Conversation Tracker Coming...

News Type: Event — Thu Feb 23, 2006 2:59 PM EST

technology, newsvine, newsvine-feedback, conversation-tracker, feature-release, comment-history, zzz

In a few weeks, we'll be launching the Newsvine Conversation Tracker. No more digging around in Your History to see if someone has responded to the manifesto you left on their post. There will be two indicators just above the main level categories. One will show the number of comment threads that contain a new comment since your last comment for items in your column, and the other will denote the same thing for articles and seeds elsewhere around Newsvine. There will shortly thereafter be a third to track conversations with your friends. You may see the graphics mentioned above appear on the site during testing.

On another note, we'd like to hear your thoughts on another feature we've built, but are hesitant to roll out without prior debate on its usefulness. The feature in question is Comment History; the ability to view all comments left by a particular user. This feature can be of great utility in following the comments of an author you like and also increases the level of accountability when it comes to leaving comments around Newsvine. The anonymous nature of commenting has, at times, made it more difficult to see what a particular person's track record is - especially if they don't write posts or seed links. The downside of such a feature involves privacy and potential cyber-stalking. Since comments are a part of the public record however, providing comment history is mostly a matter of convenience. Other public forums, such as message boards, offer this functionality. Please vote YES or NO on the comments provided. Your additional thoughts are also welcome.

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What's this?

Who's leading the conversation?

This visualization below allows you to see the impact that each user has on the current conversation. The top row contains the group of users who have had the most impact, the 2nd row the group of users who have had the 2nd most impact (et cetera). Users with similar impact are grouped together, and the average score of the group is shown to the left of the group. The author of the article is also shown on the left, in their corresponding group. Each user's score is based on the number of comments the user has made plus the number of votes their comments have received. The scores are calculated relative one another, so while their absolute value is not particularly important, their relative difference does indicate a larger difference in impact on the conversation.

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{"commentId":38560,"authorDomain":"blog"}

Newsvine Blog

YES - Give us comment history.

{"commentId":38560,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"blog"}

127 votes

#1 - Wed Feb 22, 2006 10:23 PM EST

{"commentId":38561,"authorDomain":"blog"}

Newsvine Blog

NO - Comment history should not be displayed.

{"commentId":38561,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"blog"}

13 votes

#2 - Wed Feb 22, 2006 10:24 PM EST

{"commentId":38567,"authorDomain":"walterk"}

Walter K

YES & NO. Comment History should be a feature users can enable/disable at will.

{"commentId":38567,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"walterk"}

14 votes

#3 - Wed Feb 22, 2006 10:29 PM EST

{"commentId":38568,"authorDomain":"tips"}

ASSMAN

YES!! ive been waiting for this, thank you!

{"commentId":38568,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"tips"}

2 votes

#4 - Wed Feb 22, 2006 10:31 PM EST

{"commentId":38573,"authorDomain":"tips"}

ASSMAN

and i mean yes: comment history isnt necessary, but its a convenient feature and i think it should be implemented

{"commentId":38573,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"tips"}

1 vote

#5 - Wed Feb 22, 2006 10:34 PM EST

{"commentId":38575,"authorDomain":"jmweirick"}

jmweirick

YES - It seemed odd to me when I came here that you didn't already have that.

{"commentId":38575,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"jmweirick"}

2 votes

#6 - Wed Feb 22, 2006 10:37 PM EST

{"commentId":38577,"authorDomain":"michaelkelley"}

Michael Kelley

no - I think it would be a little creepy knowing that someone can pick apart everything you write over a long period of time. I think viewing the amount of votes for their posts is enough.

{"commentId":38577,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"michaelkelley"}

1 vote

#7 - Wed Feb 22, 2006 10:39 PM EST

{"commentId":38580,"authorDomain":"walterk"}

Walter K

Erm, I mistakenly assumed I was supposed to reply with a comment saying "YES" or "NO", and probably misled others into thinking the same. (Though I would've commented anyway, as I think the Comment History should be optional.)

If all you want to do is vote, then hit the up arrow for one of the first two comments. No need to actually reply.

{"commentId":38580,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"walterk"}

3 votes

#8 - Wed Feb 22, 2006 10:41 PM EST

{"commentId":38583,"authorDomain":"michaelkelley"}

Michael Kelley

Actually...I will back up a little...I think the user should be able to enable it if they wish others to see their history, but should be off by default. So Yes..but with my conditions :)

{"commentId":38583,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"michaelkelley"}

7 votes

#9 - Wed Feb 22, 2006 10:42 PM EST

{"commentId":38584,"authorDomain":"prompt"}

prompt

Another great step forward to push Newsvine closer to being able to publicly launch.

Also I would agree with being able to view people's comment solely for the reputation factor. You want to know if this person is always making great/horrible comments, then just go look it up.

