September 21, 2007
Go Guests, Get Gone
As you have probably already noticed, we've made some changes around here. Yesterday morning SFist, its publisher Gothamist, and our sister sites unveiled a new option: guest comments are automatically not displayed for users. But if you do want to read guests' comments, simply click "Show Guest Comments" and -- poof! -- all will be revealed. At least for now.
This is but one step in the process of getting rid of guest comments altogether. Soon, if you want to make a comment on SFist, you will be required to create a profile. Period. It actually isn't that difficult to register, and if you're paranoid about giving us your personal information, simply create a fake email account and go from there.
Already we've received some choice commentary about our final solution for guests:
-- "Utterly lame!"
-- "Fucking lame"
-- "[SFist is] full of itself."
-- "I'm tired of juggling ALL 83 of my online user and passwords."
-- "I hope you die of AIDS."
And while we (more or less) don't mind negative comments, we're simply ask you to not make them anonymously. If you feel the need to post anonymous comments, there are many other sites on the Internets that will allow you to do so. And if you hate us and wish we would just crawl into a hole and die, we recommend you not read any sites in which you have no faith.
Thanks, all! If you have any questions or concerns regarding the matter, please feel free to contact me at brock @ sfist.
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This is the most unjust, unfair persecution of innocents since Ed Jew!
I emailed editor at sfist.com early this morning about not receiving a confirmation email for a new account and never received a reply.
I think there needs to be a bit of quid pro quo. For every "Guest" who comes out from under their rock and makes a profile, you should publish the name and phone number of one of the Busted Tees models. Start with that ginner with the green "Push It" T-shirt.
So sad that nobody busted out the:
"I would never register for a website that would have me as a member."
It was ripe for the taking.
Utterly lame!
"we recommend you not reading any sites in which you have no faith."
faith?
huh!
I hope you die of AIDS.
Notice the period instead of, like, an exclamation mark. That's how casually I tell people to die of the AIDS... anyway, I'm already a member, so whateva.
Look, if you want to ban anon posting, fine. But I stand by my comment that it is fucking lame. Sometimes people want or need to post anon, particularly in politics, so the conversations are better with the guests.
It's so funny how people accuse SFist/Gothamist of being overly corporate or greedy or traffic whores when, in fact, this will almost certainly instigate a slowdown in traffic.
Seems to me SFist/Gothamist is willing to make that sacrifice in the name of making the site -- and community -- better.
So, kudos -- cautiously optimistic it'll work; it will in large part depend on the commenters themselves, who've thus far been pretty great overall . . .
So what's in it for me? Why should I register (never minding the fact that I already have)? There is no benefit to the casual reader - who may have something to offer on a particular thread from time to time, though.
And what's in it for Gothamist? Do you dislike the quality of the guest comments? Are you looking to build your registered user #'s so you can up your ad rates? What do you get out of this?
Your article doesn't say why you want to get rid of guest comments.
I like being able to just respond when I get an urge and not have to log-in. I think every site having its own logged-in section slows down the internet. More importantly, I think it fosters a closed environment as it discourages new visitors or those just "passing through." With registration, you will only get responses from a certain group of regulars. Why not leave it open?
Respectfully, SFist, I just wonder why lately I have seen you remove a few polite comments that are critical or questioning of the site's new direction and content. (Less SF politics, more...whatever it will end up being.)
Do you do this because they are by guests? Or because they are critical?
Will you remove critical but polite comments by registered users as well?
Hoping to stick with you for my SF news, but wondering about this.
What Jeremy said.
As for me, what Pete said.
me so sad. no more snarky commenting on snarky bloggg entries.
Guest, #12. Very clever. And that almost sounds earnest.
Speaking from experience ... there are some crazy stalker lunatics who go way overboard and personalize what should otherwise be a sharing of opinions on topics rather than "If you don't agree with my idea, you're a piece of shit and here's your personal identity information for others to tell you what a piece of shit you are." So .... pick your username carefully. :) Be as bland as you can unless you don't give a shit about being recognized.
If you eliminate guest postings, you'll be losing my occasional postings on topics that interest me. If you don't care, well then, I don't either.
I don't use profanity, or make ad hominem attacks or off-topic comments. I just don't see the point of your knowing a lot of stuff about me that is none of your business, so that you can share it with advertisers.
Of course, other anonymous posters who want to continue to post under the new rules can always go to BugMeNot.com and get a fake password.
