Ronaldo's World Feedhttp://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/ronaldos-world/en-usMon, 07 Feb 2011 11:10:04 -0600An Open Letter: Threaded Comments Suckhttp://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/ronaldos-world/2011/feb/7/an-open-letter-threaded-c/<center><h3>(a technical term used to describe dysfunctionality)<h3/><br /> <br /> <b>The Case Against Threaded Comments on LJWorld.com</center></b> <br /> <p>Most visitors to a web page expect that they will be able to follow the history of a page by reading from top to bottom. This means that the latest comments should be listed at the bottom, therefore comments should be listed oldest first. Reading comments in a threaded format is an unnatural act and quite discombobulating. Threading tends to result in discussions getting off track and increased animosity. Threading affects the community nature of commenting on a local newspaper. <p /> <p>Threading is very logical to a programmer's mind but it doesn't correspond to the way natural human conversations take place in the real world. Threaded comments break up the dialogue into a bunch of private conversations instead of an ongoing, open discussion. It stimulates the negative social aspect of people breaking off from the main conversation, undermining the whole community effect commenting sections are meant to foster. Imposing this structure also tends to fragment discussion within a topic: messages tend to be responded to individually. It is also arguable that this leads to a more confrontational debating style.[1]<p /> <p>I have said this before, threaded comments destroy the unique community dynamic of the LJWorld.com comments section. Social scientist Ray Oldenburg speaks about how humans need a third place to enjoy human interaction. A place besides work and home to discuss the events of the day and relate. He argues that "third places are important for civil society, democracy, civic engagement, and establishing feelings of a sense of place".[2] Stanford University's Howard Rheingold states that virtual communities form "when people carry on public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships"[3] The LJWorld.com commenting sections are both a "third place" and a "virtual community. Threading segregates and builds walls around the general discussion. This negatively impacts the growth and development of virtual communities. A flat sequential format is more natural and fosters this virtual community. The resurgence of community "town hall" meetings highlight this fact. Threaded discussions are too disjointed to follow and are distracting. They can be equated with the previous way we communicated with our elected officials.<p /> <p>Threaded discussions generally fell out of use at the end of the 90's. They are confusing, difficult, and painful to use. You're forced to click through them to see responses. Once you do, there is far too much pogoing up and down the hierarchy of the threaded discussion. It's all so.. unnecessary. The flat sequential format is cleaner and easier to read. Threaded comments suck because as new comments come in, people must go back within the thread to read them – but the comment could be anywhere in the thread. Basically you have to scan the entire thread to find new entries. It is fine if there are eight comments and you’re looking for the new ninth one. If there are seventy comments in the thread, it is excruciating. Threading litters new comments throughout the page instead of consolidating them at the bottom.<p /> <p>Threading is an outline format, a programming style, but it is not conductive to comments on articles or blogs in our local community on-line newspaper. The virtual community element of this commences when people are invited to comment.[4] Online communities are functional systems that do exist in the environs of the on-line LJWorld.com site. By threading the comments associated with LJWorld.com articles and blogs, the community is damaged and hampered in building its unique form.<br /> Threaded comments suck. (technically)<br /> <br /> Ronaldo Ignacio<br /> On-line Commentator and Citizen Journalist<br /> LJworld.com Community Member<br /> <br /> <br /> <p>[1] Campbell, J., Fletcher, G. & Greenhil, A. (2002). Tribalism, Conflict and Shape-shifting Identities in Online Communities. In the Proceedings of the 13th Australasia Conference on Information Systems, Melbourne Australia, 7-9 December 2002<br />[2] Oldenburg, Ray (2000). Celebrating the Third Place: Inspiring Stories about the "Great Good Places" at the Heart of Our Communities. New York: Marlowe & Company. ISBN 978-1569246122<br />[3] Rheingold, H. (2000). The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier. London: MIT Press. (ISBN 0-262-68121-8)<br />[4] Bishop, J. (2008). Increasing Capital Revenue in Social Networking Communities: Building Social and Economic Relationships through Avatars and Characters. In: Romm-Livermore, C. (ed.) Social Networking Communities and eDating Services: Concepts and Implications. New York: IGI Global. Mon, 07 Feb 2011 11:10:04 -0600http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/ronaldos-world/2011/feb/7/an-open-letter-threaded-c/RETICENT_IRREVERENT: Style Scouthttp://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/ronaldos-world/2010/may/6/reticent_irreverent-style-scout/Age: 13ish Sign: Speed Limit Hometown: Far far away Time in Lawrence: When Liberty Hall was a BYOB venue. Occupation: Trophy Husband What were you doing when scouted? Texting while driving How would you describe your style? Carl Spackler meets Serpico. Favorite fashion trends: Sun dresses Least favorite fashion trends: Guys in skinny jeans. What would you like to see less of in Lawrence? Hippie, pinko, commie, flag burning, granola eating, Birkenstock wearing, horn honking, roach toking, misdemeanor fine paying, miscreants. What would you like to see more of in Lawrence? Unrestrained female mammalian protuberances. Who are your fashion influences? Chi Chi Rodriguez, and Walter. People say I look like: I should avoid Arizona. Tell us a secret: On average, a stripper’s boyfriend lasts 60 days or $6,000. Whichever comes first.Thu, 06 May 2010 07:09:56 -0500http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/ronaldos-world/2010/may/6/reticent_irreverent-style-scout/OTS Replacement - How do you handle your anxiety while watching KU sports on TV?http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/ronaldos-world/2009/mar/27/how-do-you-handle-your-anxiety-while-watching-ku-s/How do you handle your anxiety while watching KU sports on TV? http://worldonline.