Trolls force smaller Sites to re think their Comments Boards

02/10/08 10:24 AM

Having a comment function on a website has long been seen as a great way to enhance engagement with your viewers. Recently however, smaller sites with fewer personnel have struggled to deal with the downside of allowing anonymous comments. Namely, trolls.

A troll is a user who personally or profanely attacks an individual or group using a message board or is wilfully controversial in order to provoke a response. Often these users wish to start an argument or simply needle the regular commenters, safe in the anonymity of the internet.

The name troll can also refer to somebody who is trying to surreptitiously promote their site through a message board by posting links, regardless of whether their website is relevant to the discussion. This is a growing trend and can be seen, to some extent, across many popular message boards.

Numerous sites, including popular Boston blog, Universal Hub, have now forced users to register before leaving responses. This doesn’t stop the problem entirely, though it does throw up an extra boundary to people who just want to link to their own site. It also forces Trolls to take some degree of responsibility for their words, since they now have an account, which can be banned or, in some instances, messaged by the site administrators.

Other sites have become so annoyed with irrelevant or offensive content that they have simply discontinued comments altogether.

No TweetBacks yet. (Be the first to Tweet this post)
  • Digg
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Technorati
  • Facebook
  • del.icio.us
  • MySpace
  • StumbleUpon
  • Sphinn
  • Reddit
  • Mixx
  • Fark
  • NewsVine
  • Live
  • Print
  • email

Related posts:

  1. YouTube strives to clean up its Comments Board
  2. The Guardian Website Ditches JavaScript for SEO Reasons
  3. Building a Search Engine Friendly Website – Part 3
  4. Website Marketing with Domain Names – Part 3
  5. Toolbar Five finally available to Firefox Users
  6. Top Sites: Healthtalkonline.org

Posted by Matt Thomas | in Comments Boards | No Comments »

Leave a Reply

Home | About | PPC | News | Resources | Site Map | PPC Marketing | PPC Management | Google Adwords Management | Search Engine Optimisation | Search Engine Marketing | FAQ's | References | Adsense Information | Marketing | Website Design | Effective Marketing Solutions | Pay Per Click Advertising Blog | Search Engine Optimisation Resource | Website Design Information | Services | Clients | Privacy | Terms and Conditions | Top Click Media Staff Blog