{"commentId":38584,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"prompt"}

#10 - Wed Feb 22, 2006 10:43 PM EST

{"commentId":38587,"authorDomain":"brianford"}

Brian Ford

I think yes for the history. The first thing I do when I read a comment by someone is check and see what they've posted. And then what they've seeded. Unfortunately, 9 times out of 10 the answer to both to those is a big fat nothing. Chances are they've commented, and I'd like to know what sort of stories they're commenting on and if they follow a typical pattern before I bother. I see it as a way of knowing who to ignore when I'm engaged in a discussion.

{"commentId":38587,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"brianford"}

3 votes

#11 - Wed Feb 22, 2006 10:46 PM EST

{"commentId":39128,"authorDomain":"brandonh"}

Br@ndon

YES - Give us comment history.

{"commentId":39128,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"brandonh"}

2 votes

#12 - Thu Feb 23, 2006 2:30 PM EST

{"commentId":39139,"authorDomain":"edwards"}

Edward Sebastian

Wait, do you mean comment history that others can track?

{"commentId":39139,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"edwards"}

2 votes

#13 - Thu Feb 23, 2006 2:34 PM EST

{"commentId":39141,"authorDomain":"clibra"}

CLibra

YES! That would help a lot

{"commentId":39141,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"clibra"}

1 vote

#14 - Thu Feb 23, 2006 2:35 PM EST

{"commentId":39146,"authorDomain":"dolphin"}

nihplod

YES for comment history - as Brian mentions above, it's very hard to tell how active people are (especially in these early days) - just because someone doesn't write or seed doesn't mean they're not making valuable contributions.

{"commentId":39146,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"dolphin"}

#15 - Thu Feb 23, 2006 2:36 PM EST

{"commentId":39149,"authorDomain":"velocity"}

Velocity

Yes

{"commentId":39149,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"velocity"}

#16 - Thu Feb 23, 2006 2:37 PM EST

{"commentId":39152,"authorDomain":"tang"}

Calvin TangRestored

Simple YES or NO votes, please vote on the comments here. Additional thoughts left as new comments please!

{"commentId":39152,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"tang"}

6 votes

#17 - Thu Feb 23, 2006 2:38 PM EST

{"commentId":39162,"authorDomain":"edwards"}

Edward Sebastian

I apologize, I must have misread that part in the post. :o I think it would be a good feature, yes, but with emotions running high and political bitterness in many comments, I'm afraid you might end up with more problems than you've bargained for. An overwhelming majority will vote Yes, sure, but think carefully on this one!

{"commentId":39162,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"edwards"}

#18 - Thu Feb 23, 2006 2:46 PM EST

{"commentId":39170,"authorDomain":"lstryder"}

Lief Stryder

YES - Give us comment history.

{"commentId":39170,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"lstryder"}

#19 - Thu Feb 23, 2006 2:53 PM EST

{"commentId":39174,"authorDomain":"yaakov"}

Yaakov

Yes, but a user should be able to disable it to prevent others from tracking their comments if they desire

{"commentId":39174,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"yaakov"}

1 vote

#20 - Thu Feb 23, 2006 2:54 PM EST

{"commentId":39179,"authorDomain":"phaedrus72"}

Phaedrus72

Yes for the comments tracker. Another thing I would like to see, but maybe this is just me, is for the order of the comments to be reversed so that the latest comments are at the top, just like in a dated blog. This would make is so much more convenient as it gets tiresome to have to scroll past several and sometimes dozens and dozens of comments to get to the new ones and then you have to find where you left off last time. I think this would be an easy thing to do. I don't know if anyone agrees with me, and I didn't want to write an entire column about it, but does anyone agree with me?

{"commentId":39179,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"phaedrus72"}

1 vote

#21 - Thu Feb 23, 2006 2:57 PM EST

{"commentId":39202,"authorDomain":"darkside"}

Mykola Bilokonsky

YES

{"commentId":39202,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"darkside"}

#22 - Thu Feb 23, 2006 3:30 PM EST

{"commentId":39207,"authorDomain":"lamancha"}

Lamancha

I've voted yes, but I'd like it to be monitored closely for abuse. Comments to Posts or Seeds need to be kept on topic, and not degenerate into a debate about the reasons for a particular users opinion.

{"commentId":39207,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"lamancha"}

1 vote

#23 - Thu Feb 23, 2006 3:34 PM EST

{"commentId":39211,"authorDomain":"chrisgorvan"}

Chris Gorvan

Yes

{"commentId":39211,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"chrisgorvan"}

#24 - Thu Feb 23, 2006 3:36 PM EST

{"commentId":39220,"authorDomain":"smaran"}

Smaran

YES - Give us comment history.
I've been waiting for this. Thank you X billion.
Also the conversation history is a lovely idea. Sometimes I feel so useless when I don't seed/write an article, but write this loooong comment no one will ever read, unless they know where I've posted it.
You guys are on the right path. Newsvine is getting healthier, stronger and deeper rooted everyday. With a base like this, I might actually vote "pro go-public" in a while. Keep it up guys. It's a cliché, but you guys rock!

{"commentId":39220,"threadId":"3746","contentId":"106645","authorDomain":"smaran"}

3 votes

#25 - Thu Feb 23, 2006 3:53 PM EST

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{"canLink":false,"threadId":"3746","isPrivate":false}

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