Heavily trafficked blog launches bold new “tiered” commenting system
posted at 9:30 pm on July 15, 2009 by Allahpundit
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No, not us. Not yet. But I’m not going to lie: I dig it.
Jezebel’s editor last week announced the site was designating a “Tier 1″ level of privileged contributors whose comments are “funniest, thoughtful, intelligent, well-argued” and who have proven themselves “engaged, intelligent, humorous, fair-minded, thoughtful, rational, etc.”
Their comments will be shown below each blog post. All others, in Tier 2, will be available only if a user clicks to see them. Tier 1 commenters, in addition, will have the right to bump comments from others up or down. Editors, ultimately, will have the final say.
Atheist commenters: Automatic Tier 1. No, seriously, what do people think of this? When I mentioned it to the boss, she worried that a tiered system would destroy the chat room feel that a lot of threads have (especially longer ones), but that could be fixed by giving each user the option of viewing tiered or untiered. The default would be tiered, letting casual/non-commenting readers see the best of the best when they read a post; regulars could turn the default off and go back to chat room mode. A tiered system would also give us an option short of banning people for bad behavior. My main concern is that feelings will inevitably be hurt when some people end up in Tier 2, but the consolation there, I guess, is that then they can berate me for being an elitist RINO poseur. Even more than usual, I mean.
I think we need to poll it.
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Better:
- easy replies
- threaded conversations
- easy report TOS violation
- ignore user option
- cute smiley face icons
(just kidding ’bout that last one ;-)
KS Rex on July 16, 2009 at 12:53 AM
I wouldn’t worry about it. Technically, RINOs claim to be Republicans. You openly don’t give a rat’s ass about the GOP. You’re no RINO.
Ronnie on July 16, 2009 at 1:00 AM
Ah, so let’s make a system WHERE SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS. Hmmmm. Where have I heard/seen that before?
Of course it depends on what your vision of the purpose of your blog is. If you want to provide a ‘town hall meeting’ type of atmosphere where anyone registered can voice their opinion equal to all others then that’s this.
OTOH, if you want to make certain commenters less important than others and allow others, for whatever reason be it well-founded or petty, to pass judgment on the value of what others have written, then change to a tier system.
I think the vote tally says it all and all the ones crying for CHANGE are salivating at the chance to engage in petty back stabbing and being elevated in prestige and power and should be looked at askance no matter how well they write or what you think their guiding principles are.
I don’t read most comments as they’re usually too many to take the time to read all of them but I sure won’t read comments of folks who have been artificially promoted over others and who I have no idea who they are or what their agenda is.
I don’t know you or Ed, but I respect and admire your boss and over time you have also gained that respect. Your commenters? Who knows what agenda or pharmaceuticals they’re on?
jcw46 on July 16, 2009 at 1:00 AM
If it is a question of manageability, then why not give each individual member the option to choose their own favorite members or commenters. Put a favorite icon next to each commenter.
Once chosen, the members favorite commenters would be highlighted in say red.
You could then provide the individual member with the option of viewing only red or favorite members comments.
My vote still remains leaving things as they are currently. We don’t need elitist panels of cliquish members deciding who remains on the island or wins a competition ala “reality tv”. Nor do we need to turn Hot Air into “Animal Farm”.
A format change I wished Hot Air would implement is being able to respond to an individual comment, i.e. nested comments.
DeathB4Tyranny on July 16, 2009 at 1:01 AM
How would that work, every time there is a new comment on a nested conversation the entire tree is carried down to the bottom of the thread with the most recent entry showing? That would be OK assuming it’s collapsible, (and collapsed by default).
FloatingRock on July 16, 2009 at 1:01 AM
Throwing in the towel.
Fascism and class warfare on the interwebs blogs now.
Smells like Obama.
SilverStar830 on July 16, 2009 at 1:04 AM
Yes, collapsed by default. Entire threads kept together. Option to sort most recent threads to the top instead of the bottom. Option to sort chronologically instead of by conversation.
I like the “highlight my favorite authors” idea. But it definitely should include “hide my UNfavorite authors”.
And no multiline “signatures” like some forums, please.
