E-Health Insider is introducing some big changes to how readers’ comments work, designed to enourage dialogue and debate.
The changes are intended to make comments more personal and to allow natural conversations between readers.
For the first time, readers can reply to other readers’ comments, rate comments, share them and report abuse.
In another big change, readers can earn the ability to post comments directly onto EHI without them first being moderated; but trust has to be earned and can be lost if other readers report abuse.
Most of all we want to encourage more people to participate in the community features of EHI to share their insight and expertise with others.
We know that the new features will take a little getting used to, but hope readers will quickly see the benefits.
The changes apply first to EHI and E-Health Europe with EHI Primary Care to follow.
Why make changes?
Reader comments are one of the most popular parts of EHI, but readers have been telling us that they want them to be more personal and immediate.
Many readers have said that they want to be able to respond to other commenters; and regular users get frustrated by the delays caused by EHI reviewing posts before they go live.
We want reader comments to enable many more readers to interact with each other and to support the development of flowing discussions that a wider range of readers will want to participate in.
So what’s new?
EHI has completely revamped reader comments to make them easier to use, more personal, more social and to encourage conversations in which people will want to engage.
The main features are listed below:
Reply to posts
Readers can now reply to comments and engage in discussions. Comments and their replies are shown as nested threads that can be collapsed or expanded.
All future posts will be under a consistent username
All comments will now show a consistent username. Readers can change their username at any time, but posts can no longer be made entirely anonymously. This change does not apply to historic posts.
Personas now added
Users also get the ability to add an image or photo that will appear against all their posts. These new features form the basis of a new MyEHI persona.
A mini version of the MyEHI persona is displayed when other readers mouse over the persona image.
Clicking on the image shows readers their full My EHI persona, detailing the posts and community activity they have made on EHI.
Personas also display new reward badges, showing whether a reader is a new commenter, or a trusted veteran. Other badges will be awarded to top posters, those who are most rated by other readers, and editor’s picks.
Trusted commenters
Readers can now become a ‘trusted commenter’, earning the ability to post directly, without their posts first being approved by the EHI editorial team. This is a big change, but one we think is essential to creating a thriving community.
To begin with, we’ve set the bar at 20. A reader who makes 20 posts that are approved by the EHI editorial team becomes a trusted commenter with a ‘trusted’ badge shown on their mini-persona.
But if other readers report comments as abusive, trusted status may be suspended or even removed.
Comment display
The new default view is for newest comments to be shown at the top of comment listings rather than at the bottom.
Comment panel
The comment panel is now shown at the bottom of each news or feature article. If you can see your persona image to the left of the comment panel, then you are logged in. The comment text field now automatically resizes when you click within it.
Rate comments and report abuse
The new approach to reader comments depend on trust and other readers reporting abuse. We’ve provided new tools for readers to like or dislike comments and report abuse. Repeat offenders will be suspended or black-listed.
We’ve provided a new set of reader comment rules and guidelines, which everyone will be asked to abide by.
Hyper-sharing comments
Readers can now share their comments with their Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn account.
Hyper log-in
Readers can now link their EHI account with their Facebook or Twitter accounts, allowing them to use their Facebook or Twitter credentials to login to EHI in the future.
Building on comments and personas
Further professional social networking features will follow that build on the new comment and persona features.
What do I need to do?
Please first read and abide by the reader comment rules.
If you are an existing, registered EHI reader, all you need to do is update your account to add your new persona details.
Remember that the username you choose will be displayed against all your posts, but you can pick a pen name, or change your username at any time.
Then choose and load the picture you want to display against your posts. Click submit and you’re ready to go.
If you’ve not yet registered for EHI, or if you have but have never made a comment, you need to register and login.
If you can’t remember your email or password use the reminder links. Once you’ve logged in, you need to update your details to complete your persona.
We look forward to seeing your comments.
Jon Hoeksma
Editor, EHI.