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/blogs/entry_img/2009/Mar/27/mos_hocking_carmen___r290x120__.jpg I actually talk to the players through the TV.— Carmen Hocking, ?, ? http://worldonline.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/blogs/entry_img/2009/Mar/27/dead_flower1.jpg Wish for warm weather. - Dead Flower, Floral Model, Lawrence http://worldonline.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/blogs/entry_img/2009/Mar/27/kokopelle.jpg Play my flute and dance. - Kokopelle, Fertility Deity, Lawrence http://worldonline.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/blogs/entry_img/2009/Mar/27/rock1.jpg Just kind of sit there, or get sat on. - Rock, Rock, LawrenceFri, 27 Mar 2009 08:22:18 -0500http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/ronaldos-world/2009/mar/27/how-do-you-handle-your-anxiety-while-watching-ku-s/Flatironshttp://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/ronaldos-world/2009/jan/14/flatirons/Driving in to Lawrence this Wednesday morning from a northeasterly point of origin, the skyline above town was a hazy dark bluish-gray. A few vertical clouds, or maybe they were emissions, were just visible against the dark background, they took on a greenish-gray hue. Above this was the light blue sky, with wispy white clouds floating along in a horizontal plane.Flatirons.The morning haze muted and blended the dark colors of the sky to where the view reminded me of the summer view of Green Mountain from Boulder. Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:17:56 -0600http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/ronaldos-world/2009/jan/14/flatirons/ http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/ronaldos-world/2008/jan/3/411-days/Four Hundred and Eleven Days 411 days left, and I'm almost feeling giddy. Giddy like the boy who is wishing for an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle, and has seen the box in a closet. 411 days to wait before I am free again. Free from "reality" television, free from being "Lost," free from "Dancing with the Stars." Almost two score ago, I first freed myself. It was the result of a Christmas gift my father gave me. A metal-headed hammer. I hammered this and that, then the Philco's. picture tube. My parents took their sweet time to replace that console television. As a result I never really watched TV. Years later, I became matrimonially attached to the daughter of a TV lover. During our first year of marriage, I'm sure he felt that I was needlessly subjecting my bride, his daughter, to a less than full life. He bought us a television set just as the Gulf War was to begin. And so it began. Actually I may have less than 411 days to wait for freedom. Originally the FCC had set a date of February 17, 2009 for the switch to digital broadcast TV signals. But on New Years Eve this past year, the FCC announced in a 154-page document that broadcasters can terminate analog TV signals prior to the February 17, 2009 digital signal transition date if they meet certain conditions. According to the Consumer Electronics Association, I am part of the 50 percent of U.S. households who only have analog capable televisions. I furthermore belong to a subgroup of this; the 20 percent of U.S. households that the FCC estimates to receive only OTA (over-the-air) broadcast, no cable TV, no satellite DBS. I have a choice to make. Purchase an either digital capable TV or set-top converter or face the cold reality of "going dark." The Federal Government is now offering $40 vouchers to offset the estimated $70 purchase cost of a set-top converter. They will be in the form of a "gift card" that will expire 90 days after issuance. I can request two vouchers for my household, as can anyone until the initial $990 million worth of vouchers are given away. Then there will be $510 million worth of vouchers available only to those who "cross their heart, hope to die, stick a needle in their eye" swear that they only receive OTA broadcasts. The website to apply for these vouchers is: www.dtv2009.gov. I cannot lay claim to being part of the "Digital Divide." Our household has four computers and a recently acquired wireless broadband internet connection. Part of the reason for the switch to digital broadcast signals is to free up precious spectrum bandwidth. This is to allow for more wireless internet broadband signals to erase the "Digital Divide" and also to create space for public safety (military?) wireless communications. The "private sector" part of this valuable spectrum is expected to bring in $15 billion when auctioned off by the FCC. I may well choose to "go dark." The question is - Will I be left in the dark or will I be free?Thu, 03 Jan 2008 08:32:21 -0600http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/ronaldos-world/2008/jan/3/411-days/ http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/ronaldos-world/2007/dec/31/funny/ Mon, 31 Dec 2007 13:11:28 -0600http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/ronaldos-world/2007/dec/31/funny/
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