

Ask: Reducing web app barriers vs comment spam? - imechura

Hello,<p>I'm building a new app that will have your standard cold start problem. In previous ventures I have witnessed people (through analytics) clicking to participate then bailing when they find they need to create an account.<p>What should be taken into consideration when designing an end user web application to reduce participation barriers.<p>A few options are.<p>1) Let anyone contribute anonymously in the beginning but monitor all messages for spam.<p>2) Do #1 but take an email address on good faith so I can attempt to get them to register a a later date.<p>3) Rely on facebook, twitter, oauth? There is still a price for this from the user's perspective.<p>Any other options I am missing?
======
humj
The answer to this will really depend on what you're building. If you're
asking this question, then I assume community really important to you.

The best communities are pretty good at moderating themselves. Take hackernews
or reddit for example. The barrier to entry is actually very low in each of
these but the community decides what gets seen. Although ubiquitous, Facebook
is actually another example because everyone is the moderator of their own
community. eg: I wouldn't friend a spammer.

I'd suggest you'd think more about how you build a strong community than how
to moderate spam. The community is the big picture. Spam is only a symptom of
a weak community.

