# Additional, optional barriers before commenting on an article?

**URL:** <https://meta.discourse.org/t/additional-optional-barriers-before-commenting-on-an-article/67093>\
**Category:** Feature\
**Created:** [7월 30, 2017, 2:50오전 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/additional-optional-barriers-before-commenting-on-an-article/67093 "2017-07-30T02:50:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 10

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**Author:** ![stoinov](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/stoinov/32/102228_2.png) [@stoinov](https://meta.discourse.org/u/stoinov)\
**Post date:** [7월 30, 2017, 9:26오전 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/additional-optional-barriers-before-commenting-on-an-article/67093/10 "2017-07-30T09:26:31Z")

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The time spent on site is one of the most reliable options given here, but this is easily gamable. What could be done instead, is copy Ars’s method. Put a specially crafted sentence randomly in the article after the 50% mark, and require a word in it or derived by it, before posting your first comment. This could be automatically disabled for trusted users.  
The issue is, that it requires integration with the parent platform, or at least preloading custom JS that could do this in the browser side.

But none of those fix the fundamental issue of someone wanting to post for post’s sake. Also it does not fix the problem if someone posts are consistently good/likable, but not on topic or maybe just tangentially connected to what is being discussed.  
What those solution do is to put hurdles before you post so you’d really have to be invested or interested in posting comment, but not necessarily possessing the knowledge of the topic at hand.

Instead, those two groups should be hit where it would really hit them - post count and post visibility. I am sure there are other threads where those options are being/were discussed, but I haven’t been on this site for quite some time.  
So instead I’ll just spitball some quick ideas:

- Prevent negatively rated comments after a certain customizable amount of downvotes/reports from counting towards a users overall post numbers. Hide it altogether after a second threshold.
- Maybe implement a relevancy button for separating bad comments from irrelevant ones, if there is such distinction even 🙂

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