KS Rex on July 16, 2009 at 1:10 AM
I’d rather have the favorites in black because it’s easier to read, the rest in a fairly dark blue and trolls in light blue or gray. But it would be easy for them to allow us to customize the colors. Customizing our favorites-list and troll-list could be as simple as including a radio button on each comment with three toggle positions. Or, a single link that takes the user to a their list configuration with the name added with a toggle button or score next to it, (since it may be easier to program and easier on the servers to keep it off the main page).
FloatingRock on July 16, 2009 at 1:12 AM
And we need cute team names! People in Tier 1 could be the Muscatiers. The poor slobs in Tier 2 could be the Tier Ducks.
KS Rex on July 16, 2009 at 1:15 AM
What if you don’t comment often but you’re ALWAYS effin’ hilarious?
MikeZero on July 16, 2009 at 1:17 AM
Woah! Sorting, highlighting, nesting? Some of us are over 50 and not as computer savvy as you youngsters. I’m just proud to be here, please don’t mess with me. Let it be!
redwhiteblue on July 16, 2009 at 1:18 AM
Woah!Whoa!redwhiteblue on July 16, 2009 at 1:24 AM
Heh. Exactly what I thought when I saw this post.
malan89 on July 16, 2009 at 1:30 AM
redwhiteblue on July 16, 2009 at 1:18 AM
Ain’t that the truth.
heshtesh on July 16, 2009 at 1:30 AM
Well, frankly I’m against any kind of tiered approach.
The whole reason I come here so often is to read the articles and get Ed and Allah’s take on world events, as well as see commenter’s responses. Even the occasional troll can bring out good points from other people, forcing their “A” game. It’s easy to sit around and agree with each other, but it’s nice to really examine what we believe in and justify it with sound reasoning and sometimes a troll can make us do just that in trying (usually fruitlessly) to present our case to them.
It’s fun for me when someone occasionally responds to a post of mine, but I don’t take it personally when no one does; I’m happy for the Green Room posters who have (IMHO) earned that spot by providing consitantly excellent posts, and are themselves subject to other poster’s criticisms in the process. But to even further divide posters into different levels of elite groups?
Talk about an echo chamber.
I like the idea of a “reply” button with a defaulted collapsing tree so people can choose to continue on that thread, virtually eliminating threadjacking. Other than that, why “fix” what isn’t broken?
DrAllecon on July 16, 2009 at 1:33 AM
Agreed.
Don’t worry these would all be options. If you didn’t want to use them, you wouldn’t be forced to. That is the point of these options, if you wanted things to remain the same you wouldn’t have to change.
What I don’t want is some “Politburo of Posters” creating an artificial caste system based on their personal cliques or prejudices.
With the exception of obvious trolls let me as a member decide who’s posts I read or who’s posts I elevate.
DeathB4Tyranny on July 16, 2009 at 1:36 AM
Which tier gets the tax breaks?
and does Tier 1 get taxed on 2.5% of their letter usage?
Ingenue on July 16, 2009 at 1:36 AM
Animal Farm!
Johan Klaus on July 16, 2009 at 1:36 AM
How long have you been here,canopfor?
NightmareOnKStreet on July 16,2009 at 12:43AM.
NightmareOnKStreet:
After some exhausted research,in the Vault,I am from the
class of June 26,2007!!
Here’s my original entry:
Fromm all the way up north,privledged to be on board the
Hot Air blog.
canopfor on June 26,2007 at 8:14PM.
canopfor on July 16, 2009 at 1:37 AM
Nesting just refers to a tree format, like this:
But they wouldn’t be indented so far in and the branches would need to be collapsible.
FloatingRock on July 16, 2009 at 1:39 AM
Bwaahahaha! I win! :)
FloatingRock on July 16, 2009 at 1:48 AM
I don’t recall participating on a board or blog with nested comments, but wouldn’t enough people inadvertently post in the wrong branch and make a mess of the system?
FloatingRock on July 16, 2009 at 1:59 AM
Entertaining indeed :P. And no one is hurt……except for trolls
FontanaConservative on July 16, 2009 at 2:00 AM
Don’t it though? Why am I not at least a little bit surprised?
