Issue: Anonymous Comments on Post Activity

[Entermaid]

Anonymous comments on my posts in user control section, located above list of "liked" posts.

Can members post them? Can guests post them?
I was curious; I didn't know that these existed.


The first one was, " very valid points" or something to that nature.

The second one was, "Stfu Already, Will ya?" or something to that nature.
I thought the second one was kind of hillarious, but to other users, I am not sure if they would get as much amusement from a comment like that as I would.

The apparent issue is, well, how do you moderate anonymous activity?

 

[Honest]

One of PC lesser known features haha.

If I remember correctly, only members are able to post them. And as for how they get moderated, I'll make an assumption and say that hstaff is responsible for that end, cause user comments are still anonymous for me.

I honestly kind of find the whole system pointless, but that's a personal opinion. I know other people who like them. That being said, I believe user notes used to also be tied with the reputation system, which was a lot worse. The whole thing was taken down, but the comment feature of the rep system made a comeback by popular demand.

I switched to a new account, so I don't have any usernotes, but iirc, there wasn't a report button. So if you had a particularly malicious comment, the way to report it would be PMing hstaff.

 

[donavannj]

Only members can post them.

They're kept anonymous for everyone but higher staff, as it falls under the jurisdiction of higher staff to moderate those.

 

[Nihilego]

Only members can leave you post comments. If someone leaves you a rude post comment, such as that second one, you can send a PM to a member of higher staff with a link to the post which was commented on and we can look up who gave you the comment and deal with it accordingly.

edit: ninja'd hard yo
edit 2: perhaps, since you've not noticed them before, you're wondering how to leave them as well. You can click this button:

at the bottom of people's posts to leave a comment. :]

 

[Sydian]

Hate to hijack the thread for this, but since we've gotten likes, I've noticed post comments are mainly used as the negative feedback area. Since you can easily like someone's post to show your agreement, that removes the use of post comments for positive things (most of the time, anyway). I wouldn't mind them getting removed now, honestly. I know back when they were removed the first time, people were mad (myself included!) but like I said, we have likes now and the post comment system has become even more negative since then.

I'm not gonna go nuts if it stays, that's just my thoughts on it.

 

[Nihilego]

We actually discussed removing them a while back in HQ and decided against it (or never concluded, idr) because they're still a useful medium for giving thoughts which isn't covered by any other system; if post comments are removed there's no possible way of giving anonymous thoughts or suggestions on a post at all. I don't actually believe that most of them are negative these days from what I've seen while snooping in the modcp. I personally feel people are much more civil that we give them credit for in general.

 

[Sydian]

Well, that makes me feel better then. I know that people tend to think that when they're anonymous, they have ~all the power~ and I guess it's because I'm a mod that people tend to throw hissies in my post comments, lol. But that makes me feel much better that they're not as negative as I was thinking, but of course, I can only see mine. I don't really read them anymore cause some people need to get over things, honestly. lol

 

[Livewire]

I think the easiest thing to do would be to code a report button in your UserCP next to received comments, that way they can be readily addressed.

Not sure how easy that would be to implement, though.

 

[Entermaid]

Thanks for the feedback. I was actually surprised in retrospect that I received a positive anonymous comment. It was as if, they agreed, but maybe they didn't want anyone else to know they agreed? haha

As far as the second one, it was in response to a recent post I made about the Snowden story. I simply introduced another perspective than what was offered, of which was equating him to a hero or martyr of sorts in the multiple posts made in the thread. Apparently the poster wasn't able to find the words or justified arguments in order to have a discussion in order to explain what flaws, which I am sure several existed, in my post.

To me, it just seems unnecessary. By sending me, essentially, a ghost PM, it doesn't really engage my interest since I cannot respond whether it is a positive or negative comment. I would actually be fine with it if the comment was visible for everyone, essential a post that is anonymous for everyone to see.

Either way it's not a huge deal if it stays or goes. I just found it odd, and a needless concern that other users might run into problems with in the future.

 

[Kura]

I actually like to use the post comments to offer support to a member where posting something on the thread would deviate the topic, or VMing them seems personal, and PMing them seems a bit intrusive.

For example the "last breakup thread" (I forget the actual name of it) in CCP I posted to a couple people stuff like "chin up bro" or "your ex sounds terrible, I hope you've moved on."
I find them helpful in those situations.

I like to put my name at the end of post comments, but I personally wish they weren't anonymous because some people have left negative feedback on them before. I shrug off the hate, but there may be those who would take it more personally and be quite upset about it.
Nevertheless I like the feature, and I think it should be made a point that if you receive a neg comment, you can very well bring it to higher staff to take a look- as I didn't realize they could even see it and it would be useful to know. :3

 

[droomph]

Also I have -43 rep according to the post comment box lol

I think it's a better way to deal with negative comments because unless someone posts "I'm gonna hurt you" or something it's the same as using VMs or PMs, but with the difference that it causes a lot less "…I can't believe you said that…" (though of course if it's extra mean we'll find out anyways)

tl;dr it's a good way to deal with the slightly-negative comments.

Though I think there should be an option to delete post comments but :p

 

[Alexander Nicholi]

Yeah, I got an anonymous comment attacking me over my opinion on Windows Vista and Windows 8. It was like "Come on, you praise Vista but **** on 8 because of its interface? Grow up."

I didn't know until now that I could PM H-Staff about it. Maybe I'll do that, considering they can see who posted it even though I can't.

 

[Nihilego]

Can I just say guys that I don't want this to turn into a thread where we complain about specific post comments we've received? d:

If you all PM me with any comments which have offended you I'll deal with them in the morning. I want to make it more public that post comments a) exist and b) can be reported, too, so I'll think of how I might do that.

 

[Sydian]

I really do think post comments need a report button coded somewhere in there. Most people don't seem to know they can PM a higher staff member to bring it up, which is...shocking to me. I mean, you'd PM them for something else bugging you, surely, so idk why post comments are any different. But they should be a reportable offense.

 

[Star-Lord]

Just a curious question with anon comments.

If you have anon comments currently "active", are you able to see people who like your posts?

I've actually noticed it for awhile now. I get the notification for someone saying they liked my post, but I actually can't see any data for which post they liked in the User Control Panel area. Or is it supposed to be that way? I can see my anon commentary fine, but not... anything liked. It's just a bit of a pain because I have to go back looking through my posts to see which one got "liked". I'm just assuming that anon commentary trumps liked posts or something.

 

[Honest]

That might have to do with the skin you're using, actually, I don't think every skin has the feature installed.

 

[Honest]

^I concur with Shawn. They're pointless imo. If you want to give constructive criticism, say it on the person's wall. Same if you want to compliment them.

 

[Elaitenstile]

I want to see more people use it, it can serve as a good feature if you don't want to clutter the VMs, or send PMs related specifically to one post.

I think this way we can make a point without having to start arguing with a person, you know, if you're his friend and don't want to start criticism. Also compliments can be given by people who are not in good terms with the person.

 

[Mana1]

IMO post comments are excellent for quick Q&Q. Especially in the roleplay section - much easier to just leave an anonymous answer of 'yes'/'no' rather than PM/VM or stretch out a post just to answer.

 

[Sydian]

I also agree with Audy. I'm posting to show my agreement cause his crazy post doesn't have a like button...so I have to be obnoxious and express it through posting. lol But SwiftSign brings up a good point in how it can be useful. Maybe, like the rep system, we could have a way to disable post comments and people that don't want them won't get them? And people that do can still get them. How about that?