Any Thoughts On Improving Roosevelt Islander Online Reader Comments?

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Earlier today, reader Old Rossie noted problems with the type of comments recently made on Roosevelt Islander:

... Oh my! no wonder no one is commenting on this blog anymore... 

I asked Old Rossie:

Any suggestions on ways to improve and encourage comments?

Some have suggested I start requiring real names, like Facebook, instead of allowing the use of pseudonyms.

I have resisted doing that because I know there are good reasons why someone may wish not to use their real name to provide informative and valuable comments.

However, the problems with pseudonyms is that it can be abused with nonsense, personal grudges etc.

Any thoughts or suggestions on improving comments is appreciated.

Roosevelt Islander commenting policy has been consistent throughout the years to allow all comments as long as they are not legally defamatory or accuse a named individual of illegal activities.

Believe me, it has not been easy applying this criteria but I try my best to be fair and objective while reserving sole decision making discretion.

If you have any thoughts or suggestions on improving Roosevelt Islander Online comments, please let me know.

Here's more on the issue of regulating online comments.

Web sites are not liable for reader comments. A 2013 case ruled that web sites could be liable for reader comments



but was reversed on appeal in 2014.



UPDATE 6:30 PM: VG suggests:

Regardless whether or not real names are used, if people want to use the blog to incessantly argue, they will continue to do so. Perhaps the best thing to do is to shutdown the ability to post comments to an article after a week; maybe people will then move onto a different topic.

As a resident of Roosevelt Island for 7 years, it is disheartening to see members of RIRA battling back and forth like this. It's no wonder there are many people like myself who have no interest in RIRA; we don't feel RIRA truly represents the community at large. RIRA seems to be populated with folks who each have their own personal agendas and lack the vision, patience and sophistication to communicate their ideas effectively, and really have no interest in community collaboration.