TheBigOldDog on July 16, 2009 at 2:02 AM
Hey, about a rating system for the posts themselves? The sucky ones get pushed right to the vault and the good ones rise to the top. Now that would add real value!
The best thing you could do for comments is 1) allow pictures which is where 80% of the great humor is and 2) have the poster participate in the conversation.
TheBigOldDog on July 16, 2009 at 2:07 AM
Thanks for trying to help me. Here’s the thing…I’m dealing with hot flashes, a knee with a bad attitude, teenagers (with good attitudes – but still teenagers), and helplessly watching my beloved America fall to Marxism…so this collapsing tree branch thing is just not something I want to deal with. Scrolling and speed-reading work just fine for me. But if they do add these fancy features…I hope you will be there to help those of us in the geezer group – unless they use ageism and put us in the lowest Tier which probably wouldn’t have any fancy features!
redwhiteblue on July 16, 2009 at 2:12 AM
Tier Wars!
yoda on July 16, 2009 at 2:17 AM
I came over with Ian, but I can’t remember when that was. Does anyone know?
Rose on July 16, 2009 at 2:20 AM
If you want to see Tier Time just go to HillBuzz.com
I like Tier Time personally. But if the majority of HA don’t then maybe it is not such a good idea for HA members. I think it enhances debate with more conversational interaction versus the current linear thought steam of consciousness.
Another advantage is that it obviates the repetition of cutting snippets and placing them in block quotes which are often intentionally cut out of context.
Geochelone on July 16, 2009 at 2:33 AM
3 Things:
1) Any effect on traffic would be minimal. The OVERWHELMING majority of traffic is not commenters, I’m sure. 600,000 “visits” a day means that the 50-100 regular commenters (or whatever) are a fraction of a percent most likely.
2) Threaded views are awful. A streamlined “reply” process would be nice though.
3) If this goes down, I want to be on the Blue Team.
DaveS on July 16, 2009 at 2:35 AM
What I meant was: just go there to look, then come back here. I didn’t mean to suggest that if you really want Tiers then you should quit HA.
Geochelone on July 16, 2009 at 2:36 AM
Gotcha. Thanks Mr. President.
redwhiteblue on July 16, 2009 at 2:39 AM
I don’t think you have anything to worry about. I’m guessing that HotAir won’t implement nested comments. In order to collapse the branches a one line title for the each branch of the tree is required. It’s possible to use the first X number of characters in the post of a branch, but that’s not often very descriptive or meaningful. The few forums I’ve seen with the nesting feature, people didn’t do a very good job with the titles, and the conversation in the branches strayed pretty far afield anyway, defeating the purpose.
I suspect that a sophisticated comment nesting feature would be fairly costly for HotAir to implement and perhaps a headache for all concerned, so I doubt it will happen.
FloatingRock on July 16, 2009 at 2:41 AM
In what way?
Have you seen No Quarter and HillBuzz? There have nested replies and are pretty good. I have seen others where nesting looks like hell like on some message boards (PHPBB). I would not be for that.
Also on very long threads, say 500 comments or more then nesting becomes problematic. Maybe that is what you mean.
Geochelone on July 16, 2009 at 2:42 AM
Not really. My experience has been that few mistakes were made. I was on nested blogs and it was pretty civil and organized provided that the number of comments stay below a certain threshold number, say 300 to 500.
Geochelone on July 16, 2009 at 2:47 AM
The diversity of opinions on Hot Air makes the site so addicting and interesting. The comment section is just as interesting as the blog articles. If you start promoting favorites while quelling voices of others, you’ll suck the life out of the site. People will get tired of a small minority dominating the conversation and become disinterested in the site. You should never take your readers for granted.
I don’t know the last time I visited Red State because the place is run with such an iron fist that it’s become a snooze-fest. Don’t get me started on Little Green Footballs. Who wants to regularly visit and participate on a site where you feel like you’re walking on eggshells when voicing an opinion? What fun is that?
As long as people are not trolling or getting too far out of line, let everyone’s opinion weigh equally. The Green Room already serves the purpose of elevating opinions of certain people.
Christina_M on July 16, 2009 at 2:55 AM
I couldn’t find your registration, but you were already a member in 2006.