Word, fizzandpop, that redhead Busted Tees model is smoking hot. Sometimes I come to SFist hoping that her ad is the one that pops up randomly. And I, too, have tried to register several times, and never received the confirmation e-mail. Fix this, SFist, before eliminating guest comments altogether!
Just posting to agree with #18, basically. Except it's not that I don't want you to know my personal info, it's that I'm just too damn lazy. But sometimes a really brilliant comment comes to mind, and if it's easy, I'll post.
Some of us guests can be brilliant on occasion.
Anyway, no big deal. It does seem odd though that a site that gets so few comments, relatively, would be seeking to throw up obstacles to commenting - however, minor.
for those n00bs whining about how hard it is to sign in...if ya fingas be so broke you can't sign in, then they be too broke to comment.
Brock says: "It actually isn't that difficult to register, and if you're paranoid about giving us your personal information, simply create a fake email account and go from there. ... And while we (more or less) don't mind negative comments, we're simply ask you to not make them anonymously."
If I created a fake email account and used a fake name, how would this soothe the bruises of negative comments or solve whatever other problem the ()ist sisters perceive as arising from anonymity?
Boooo!
Keep the guest option! I haven't noticed any difference between registered and guest posts other than the fact that I don't want to register/login!
Keep the guest option, please!
Give me no guests, or give me death.
finally
although this site is not as fun as it used to be, the comments have been really psycho of late....I only read the site once a week now...who needs all the screeching and howling of people angry that everyone is not politically correct.
i will be happy to register!
I used to suffer from Teh Innernet Dramas, but then I discovered the secret:
Never read beyond the 5th comment on any topic on any site, even your own blog, and never, NEVER comment on a comment, only on the main topic.
All has been peace, tranquility, and pretty pink ponies ever since.
Someone said: "Seems to me SFist/Gothamist is willing to make that sacrifice in the name of making the site -- and community -- better."
By that same token, it seems Gothamist/SFist is showing a blatant disregard for a substantial portion of its own readership. And for what? A better "community?" This idea of community is bullshit, and everyone knows it. Does some made up screen-name somehow make you know me better?
No, because ultimately we're all expressing views under the guise of anonymity. How many people here post with their real names? A guest is no different than me, except for the fact that you have my e-mail address.
I think this sentence is pretty telling: "If you feel the need to post anonymous comments, there are many other sites on the Internets that will allow you to do so."
So, Brock, everyone can fuck off if they don't like the new policy? And you wonder why I said you're full of yourself? If you ignore your readers, you're not doing your job. Some of your readers, you may know, are those "guests" who bring traffic to this site. You're telling them to fuck off.
This is stupid. So long, suckas.
Van,
They are not telling people to FO just to LO [logon]... What is so fucking upsetting about that?
They are not asking for real names and addresses, just a pen name. What's the point of hiding, the NSA and FBI are probably monitoring everything we write anyway?
Also it's not a Brock policy, it's a corporate one from NY.
If people don't like the policy, they can post on SFgate. Oops, they have to logon there too...
It's much more pleasant to say "good-bye, Van," rather than "good-bye, guest." Thanks for having a name, V.
Ok, Gothamist is telling people to F Off. Didn't mean to make it personal, Brock. I still think it's stupid.
This really baffles me. I"ve enjoyed posting here in the past, but will no longer. There is no point in registering for this website. sorry.
Van, no offense taken. I understand that it's frustrating when sites you regularly read change, and I am sorry that some of you are upset about it. But whether we like it or not, this change will happen to SFist and all the other Gothamist sites.
I think it has something to do with killing Anonymous; all part of that Internet Hate Machine.
Van -- you make some decent points, even if I don't agree with you on this subject.
I think by and large you are a valuble contributor to the community here. And how do I know that? You have a name -- whether real or assumed -- that I can identify with that body of commentary you've left. That's half the reason I give it weight; at this point, it's as much that it's YOU saying as it is the content of what you are saying.
Nobody does what SFist does better than SFist (I can say that without sounding douchy now that I'm no longer writing here, right?) . . . and people that enjoy that content go far beyond those leaving commentary. Maybe this move will encourage loyal readers to register and add their $0.02; maybe they'll be more invested somehow. Maybe not. I don't know if it's the right move, or the final move, but I was giving credit for the publisher making an effort to change things for the better, even at the expense of its money-generating statistics.