We all know comment threads can be the lowest of the low when it comes to online conversations. At The Narwhal, we’re trying to change that. That’s why we require all of our commenters to register with Disqus in order to participate in our comment threads. Disqus requires a simple email verification which both helps our team prevent spammers from overloading comment threads and helps hold commenters accountable for what they say.
We’ve got a few dos and do nots listed below for our comment policy, but the topline idea is this: civility and substance rule the day.
PLEASE DO:
- Provide links to debunk falsehoods and verify facts
- Contribute to the conversation with background information
- Notify us of typos! Pretty please
- Tell us what we’re missing in our reporting
- Flag but don’t engage trolls
- Be respectful of different perspectives and opinions
PLEASE DO NOT:
- Undermine the conversation with derogatory language or profanity
- Espouse sexist, classist, racist or homophobic language or ideas
- Be a jerk — i.e. don’t intimidate, insult, defame, threaten or bully other commenters
- Bully, threaten, name-call or troll
- Feed the trolls. (But feel free to flag them)