components of Place Media Group events – and ones we want to bring to our news sites as well.
We want our comment section to be a space where readers feel empowered to engage with each other and with our articles in a productive way.
We are accomplishing this in three ways:
- Requiring users to register before leaving a comment
- Rewarding high-quality comments through the ability for readers to upvote remarks to bring them to the top of the comment section. Conversely, poor-quality comments can be downvoted
- Enabling conversation by allowing users to reply directly to a comment and creating a ‘thread’
Say farewell to anonymous comments
From now on you will need to register with a username and email address to leave your thoughts at the bottom of our articles. This will allow you to have a presence on our site, a history of remarks, and greater accountability over what you say – while still preserving a sense of anonymity.
Empowering conversation
Through the upvoting and downvoting and thread features, it will be easier than ever to interact with your fellow readers.
Comments will also be published in a much faster fashion thanks to Place’s partnership with OpenWeb, a specialist in community moderation that already works with The Times, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal.
New moderation features will also allow for real-time feedback on your comment as to whether it will be approved or rejected.
What is more, you can have a say in comment moderation as well. If you think a comment has been approved that should not have, you will be able to report it for our team to examine.
We are confident these changes will create a much more engaging comment section.
As always, we look forward to reading what you have to say about the projects and policies driving the UK’s property industry.
