Comment Email Address - For All Your Commenting Needs
First up, Gizmodo has a specific email address just for comment related concerns. Emails about account approval, account problems, banning questions, thread problems and even requests for banning will all be handled through this email. So here it is, COMMENTS@GIZMODO.COM, shouldn't be too hard to remember.

What Will Get You Banned
If you didn't already know, we have an all-mighty banhammer of Thor that we can use to smash your commenting account to pieces, forever. Here's what'll get you smacked with it, guaranteed: obscene, racists, trolling, mean, spammer, stupid, or completely off-topic comments. So if you see that your account has been banned, please check your stupid ass comments before you send an email to COMMENTS@GIZMODO.COM asking why you can't comment. Nine times out of 10, I'm sure you'll see why.

Because it's easier than ever to get a commenter account, we've got more commenters than ever, which inevitably more stupid comments than ever as well. So the banhammer sensitivity has been turned up to threat level orange.

Other Stuff That'll Get You Banned
From here on out, long commenter names will get you a warning, then a ban. Like our cynical, chain-smoking cousins over at Gawker, we've decided tacking a bunch of stars on the end or other craziness is annoying, and it busts up site formatting. We're going to go around starting Monday, but be pro-active and change your name now, so it's less crap to deal with for everyone.

Also bannable: Cries of "first," asking if something will blend, welcoming any kind of overlords and other cliche stupidity.

I hope our little talk wasn't too harsh. We value all you commenters and enjoy the additional insight you add to Gizmodo. We just want it to be good for everyone. If you guys have any ideas or features you would like to see happen in the Giz comment world, please feel free to let us know. And don't forget COMMENTS@GIZMODO.COM is where you're gonna send all that comment related junk.

The first is to use the "Expand All" link right at the top of the comments. There was previously a bug that caused this link to not work. It is now fixed. Simply click this and all the comments will be expanded and easy to read. Bingo bango.

The second option is to add more friends. Like what certain commenters have to say? It's pretty easy to just click the little heart icon under their name to start following them. Once you do that, their comments will always be expanded for you to read, enjoy and respond to.

As for star commenters, stars are doled out by the staff to our favorite commenters. Want a star? Write better comments, and you'll probably get one. You'll probably get more followers as well! Funny how that works. Don't ask for a star, by the way; that's just tacky.

I hope that clears things up a bit. And thank you, as always, for commenting. Writing for Giz would be no fun without you.

The ladies at Jezebel laid it out pretty nicely, so we'll crib a bit from their explanation:

How are the threads displayed, still in chronological order?
Each conversation will be displayed in chronological order. But organization of the conversations overall will be displayed based on popularity. The most popular conversations will migrate to the top. The most recent comment that has no replies will appear on top for 15 minutes before being filtered down. If a more active conversation receives a reply within those 15 minutes, that conversation will overtake the stand-alone comment.


Where did the plus and minus go?
The plus and minus, which was used to friend or un-friend a fellow commenter, has been replaced by a heart. Friends show a red heart, and the rest are empty.

What's the deal with the star again?
Star commenters were readers who have 25 or more followers, or were designated as stars by a comments admin. With the introduction of threading, the number of followers required to attain star is increasing to 40.

Is there a way to view comments the "old-fashioned" way?
You can switch to the old style comments layout by clicking the "classic view" link in the comments bar at the top of the threads.

So, what do you think? Exciting, no?

And yes, I know change is scary. I saw how many people flipped out when Facebook changed its layout. But hey, change is fun. Give it a shot in the comments below, fiddle around with it, and let us know what you think. As long as what you think is positive, because after how much work our illustrious tech crew put into making this possible, we ain't changing it back. Enjoy!

Before we go on, if you haven't already read io9's amazing How to Be an Opinionated Commenter on io9 and Not Get Banned post we suggest you do. We at Gizmodo don't think we need to go over what being a decent commenter is all about. But if you are still unsure of which comments are appropriate please check out that io9 guide, we'll all be happier you did.

Please Keep it On-Topic
So here's the problem, the comment threads are still becoming too off-topic. We're not gonna point fingers at specific commenters; we just want everyone to understand what affect this has on the Giz community.

