Comments on: Comments: Messy and flawed, but valuable http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2008/11/20/comments-messy-and-flawed-but-valuable/ ... at the intersection of media, technology, business and the web Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:59:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: Andy Church http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2008/11/20/comments-messy-and-flawed-but-valuable/comment-page-1/#comment-374690 Andy Church Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:40:50 +0000 http://www.mathewingram.com/work/?p=3625#comment-374690 HI Mathew.<br><br>I have come to conclude that comment threads created, read, dugg up or down are in themselves valuable if one can somehow harness all that data and make meaningful information out of it. An example. If the sum of my comments around the subject of Bonsai are dugg, voted up, piled-on all across my posts across the Internet, then perhaps I become the recognized expert on Bonsai pruning...next thing you know, someone looking to hire top talent in the field of Bonsai care is going to find me. The challenge, how to harness all that data across tens, hundreds, thousands of comment threads and disparate ways of counting and measuring the data? <br><br>Disclaimer - I am no expert in Bonsai care...only in my green dreams. And, I did not notice Cameron's Blog handle before I dreamed up the Bonsai reference...love the irony.<br><br>Andy HI Mathew.

I have come to conclude that comment threads created, read, dugg up or down are in themselves valuable if one can somehow harness all that data and make meaningful information out of it. An example. If the sum of my comments around the subject of Bonsai are dugg, voted up, piled-on all across my posts across the Internet, then perhaps I become the recognized expert on Bonsai pruning…next thing you know, someone looking to hire top talent in the field of Bonsai care is going to find me. The challenge, how to harness all that data across tens, hundreds, thousands of comment threads and disparate ways of counting and measuring the data?

Disclaimer – I am no expert in Bonsai care…only in my green dreams. And, I did not notice Cameron's Blog handle before I dreamed up the Bonsai reference…love the irony.

Andy

]]> By: Andy Church http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2008/11/20/comments-messy-and-flawed-but-valuable/comment-page-1/#comment-344280 Andy Church Wed, 26 Nov 2008 00:40:50 +0000 http://www.mathewingram.com/work/?p=3625#comment-344280 HI Mathew.<br><br>I have come to conclude that comment threads created, read, dugg up or down are in themselves valuable if one can somehow harness all that data and make meaningful information out of it. An example. If the sum of my comments around the subject of Bonsai are dugg, voted up, piled-on all across my posts across the Internet, then perhaps I become the recognized expert on Bonsai pruning...next thing you know, someone looking to hire top talent in the field of Bonsai care is going to find me. The challenge, how to harness all that data across tens, hundreds, thousands of comment threads and disparate ways of counting and measuring the data? <br><br>Disclaimer - I am no expert in Bonsai care...only in my green dreams. And, I did not notice Cameron's Blog handle before I dreamed up the Bonsai reference...love the irony.<br><br>Andy HI Mathew.

I have come to conclude that comment threads created, read, dugg up or down are in themselves valuable if one can somehow harness all that data and make meaningful information out of it. An example. If the sum of my comments around the subject of Bonsai are dugg, voted up, piled-on all across my posts across the Internet, then perhaps I become the recognized expert on Bonsai pruning…next thing you know, someone looking to hire top talent in the field of Bonsai care is going to find me. The challenge, how to harness all that data across tens, hundreds, thousands of comment threads and disparate ways of counting and measuring the data?

Disclaimer – I am no expert in Bonsai care…only in my green dreams. And, I did not notice Cameron's Blog handle before I dreamed up the Bonsai reference…love the irony.

Andy

]]> By: Kyle Howard http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2008/11/20/comments-messy-and-flawed-but-valuable/comment-page-1/#comment-344252 Kyle Howard Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:25:48 +0000 http://www.mathewingram.com/work/?p=3625#comment-344252 On a blog, comments are essential. Its all about community building. I think it would be nice to have some kind of mechanism so that comments can be rated by others. The best comments would rise to the top, while flaming and spam would eventually "fall off" the bottom of the list. Would reduce the need for moderation as well. On a blog, comments are essential. Its all about community building. I think it would be nice to have some kind of mechanism so that comments can be rated by others. The best comments would rise to the top, while flaming and spam would eventually “fall off” the bottom of the list. Would reduce the need for moderation as well.

]]> By: Cameron http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2008/11/20/comments-messy-and-flawed-but-valuable/comment-page-1/#comment-344247 Cameron Sun, 23 Nov 2008 20:57:54 +0000 http://www.mathewingram.com/work/?p=3625#comment-344247 With a data analysis background, I am of the opinion that the next step is going to be text mining of the comments to extract valuable information. As commenting grows in popularity, humans will be unable to manage the data -- as we're already seeing when comments grow to high counts. What will we do with the data?<br><br>Open-ended questions are difficult to analyze. Comments are open-ended. Providing "votes" or "ratings" can turn into a popularity contest, even with defined categories. <br><br>I predict that as commenting grows in popularity, it will lose any importance as there will be no one to read, and react to, those comments...unless, there is a way to mine useful information from those comments. <br><br>Cameron<br>Defining Your Home Garden (blog) With a data analysis background, I am of the opinion that the next step is going to be text mining of the comments to extract valuable information. As commenting grows in popularity, humans will be unable to manage the data — as we're already seeing when comments grow to high counts. What will we do with the data?

Open-ended questions are difficult to analyze. Comments are open-ended. Providing “votes” or “ratings” can turn into a popularity contest, even with defined categories.

I predict that as commenting grows in popularity, it will lose any importance as there will be no one to read, and react to, those comments…unless, there is a way to mine useful information from those comments.

Cameron
Defining Your Home Garden (blog)

]]> By: Notes from a Teacher - Thursday squibs http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2008/11/20/comments-messy-and-flawed-but-valuable/comment-page-1/#comment-344201 Notes from a Teacher - Thursday squibs Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:18:39 +0000 http://www.mathewingram.com/work/?p=3625#comment-344201 [...] Comments: Messy and flawed, but valuable. On a day when I was forced to move to full moderation for comments on our college news website, I found Mathew Ingram’s post particularly relevant. [...] [...] Comments: Messy and flawed, but valuable. On a day when I was forced to move to full moderation for comments on our college news website, I found Mathew Ingram’s post particularly relevant. [...]

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