Blog: The editor's desk
We'd love to 'verify' you
Published Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Anyone wanting to expedite their verification at newsminer.com is welcome to e-mail internet@newsminer.com to get things moving. Give us your sign-on name, let us know when is a good time to catch you by phone, and we'll move you to the top of the verification list.
We want to verify as many users as possible and, frankly, I think that requiring people to register under their real names before they post Web comments would be ideal. But is anything ideal on the Internet?
Some readers and several staffers here at the paper would prefer that we allow comments only from people with verified identities on the Web site. It's likely that such a limitation would "clean up" our comment strings.
Unfortunately (heavy sigh) it's just not practical.
For example, the polar bear shooting story in Fort Yukon was a popular topic and drew a great deal of commentary. The commentary would have been much less, however, if we would have allowed comment only from verified users.
I receive an e-mail alert when new comment makers join the site. I think I get copies of their first four or five posts. They pop up with a subject line of "rookie" user. I don't have time to look into them, but it is interesting to note the traffic as the numbers roll up on that e-mail account. On "polar bear day" I had 158 rookie user notifications starting at about 4 a.m.
If each of these new people made three comments (more likely they made one or two) that means at least 50 new people wished to participate on that one day. Requiring them to use their names would have required them to register and for us to contact each by phone and "verify" their settings — a process that still isn't exactly a foolproof identity check. It would have taken a lot of time and "the moment" probably would have been lost for a lot of them. In "internet time" just asking people to sign in probably takes more time than some want to spend.
Even if we had a system and personnel in place to accomplish nearly immediate turnaround on verifications it probably would still dampen discussion.
Some who cling to their anonymity have given me other reasons for not offering their names, but as someone who has had his name "out there" for 23 years, I'm not too sympathic. That's a topic for another entry.
There is a reason we do not allow unnamed sources in our news stories except for very limited circumstances, and there is a reason the public demands that of us. There also is a reason we require names on letters to the editor. If you want your opinion to mean something, then attach your name to it -- and we can help speed the process along for you if you wish.
It may just be me, but your blog is little bit unclear as to whether verification is an actual DNM process or something you wish you could do. However, various comments elsewhere on site leads me to believe you are attempting to verify online users.
Some of your verifications will be difficult, requiring long-distance telephone calls. (Guam? Illinois?) And, I agree manpower limitations and turnaround time might limit some, possibly valuable, participation.
I would not require verification for online participation. Regardless of whether a person uses the name on their birth certificate or an online 'nic' (i.e., nickname), they establish a persona based on their words and actions. About the only way around that is to use multiple accounts, and I believe you've already taken steps to limit that.
Also Mr. Editor Sir,
Considering how poorly designed and laid-out this new website is, and on top of your limited bandwidth issues, verification is the least of your worries. I read the News-Miner from my desk on Capitol Hill in Washington DC during my lunch and I can assure you...the bandwidth problem is on your end.
Has the News-Miner considered moving away from Dial-up? Really, no pun intended.
I've been a regular poster on various BBoards for well over a decade, and admittedly, I'm so used to using a handle, that when I signed on to News Miner's new site, I never gave it a second thought. I do have a habit of signing all my posts like I do my emails with my initials.
Having numerous letters to the editor published over the years, which are published with my proper name, I'm perfectly comfortable either with my actual name or a user handle.
-RK
The Alaska Forums have a verification process and a good deal of local experience in handling blogs and archives. It might be worth the effort of the DNM Staff to check with their tech savy folks and see if there is some way you can help each other.
Post a comment