Let us first say that our comments are usually filled with a wealth of information, and that's why we love 'em. We here at Gizmodo—just like you readers—visit the comments section of every story wanting to learn more from each and every commenter. By engaging in on-topic discussion, the comments can provide an amazing amount of insight for any given story, such as similar products that do something as good or better than what we feature. Sadly, what is happening is that a few off-topic comments will get posted amongst all the on-topic ones and then the whole comment thread derails and turns sour. Our comment threads, which are our communal pool of knowledge, end up completely ruined because of a few horny idiots.

So we are asking all you guys again, please don't pee in our pool. It hurts all of us in the end and no one will be happy when the POOL'S CLOSED...

New Pre-Banning Feature: Disemvoweling
For those of you who continue to ruin it for the rest of us, instead of just banning you on the spot, we now have a new feature which will note your idiotic comments. It's called disemvoweling and what it does is take the comment in question and strip all the lovely vowels out of it. The comment is then left looking like a jumbled mess, and since this disemvoweling can not be reversed it will stay vowelless FOORRREEEVVVERRR! So here's a warning, if you find one of your comments disemovoweling you better straighten up before the banhammer comes knockin'. This also serves as a notification to other commenters as to what type of comments are NOT acceptable.

And if commenters keep making off-topic posts even after the disemvoweling, we will have to put them on a temporary time-out.

We wish we could take credit for this nifty disemvoweling feature but we can't. We tip our hats to Boing Boing for this one.

If you guys have any questions about the new disemvoweled feature or simply want to apologize for making off-topic comments please send all those messages to comments@gizmodo.com.

Instead of writing a sympathetic conclusion to this post, we thought it would be best to leave you with words from your own Pope John Peeps II.

Comment Email Address - For All Your Commenting Needs
We're not sure why we never had it before, but Gizmodo now has a specific email address just for comment related concerns. Emails about account approval, account problems, banning questions, thread problems and even requests for banning will all be handled through this email. So here it is, COMMENTS@GIZMODO.COM , shouldn't be too hard to remember.

Off Topic Comments
Over the past few weeks, we at Giz have been becoming unhappy with the direction some comment threads are turning. Even some commenters have let us know that they are concerned with what's going on. Long story short, some of the comment threads are getting way too off topic. Gizmodo is not high school social shit site, and we expect the commenters to be mature enough to contribute ON TOPIC conversation. Sure, we all enjoy reading some light off topic banter, but we've noticed complete mongo-tard discussions that have NO PLACE on a gadget site. So next time you're thinking of writing a comment with the word PENIS or HORNY in it, please spare us..

Why We Ban
If you didn't already know, we have an all-mighty banhammer that we can use to silence commenters. Why would we use such a weapon? Well, some commenters feel the need to speak with obscene, racists, troller, mean, spammer, stupid, or completely off topic words. These types of commenters are NOT WELCOMED, and must be banned. So if you see your account has been banned, please check your stupid ass comments before you send an email to COMMENTS@GIZMODO.COM asking why you can't comment. I'm sure you'll see why.

Other Bannable Offenses
From here on out, asking "Will It Blend?" welcoming any kind of overlord, or any other horribly tacky and cliche comment, unless used exceptionally, hilariously ironically, makes you a total banhammer target.

So I hope our little talk wasn't too harsh. We value all you commenters and enjoy the additional insight you add to Gizmodo. If you guys have any ideas or features you would like to see happen in the Giz comment world, please feel free to let us know. And don't forget COMMENTS@GIZMODO.COM is where your gonna send all that comment related junk.

UPDATE: We want to personally apologize to carmen-whatever her new name is, for singling her out. We understand that it wasn't cool, and we're sorry.

