introducing the troll cap

37icontrollbigThis post on signal vs noise just made me laugh. Kudos to the guys over at 37signals on their way of dealing with abusive comments on their blog:

We’ve been experimenting with various ways to keep abusive comments in check. We’ve tried simply deleting those comments, banning those commenters from SvN, and even turning off comments all together for a limited time. We’ve learned a few things from each experiment. Here’s another one we’re going to try: The Troll Cap. We’ve all seen the dunce cap. Now it’s time for some people to put on the Troll cap. Comments posted on SvN that are off-topic, blatantly inflammatory, or otherwise inappropriate or vapid may either be removed or be slapped with the Troll cap. This icon is free for anyone to use on their own blog. Spread it far and wide.

(via micasas)