Rose on October 19, 2006 at 11:14 PM
FloatingRock on July 16, 2009 at 3:04 AM
Good to know. Thanks again. Not sure why I got so caught up with this issue – perhaps I simply felt empowered by actually having an opportunity to stop change.
redwhiteblue on July 16, 2009 at 3:09 AM
Rose, I may not be finding your registration because there was no registration thread, registration not being restricted back at that time? The earliest post of yours I was able to find was from August 06.
FloatingRock on July 16, 2009 at 3:19 AM
We too, can be YouTube-tastic!
Pomme143 on July 16, 2009 at 3:20 AM
I think you misunderstood me. I am on your side. I voted for the status quo.
My point is that if Ed and Allah are planning to make a change it should empower the individual member not some elite.
I don’t appreciate the comparison to Obamugbe.
DeathB4Tyranny on July 16, 2009 at 3:21 AM
Tiering as described is a terrible idea. How is it any different from a centralized government telling me what cars to buy, what health care insurance I need, how many children I can raise, etc.,…? To do so would be tantamount to telling me I can’t be trusted with deciding whose posts to read and which arguments are well constructed. Maybe libs need subtitles to point out to them when they are getting pwned, but a wise Latina with the richness of my experiences can make a better decision than Bloggerpundit and anyone from Wisconsin.
Here’s the clue for those who don’t understand the existing tiered system:
1) If people respond to you favorably you have probably made a well-reasoned and thought-provoking point.
2) If people put a smack down on you for changing the subject and belching out lib talking points you have been outed as an unthinking troll.
3) If no one responds to you at all you are probably re-iterating that which has already been posted and/or you work late shifts on the west coast and everyone is already done with the topic by the time you add your 2 cents to the bottom of the sixth page of comments.
4) Treacher rocks.
Tom_OC on July 16, 2009 at 3:23 AM
I was being sarcastic…sorry, I forgot to put /sarc marking. I was joking about the Mr. P thing because this -
reminded me of The Won’s blah, blah, blah, when he
talkslies about Health Care Reform and our “choices“.I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings…
redwhiteblue on July 16, 2009 at 3:29 AM
redwhiteblue on July 16, 2009 at 3:29 AM
No offense taken. Sorry if I offended you.
I understand why Ed and Allah are looking for alternatives, because some of these threads do get pretty long and difficult to read. They just want to manage the size of the threads.
My ire just gets up when they propose elitism. It will kill the site because a small clique will ultimately take over and ruin Hot Air. Tier System = Oligarchy.
Friends?
DeathB4Tyranny on July 16, 2009 at 3:42 AM
You betcha, and no offense taken. As I mentioned to the helpful FloatingRock, I’m not certain why I’ve gotten so caught up with this issue. I just arrived here, and simply like it the way it is. Perhaps Ed & Allah can improve the employment figures by hiring some assistant readers to help them manage the threads. God knows, we all need some help. And rest…goodnight.
redwhiteblue on July 16, 2009 at 4:10 AM
What happens here are not a bunch of individual comments but a running conversation that ebbs and flows. If comments get disjointed the conversation is destroyed and hence the comments are destroyed and by extension, the site. I bet I’m like many people here, both commenters, lurkers and wanna be commenters: I come for the conversations not the posts. They are just the conversation starters.
TheBigOldDog on July 16, 2009 at 4:21 AM
Not much. Work is keeping me pretty busy. How have you been?
Bradky on July 16, 2009 at 4:39 AM
I haven’t read other comments on this thread (time constraints), so pardon if it’s a repeat:
“Tiering” comments?!
Goes great with the idea of an open and free internet.
/sarc
Fundamentally wrong.
Lockstein13 on July 16, 2009 at 4:55 AM
Some times I get frustrated on issues especially those that require thought when I see whats below they are talking about some TV show or nonsense. Sometimes though it is the humor and links to Video that I thought was going to be nonsense that lighten my day.
I would like to be able to follow certain bloggers by quick search when I don’t have time.
Overall this system here is not broke yet.
