Patrick Beeson

The Las Vegas Sun has solved the newspaper website comment problem as far as I'm concerned.

For the past few months, Rob Curley and team have been testing a solution using Facebook to verify users before they're able to post comments on select stories. This led to a site-wide change where registered users can choose to verify their identity via old-fashioned phone calls or by connecting with Facebook before commenting.

Or they can remain anonymous. Except their comments won't appear below the story as is par for the course these days. Rather, they'll appear on a separate page but still connected to the story.

This is also a good example of Matt Waite's Build Something or STFU philosophy.

Users wanting to verify their identity can provide information such as a phone number, mailing address and full name. A Las Vegas Sun staffer will contact them a few days later to confirm the account.

Credit: http://lasvegassun.com

Why the Las Vegas Sun comment solution works

The comment fix from the Las Vegas Sun works because it's based on a workflow already present in nearly all newsrooms. The process of calling to verify commenters is the same process used for the veritable letters to the editor.

Here's how it works, having completed the process myself:

For new users

1. Register a new account by creating a username and password
2. Return the challenge e-mail
3. Fill out the optional identity verification form, which asks for a full name, phone number, address, date of birth and gender. You may also skip this by connecting your Facebook account with the Las Vegas Sun account you just created.
4. In a few days -- it was three for me -- you'll get a call from a Las Vegas Sun staff member asking if you are who you say you are.
5. You're verified and can post comments below any story. Your real name will be displayed beside your username.

For registered users

1. Click the "verify identity" button above any story
2. Fill out the optional identity verification form, which asks for a full name, phone number, address, date of birth and gender. You may also skip this by connecting your Facebook account with the Las Vegas Sun account you just created.
3. In a few days -- it was three for me -- you'll get a call from a Las Vegas Sun staff member asking if you are who you say you are.
4. You're verified and can post comments below any story. Your real name will be displayed beside your username.

My call from the Las Vegas Sun staffer took less than one minute and was a pleasant experience.

This is definitely a situation where time up front is worth more down the line: By taking a minute of time to verify an identity, you're likely saving several minutes of time removing comments that went astray because of anonymity.

Of course, this can all be done by an intern.

And bonus: Your staff actually speaks with people that use your website. The possibilities boggle the mind.

Another bonus: You can improve the experience on your website for folks that connect their Facebook profiles. Scripps is doing this already using JanRain Engage.

Staff still needs to engage in comments

The Las Vegas Sun's fix for comments only goes so far of course.

Staff members, including reporters, should still strive to engage users in the comments on their stories. This is a proven defuser of potentially hurtful comments. It can also improve the conversation by showing that reporters are available to answer questions or continue reporting a story.

If the Las Vegas Sun simply verified all identities, but didn't engage with users, I'd reckon they'll still have problems.

On that topic, there will still be people that will say things most of us think are indecent; keep the flagging options active.

Anonymous comments could die

One consequence of quarantining anonymous comments to their own page -- a page that's hopefully still looked at by reporters -- is that those commenters may drop out if the population drops.

Anonymous commenters have their place of course. How else can people become whistleblowers or express their input on a story without retribution from their employer? Also, some folks may not be comfortable connecting their real identity to their web identity.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out for the Las Vegas Sun.

Do you work at a media website that allows comments? What do you think about the Las Vegas Sun's policy? What works for your organization?