Currently, the commenting system on the Economist.com is limited and straightforward.  Registered users are able to comment on articles and blogs when they are signed in.  Usernames appear as a link in every post.  When clicked, this link leads to a separate page which tallies the user’s history of posts.

Comments appear flat on the page, either in chronological or reverse chronological order.  Users can also select a 3rd option of “Readers’ most recommended” viewing order.  Comments can be flagged for abuse.  Posts appear 20 at a time per page, regardless of length.

Users cannot reply directly to each other within the thread.  They cannot upload video or media within a post.  Hyperlinks posted by users will navigate away from The Economist’s page in the browser.

No commenting is available on The Economist’s videos.

What Should Be Changed

Several of our recommended changes are already being implemented as the Economist.com moves to Drupal.  Among those are (1) featured comments, (2) threaded-style layout, (3) comments tagging, (4) a ratings system, and (5) an e-mailed response to commenters when someone replies to them.

We will elaborate on these improvements only where we have a specific suggestion.

We believe users should have the ability to reply to one another, in addition to the articles.  Commenters are already directing posts at each other without a conducive layout.  Threaded comments should solve most of this problem.

Users should be given the opportunity to identify themselves, in a way that fosters online community.

They should also be able to intuitively post text, audio, photo, video, and hyperlinks, and share content they like with social networking and bookmarking sites.

Examples Of Other Sites’ Systems and Drupal Modules

1. Commenters reply directly to each other in threaded layout

• Gawker uses the Twitter “@” reply method, and replies are organized within the comment they are referring to

• NY Times health care conversations: replies become an entirely new thread of their own

2. User identification within comments

• Drupal Profile module allows a users to share personal info using a number of different fields (single line, drop-down menu, list).
• This could include information such as name, age, location, political preference, etc.

3. Voting on comments

• Many sites already allow this in different  formats, including voting comments “up” or “down”, or a ranking system.
• The Huffington Post allows users to become “fans” of each other, as well as marking comments as “favorites”

• Drupal Fivestar Voting module could be used to enable users to vote on a comment through a rating system.

4. Word limits

• Consider introducing word limits for each comment (300 words), then enabling the continuation of more in depth discussions in separate spaces.
• e.g. Gawker Open Forums: by using Twitter style hashtags (#tips) in a comment, a new url is generated with that tag (www.gawker.com/tag/tips), for people to continue their conversation

5. Embedding of video/images in comments

• Gizmodo allows users to embed images or  YouTube videos in their comments.

• Drupal Video module allows users to submit their own videos, not just those hosted on YouTube
• Drupal Riffly module allows users to video or audio record their responses directly into the comments box

6. Comments on same page as article, for easy interaction

• By extension, allow users to directly quote from the article, or others’ comments.
• Drupal Quote module has this feature, so a quote is clearly marked within a user’s response

7. Users sharing content through social networking sites

• Drupal Share module allows users to share content through social networking and bookmarking sites, i.e. Twitter, Facebook, Digg, etc.

What We Recommend

We recommend the following:

(1) A threaded comments layout that allows users to reply directly to each other in addition to Economist content

(2) Provide incentives for online users by featuring comments not only on “Channel” pages but also in the print edition

(3) Introduce a “fivestar” rating system that ranks comments according to user voting.  Consider having a separate “Economist-ranked” option.

(4) Invite users to join relevant debates.  Post a link to a related debate at the end of controversial articles/blogs.  Send users a personal invite when they post a comment.  Also, consider a “recommend for debate” option in the ratings tab.

(5)  Allow users to identify themselves in posts.  This would take the form of an optional user profile to be completed upon registration.  This could include:

• Location (or Hometown)
• Occupation
• Political Affiliation
• Personal Website
• Photo or Avatar

Each field should be optional.  Users should be able to post selected personal info alongside comments, or have their username link back to a separate profile page.

(6) Impose a visible word-limit on posts (i.e. only 300 words will appear in the display page), encouraging commenters to be thoughtful and concise.  Invite users to participate in related debates or events, either in the article and with an invite after they post a comment.

(7) Keep comments thread on the same page as the article.  Make sure hyperlinks open up a separate tab/window in user’s browser rather than navigate away from the Economist page.

(8) Allow users to embed video and other media easily into posts.

(9) Allow users to share content with links to social networking and bookmarking sites.

(10) Enable commenting on Economist video and multimedia content.

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