Ed Laskie on July 16, 2009 at 5:45 AM
It’s elitist. Plus that bumping thing in Tier 1, it’s like, intentionally context-wrecking. You’ll have to fashion your comment assuming it may get shuffled. Tiers = classes. Second tier = second class. No tiers.
curved space on July 16, 2009 at 6:56 AM
Not enough morons on this site to need something like that. No tiered system.
percysunshine on July 16, 2009 at 7:23 AM
Hey, Allah/Ed/Michelle…can a Mommy get some “Tier 1″ love?
Mommypundit on July 16, 2009 at 7:24 AM
why not just do what the Times does and choose a handful of editors selections that you think are good points.
rob verdi on July 16, 2009 at 7:29 AM
Us in the over-the-hill-gang will have rationed word usage, much like the rationed health care that is coming our way. ;-)
Yoop on July 16, 2009 at 7:34 AM
I’ve always been in the popular crowd. I’d rather like a seamless transition to it on this site, as well. Thanks! ;o)
Mommypundit on July 16, 2009 at 7:37 AM
er…how long have you been here. Because there are.
Mommypundit on July 16, 2009 at 7:38 AM
Should have a question mark in there. Apologies.
Mommypundit on July 16, 2009 at 7:38 AM
I currently don’t give a rat’s ass about the GOP and I’m certainly no RINO. The GOP has been taken to a place where when I hear it, my immediate thought IS RINO. It has become the RINO party.
CC
CapedConservative on July 16, 2009 at 7:40 AM
Will the main page be tiered. Perhaps by age brackets.
CZJ can hawk Depends or Geritol instead of cell phones in Tier 4, 50+ tier.
Jeff from WI on July 16, 2009 at 7:46 AM
Put me down as a “no tier.” We need fewer cliques, not more.
JohnTant on July 16, 2009 at 7:53 AM
Can I have the third tier all to myself?
That way I’ll be at the back of the bus, but still be able to pretend I’m riding first class.
Professor Blather on July 16, 2009 at 8:01 AM
Dear Dem Operatives,
Many people seeing a tiered comment site scan the comments which usually end in “more” or “keep reading” and either click a flat option or go elsewhere. When reading the propensity is to keep reading, not to scroll somewhere on the page, click some button and wait for the page to reload in the new configuration, then scroll back to where they left off reading.
So I fully expect you, despite some poll, to impliment the Tier system just to showcase your elitism.
Friendly21 on July 16, 2009 at 8:02 AM
We already have a “tier” button, it’s called “scroll on past”. :)
Hope on July 16, 2009 at 8:06 AM
How about we make the third tier specially for Professors? You wont have the tier entirely to yourself, but just think of the company you will be keeping… ;P
doriangrey on July 16, 2009 at 8:07 AM
I’m pretty much of the opinion that if it ain’t broke you don’t fix it. And there is already the Green Room thing that sort of already creates that second level of comment capablity.
MikeA on July 16, 2009 at 8:07 AM
I read more than I comment,(so I guess I’m a freshman), but at least we got a chance to comment and vote without the used care salesman approach that Obama likes to use to ram things down our throats. ” Sale ends today! You’ll never have an opportunity like this again! Act now!”
Beaglemom on July 16, 2009 at 8:11 AM
I haven’t read all the comments so this point may have already been made but some commenters are “funniest, thoughtful, intelligent, well-argued” on some topics but not on others so you wouldn’t really be assuring that the Tier 1 commenters are always going to represent the best responses on any particular topic.
It would probably create a fairly static environment with little originality because after awhile you can pretty much tell what a regular commenter is going to write about something. And anybody new with different ideas or thoughts would probably be disinclined to post because he or she would have to start out in the less worthy lower tier and hope they can stand out from the crowd and be moved up. Who would want to invest the time and energy in that when there are other blogs who aren’t restrictive this way?
Bennett on July 16, 2009 at 8:31 AM
I thought atheists didn’t believe in tiers.
corona on July 16, 2009 at 8:40 AM
Is there a Tier IV?
That’s where I’ll be. A pioneer.
NoDonkey on July 16, 2009 at 8:45 AM
No tiers, but comments would GREATLY benefit by being nested by conversation. You should be able to click “reply to this” under someone else’s comment and have your comment appear indented just below that comment.
