Your guide to successfully engaging in The Star’s online commenting section

Sidney Steele
·4 min read

It has been about two months since commenting returned to KansasCity.com.

We have loved seeing our readers sharing their thoughts in the comment section and engaging in respectful debate with each other. You have shared that you are excited for the return of commenting, and your engagement has reflected as much.

Here are some tips on how to use our new commenting platform, Viafoura, and how to successfully engage in the comments.

Choose your display name

If you have not yet chosen a display name, you will see a prompt that says, “If you’d like to update your nickname, click here.”

You will be prompted to choose a username when you create your Viafoura account.
You will be prompted to choose a username when you create your Viafoura account.

When you click that link, a pop-up will appear where you can choose your username. Note that after you set your username you will not be able to change it, so choose wisely.

We suggest using your real name, or part of your name, when commenting to promote transparency and accountability.
We suggest using your real name, or part of your name, when commenting to promote transparency and accountability.

We encourage you to use your real name, as this improves the quality of our commenting community and holds commenters accountable for their words. Using even just part of your real name (such as your first name and last initial) shows that there is a real person behind your keyboard, not just a computer.

If you choose not to use your real name, choose a display name that other commenters can use to address you directly and will begin to recognize as you continue engaging with each other.

Add a profile picture

If you’d like to add a picture to your commenting profile, click the colored circle with the initials of your username.

Click the circle with the initials of your username to open your profile settings.
Click the circle with the initials of your username to open your profile settings.

This will open a side bar where you can see all the comments you have written and liked, follow other commenters and change your profile information.

To add or change your profile picture, click on the gear icon in the top right corner. Then, click “choose a file” and select the photo you want to use from your computer.

In the side bar you can see all the comments you have written and liked, follow other commenters and change your profile information.
In the side bar you can see all the comments you have written and liked, follow other commenters and change your profile information.

Make sure your profile picture is appropriate — profile pictures are held to community standards just like comments.

Making comments

Now that you have selected your username and added a profile picture, you are ready to engage in the comments.

Comments are subject to our Community Commenting Guidelines. The comments you make on KansasCity.com are moderated and held to a higher standard than comments you make on social media sites, so remember to be respectful to others and thoughtful with your words.

Comments are moderated first by an AI moderator, then by humans at Viafoura and The Star. The automoderator looks for blatant violations of our community guidelines, including racism, profanity and threats. It disables those comments before they appear on the site.

We are constantly working to make the auto-moderation smarter, but it may sometimes interpret language or the meaning of certain words incorrectly and disable the comment. We are keeping an eye on the tool and will reactivate any comments that have been incorrectly disabled by the auto-moderation system, but this won’t happen until the next business day if a comment is posted overnight or on the weekend.

Comments can be edited for two minutes after being posted. If your comment is disabled by the automoderator, consider editing the comment to remove any violations of the community guidelines. If you believe the comment does not violate community guidelines, check back the next business day to see if it is enabled.

To be successful in the comments, be considerate, tolerant and respectful. Challenge arguments, not the person who made them. Absolutes, attacks and name-calling of any kind will not be tolerated.

For example, instead of calling someone a liar, consider sharing an example of a lie they told. Avoid phrases like “you people” or making claims that certain groups “always” do something. Unfortunately, many comments that make important arguments have to be disabled for including profanity and personal attacks.

We are continuing to learn as we improve the commenting experience on KansasCity.com. We are considering important issues, such as how AI moderation affects our predisposition to assume violations of community guidelines, and how to avoid partisanship and bias in our moderation. If you have feedback about the commenting experience, we would love to hear what you have to say.

Have any questions about the new commenting experience? Leave your questions in the comments below, and we will respond to you there.

Latest Stories