Engaging individuals in the comments
Being able to maintain a positive environment within the comments of internet content. There have been many attempts to better the attitudes of individuals and help ease the tension. Buttons and replies are usually the go to choice when deciding how to facilitate conversations within comment sections. There is usually a like button and an option to reply as well, allowing for discourse, hopefully civilized. In the guest lecture by Dr. Josh Scacco on February 13th there was an elaborate discussion on how we can design a website that will encourage positive and progressive discussion. Dr. Scacco explained to us a study that he took part in where a respect button was put in place instead of a like button. The results of this were that there was a much more positive discourse in the comments because people were able to show respect to individuals that they may not have agreed with. However, they were able to show that they understand where someone is coming from and still have a conversation without tensions growing. They also reported that there was a higher level of interaction from users because they didn't have to like what an individual was saying but they could respect it and carry on. I think that after some careful thought and reflection on the lecture that I think it would be best for this website that there not be a comments section because there is a page to contact us directly, as well as a page to recommend artists.