Jason on July 16, 2009 at 8:45 AM
I second?…third?..one thousandth! the vote for no tiered system. Anything that glorifies some at the expense of others will inevitably lead to hard feelings and less comments. And like some have said, why bother posting at all if you’re pushed to the back of the bus?
Keep in mind we’re talking about blog comments here. It’s not that ya’ll ain’t funny or insightful at times, but in the grander scheme of things, these are just comments on the writings of someone else. Let’s not take it so seriously by starting some comment competition to see who can get to the top of the comment pile.
In the end, you’re still getting yelled at by your mom/dad/significant other to get the hell off that damn computer!
Thunderstorm129 on July 16, 2009 at 8:49 AM
Finally! I was hoping someone would finally tell me which posters were “funniest, thoughtful, intelligent, well-argued” as well as “engaged, intelligent, humorous, fair-minded, thoughtful, rational, etc.”.
Is there any way we could just add them to the payroll and reward them for their awesomeness? Maybe we can turn commenting into a profession. (Like blogging, but without the word count!!)
Can’t we please just leave the comments alone?
Rogue Traveler on July 16, 2009 at 8:54 AM
I comment here, what, once a month? Not enough frequency to ever reach ‘Tier 1′ category.
And, you know that Twitter is driving comments down system wide, right? There’s now a ‘class struggle’ between bloggers and twitterers for eyeballs.
It seems to me that instituting such a caste system for commentators is, at this point, self-capping.
But you know best, Brahman.
Serr8d on July 16, 2009 at 8:58 AM
this is my favorite site. please don’t change it.
no Change!
kelley in virginia on July 16, 2009 at 9:00 AM
In chat forums I’ve seen the advantage of threading the comments posts when people who hang around with each other in cliques tended to play off of each other in threads that go on forever. It makes it easy to skip by those posts.
But I miss a lot of good stuff that way, and here I find that I prefer to read every comment posted as the discussion evolves throughout the day. And it does create more of a “community” feeling to the comments section.
Plus, to change the current system would require investing in expensive software, and so far MM and Ed and AP have chosen not to active raise cash for maintaining the site through tip jars and whatnot. So I’m thinking that anything that saves them money is a good thing. I’d be happy to let things stay as they are because this is my favorite and first stop of the day most days. :)
KendraWilder on July 16, 2009 at 9:01 AM
Anyone who’s been here for awhile knows where most of the posters are going to go with their comments as soon as you read the article. It’s not very often that you get shocked by an opinion.
anniekc on July 16, 2009 at 9:01 AM
Yes to tiers! It is so “tiersome” to read uninformed comments.
In fact, why not take this great idea to its logical conclusion, like they did over at Commentary Blog–ban all comments! Just smart guy bloggers talking to their own kind, the way it was meant to be.
/snark
james23 on July 16, 2009 at 9:11 AM
What the heck is “Animal Farm” about tiering? Intelligence and insightfulness being rewarded? Sounds capitalist to me. I think it’s a great idea.
As Dennis Prager says, “there’s the stupid party (Republicans) and the dangerous party (Democrats)”. If the conservative movement can filter out its own noise, maybe it’ll come up with a message that’s actually coherent and articulate. Democrats are really, really good at appearing intelligent, so they always present their dangerous ideas very effectively. We conservatives need to learn how to present our great ideas very effectively instead of looking like idiots every time. Why do you think the media always mocks us? Yes, it’s partly because the media is heavily biased and dominated by liberals, but it’s also because we look like idiots much of the time! A big driving force in the media is to make money, that’s it.
I am all for tiered comments. I think it’s a GREAT idea. Slashdot’s been doing it for ages, and it works great.
dave_lantos on July 16, 2009 at 9:11 AM
We already have a “tier” button, it’s called “scroll on past”. :)Hope on July 16, 2009 at 8:06 AM
+1
Laura in Maryland on July 16, 2009 at 9:30 AM
What is this Slashdot of which you speak?
I won’t visit sites that don’t allow commentary. Not even Instapundit.
Serr8d on July 16, 2009 at 9:31 AM
Sorry, Hope. I meant to click quote instead of strike. I hope they have coffee on tier five; I’m going to need it.
