September 20, 2007
We Interrupt This Broadcast for a Message About Comments
Because, uh, pretty soon you won't be able to comment as a guest anymore. Registration to the big par-tay that is the -Ist-a-Verse will soon be required. The following message comes straight (with a few chasers) from our brother in "-ist," David Topping of Torontoist:
By now, you've probably noticed our new profile system, rolled out in July. In the system, people who comment on Bostonist are split into two groups: those who have registered for a free account to post (who have their name attached to each comment) and those who haven't (who are universally called "guest"). As of this morning, Gothamist has rolled out another change, whereby guest comments are automatically not displayed for all users––to display them, you have to click "Show Guest Comments" below any post, and a cookie will be set on your computer to always show them. (You may find that you have to click "Hide Guest Comments," and then "Show Guest Comments" again to get the feature working.)
That small change is the next step in a slow phasing-out of anonymous comments across the entire Gothamist network. Soon, guest comments will be disabled altogether and the only people who will be able to comment on any of the -Ists will be those who have signed up for an account.
Bostonist chaser: Yes, we hear your wail that it is a total drag, and we hate registering for stuff, too. But we have walked through the registration process, and it is easy. Enter a username, your e-mail address, and your password twice. It won't kill ya. Regarding your privacy, the -Ist-a-Verse respects it. If you have any concerns, you can read our policies before you register.
That said, sign up, and join the wonderful world of -Ist.
But wait, there's more!
If you're a registered commenter, you'll also see something new when you click "Edit Profile" in the top left corner: You can now upload a 100 x 100 pixel avatar. For now, that icon will only be displayed on your profile, but soon it'll be used to identify you in the comments you post.
Original photo by dviousto from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.
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Great, just what we need. Another place we have to sign in to say anything. Bummer, etc. Why?
"Another guest"
Guest, I feel your pain. Use a crazy fake name, like Englebert Humperdinck. Well, that's taken, but you get the idea.
On the bright side, the signup process is far less painless than what you have to do to sign up for most things ...
Anonymity is not the problem. It may be a concern in some cases, but people should stand by what they say.
The problem is that the "sign in" process by its very nature creates an exclusive community, no matter how easy the process is. Comments serve as a dialogue or group discussion between people. By throwing in a membership / login process, you are effectively excluding "the random person on the subway who would chip in with information or a funny comment or just another perspective," if you know what I mean.
-- Another guest
It would be swell if you had OpenID.
Goodbye homo---I mean guests.
I signed up for bostonist and all I got was this lousy three-letter nickname. See, if you sign up you still get funny comments. ;-)
Okay, but I've been trying to retrieve my account forever, it says my username is in use, but the password doesn't work. And It's an old account, so I tried to retrieve through Typekey, but that doesn't work either.
How can I fix my comment account, so I don't ahve to post as a guest?
--Maggiebex