Alternative ways to get feedback on the net besides the comment section

[Arundel Armor Hunter]

I am talking about articles first and foremost. Randomly selecting people for a short conversation in a Google Hangout/Skype about the article that was written seems to be a reasonable alternative if the readership is large enough.

Any other alternatives you guys can think of.

[Paradox]

Ask some people you trust to read it beforehand? Because random feedback on the 'Net in any form can be...problematic.

[Arundel Armor Hunter]

I doubt news organization's would waste the money and bothering friends would get annoying.

[Paradox]

News articles don't need feedback from their audience. And in a news organization, that's what the editor's for.

[Arundel Armor Hunter]

It could still be interesting and news organizations also publish opinion pieces.

[t hedge coke]

If you have a public email, that can help, though again, you might get cranks or trolls, too. If you're part of an online community you trust more than random comment-section posters, you can post links to your article and ask for feedback and let your friends run with it. Facebook friends, email groups, messageboards you frequent (as appropriate, of course). If the article is about a particular person or product, a comic, a movie, a book, an artist, it's nice to drop them or their representation a notification, too.

(I'm assuming this is for personal or low-level stuff. Otherwise, yes, your editor should be your go-to for most "feedback," and for promoting your stuff.)

[Paradox]

Arundel Armor Hunter notes:

It could still be interesting and news organizations also publish opinion pieces.

True, but the thing is, despite the general idea that "everyone's voice needs to be heard", most "voices" don't really need to be heard. The internet has shown us that most "voices" are ignorant, self-absorbed, bigotted, etc. Take a quick look at Yahoo News' boards...or You Tube comments sections. It's horrifying. Just give them the info and that's the end of it. I see what you want, I just don't think it's possible outside of hand-picking a few people to do it (as noted, that's what editors are).

[Arundel Armor Hunter]

There are comment sections where you can see diverse opinions that rarely get personal like NYT comment section. Immediate feedback from readers can still be valuable.

[Paradox]

I'm going to assume those are HEAVILY moderated, though. Which is a way to go, but someone's still going to have to separate the wheat from the massive amount of chaff.

And it's not always about "personal". In the US, anyway, people are amazingly ignorant and uneducated. Everyone's half-assed opinion isn't really of much value.

[t hedge coke]

There are comment sections where you can see diverse opinions that rarely get personal like NYT comment section. Immediate feedback from readers can still be valuable.

Those comments sections are usually just more tightly moderated than others. Sometimes there's also the issue of proof-of-id, but mostly, it's just that there's someone more on the ball about removing hatespeech, spam, or nonsense posts than, say, Youtube.

[Arundel Armor Hunter]

I'm going to assume those are HEAVILY moderated, though. Which is a way to go, but someone's still going to have to separate the wheat from the massive amount of chaff.

And it's not always about "personal". In the US, anyway, people are amazingly ignorant and uneducated. Everyone's half-assed opinion isn't really of much value.

I am pretty sure that you can see the same amount of nonsense from a British comment section. I am not sure about amazingly uneducated. You make it sound like it's Afghanistan or something.

[Paradox]

Well, I only specified US because that's where I live and what I'm familiar with. Just trying not to slam other places through ignorance of my own.

And it's amazing because people have plenty of opportunity to become educated, but don't. Maybe surprisingly might have been more apt?

[t hedge coke]

I am pretty sure that you can see the same amount of nonsense from a British comment section. I am not sure about amazingly uneducated. You make it sound like it's Afghanistan or something.

Have a lot of experience with Afghan news sites and their comments sections?

I don't think most Americans are "amazingly ignorant and uneducated," per se, but there are a sort of aggressively ignorant and remarkably angry/paranoid people who haunt comments sections at general news sites in any language, of any nation. Some of those sites are simply better at deleting the messages or preventing those people from repeatedly registering to comment.

[Paradox]

Travis here put it better than I did. It's not that it's most, it's that they seem to be the most likely to comment. Geez, go to Facebook and get into a science discussion and you'll see what I mean. Tons of people against who apparently paid no attention at all to their 9th grade basic science classes.

[Arundel Armor Hunter]

Have a lot of experience with Afghan news sites and their comments sections?

That was a comment about education.