Laura in Maryland on July 16, 2009 at 9:32 AM
Hell, I’d be happy with a Vent every now and then. Remember those? And for some reason (No not that one!), I’ve been remembering Bethany. I wonder how she is doing these days.
A Tier System? Not so much…
JohnnyD on July 16, 2009 at 9:32 AM
I’m 65 years old. Hot Air is the first and only for me as far as commenting goes amd I’m not very good at it. It sure makes me feel good to see my comment out there though. I go back and read it a number of times and carefully look for comments about my comment. It’s a way of learning.
If Ed and Allah are to become the Judges then what I will have to learn is what makes them happy and what they will get from me will not be “my oppinion” but my oppinion of what they want to hear.
Question. Is this what you guys really want? If so,have you ever thought about the presidency?
Ernest on July 16, 2009 at 9:39 AM
Without reading 6 pages of comments – (obviously I’m a Tier 2 candidate) exactly who would be evaluating posters? Whose definition of funny? Whose definition of fair-minded? Do Tier 1 people get to blackball their inferiors?
If you want a blog of only a certain type of person – just make the site private, by invitation only.
katiejane on July 16, 2009 at 9:44 AM
Forgot to add – I’d much rather you added an ignore function – that way people could decide on their own who they thought was “funniest, thoughtful, intelligent, well-argued” and who was just a waste of pixels.
katiejane on July 16, 2009 at 9:49 AM
The tiered commenting system sounds like a method of silencing the opposition. Worthy of a socialist.
darktood on July 16, 2009 at 10:02 AM
If any blog needs a tier system it’s HotAir. Mind you, it’d get rid of a lot of posters.
RufusW on July 16, 2009 at 10:05 AM
My vote is an even more emphatic no this morning.
TXMomof3 on July 16, 2009 at 10:07 AM
Ernest on July 16, 2009 at 9:39 AM
I’m with you Ernest. I appreciate everyone’s input. Though I was glad to see getalife go.
TXMomof3 on July 16, 2009 at 10:09 AM
Isn’t there a “Green Room” , already?, for the so called tier 1 bloggers, ( I think this is Allah code, for bloggers he knows and his “buds”, after all, who decides which comments and commentors, go to which tier?
Offhanded on July 16, 2009 at 10:25 AM
LOL
Ernest on July 16, 2009 at 10:41 AM
If you implement this idea is there any way we can “toggle off” Tier 1 and just see the Tier 2 comments. Tier 1 seems pretty pretentious and boring.
Jeff from WI on July 16, 2009 at 10:49 AM
AP,
Gettng ready for net neutrality?
The object is to fight It not join it…
Take this proposition to its finality…
jerrytbg on July 16, 2009 at 10:51 AM
How long until those who kiss butt the best get automatic Tier 1 status?
MarkTheGreat on July 16, 2009 at 10:55 AM
Now, that’s funny.
anniekc on July 16, 2009 at 11:10 AM
My vote depends on whether I get to be named as the “Comment Czar.”
cackcon on July 16, 2009 at 11:13 AM
As to nested comments: PLEASE DON’T
Yes it HELP keep down thread jacking but it is a pain in the a$$ to keep track AND as they get indented pretty soon the comment is like 5 words in width and a page long.
Use a reply button that marks your comment with the comment nic and number and time of the comment your replying to. use two choices reply only and reply with quote.
That helps keep track for you who you’re talking to and helps with putting the part of the comment that you’re replying to at the top of your comment as quoted. You can then highlight, redact, underline, emphasize whatever part of the comment that you want.
NO NESTING!!! IT SUCKS!!!
jcw46 on July 16, 2009 at 11:23 AM
Personally, I kind of like the “comment on the comment” thing Ed started shortly before shutting down CQ.
But I can see how that would break up the chat-room feel.
Count to 10 on July 16, 2009 at 11:25 AM
Why, what corruption are you into? :)
OldEnglish on July 16, 2009 at 11:26 AM
Look, slashdot has had this comments thing figured out for years. The commenters rate and re-rate comments in a different sort of tiered system; they are collapsible into tree structure. Comments that get voted up are open by default — you can browse through all, and you can reply to specific comments.
It is by far the best system ever in the history of net.
k2aggie07 on July 16, 2009 at 11:26 AM
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