Top 20 Most commented articles of 2007

1. Halo: Halo 3 Swag Rebagging (Plus Apology) - 415

2. iPhone Revisited (Verdict: Don't Buy) - 344

3. Contest: Win a Free iPhone Software Unlock - 336

4. How to Comment: Win a Free iPhone Software Unlock - 286

5. Apple: 8GB iPhone Price Cut by $200, 4GB iPhone Gone - 279

6. Homophobia: Shareholder Takeover Planned to Stop Microsoft's 'Homosexual Agenda' - 273

7. Gizmodo iPhone Hands-On: I Called My Mommy - 237

8. Vote Giz: Vote for Giz! - 225

9. Apple: Apple's Beat Keynote Liveblog Here - 221

10. Exclusive: iPhone Free Software Unlock Confirmed (Death Star Explodes) - 215

11. Unicorn Chaser: We're Not Backing Out of Halo - 213

12. Top: Apple WWDC 2007 Liveblog - Steve Jobs Keynote - 211

13. Question Of The Day: Zune or iPod? - 209

14. iPhone Firmware 1.1.1 Out and Tested: Breaks 3rd-party Apps, Relocks iPhones and Sends Them to Semi-Brick Activation Limbo (Updated with video - 208

15. Whiners: Bitching About Too Much iPhone Coverage? Listen Up - 197

16. High Schooler Gets Detention for Using Firefox? UPDATE: Nope - 187

17. Announcements: Which Gizmodo Commenters Suck? - 184

18. Advertising: Intel Ad Might be Racist, but Boy Does It Make Me Want a Core 2 Duo 183

19. Oh, Food! I'll Just - Wahhhhhh!!: Squirrel Catapult is Awful, Yet We Can't Look Away 180

20. How to Comment: How Much Storage Do You Have? - 170

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

Top 5 Commenters of 2007
1. strider_mt2k's Activity - 4,151
2. Kaiser-Machead's Activity - 1,986
3. nutbastard's Activity - 1,356
4. ANoel's Activity 1,327
5. omg-ponies's Activity - 1,245

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

If you have another favorite comments or commenters, tell us in the comments and then other people can comment to your comments until a time-space warp is generated and gets all of us sucked into the next year or a new dimension.

ZOMG thats crazy. I wan2 do that. I would love to do that. WWII Nazis aint got nothing on them XD Dam and i think its dangerous enough walking with 10 dudes through Hunts Point in the Bronx. BRONX and NY FTW lolz. (Dont live @ hunts point) Parkchester area FTW. XD

You'll go blind before you ever see Angelina Joeli's Sex tape o.O

I have my own list of commenters who I'm watching carefully. But I'm most curious about what the majority of our readers—the intelligent, tech-smart, goodwilled ones—think about the worst of their peers.

I don't want a witch hunt. I'm not necessarily going to execute someone because their name appears on this list. But if there's a commenter you think isn't adding anything to the conversation, drop their name in the comments, with a link and quote to the offending words. I'll be reading closely.

And I'll start the comment thread.–Brian Lam

Our first winner is one of our favorites, known here as strider_mt2k. Learning a little about him made us understand why he's such an excellent commenter with so many funny and appropriate remarks up his sleeve. He wears many hats. He's a renaissance man of tech whose career includes being a musician, a fingerprint lab technician, network engineer, building and designing surveillance vehicles, and even working at a RadioShack. In his spare time, he's a voracious Sci Fi reader, plays a few games on Nintendo DS and PS2, but games primarily on his PC. He's also an avid gardener, dabbles in robotics and holds a tech-class amateur radio license. Renaissance man, indeed. What's his commenting secret?

"I have made my share of blunders as a commenter, but I try to keep it light, mostly just improvising in some dated Gen-X pop culture or sci-fi reference where I didn't have anything better to add. I also tune out the noise for the most part. I love surfing The Giz."

So, now that the dust has settled from CES and we finally have gotten over our hangovers and STDs, it's time to polish the banhammer and crack some skulls. Join me, won't you?

The Departed: Drugs for Sale
The Reason: Unfunny, sexist, and nonsensical all in one joke? That's the trifecta, dude. You're outta here.

The Departed: Spudster
The Reason: Hurting our feelings.

The Departed: jcc123
The Reason: A history of vaguely racist, xenophobic, and mean-spirited comments has finally caught up with him.

The Departed: Sweet Toof
The Reason: Being a negative nelly.

That's all for this round. Just so we're all clear, comment executions aren't permanent. You can get back into the system the same way everyone else can, by submitting a witty or intelligent comment and getting invited. I mean hey, we aren't heartless. Well, maybe Travis is. –Adam Frucci

Pogue recently complained about the lack of online etiquette found on message boards and blog comments these days, and left the floor open to comments. He went ahead and followed up on this with a bunch of reader feedback, and it's a fascinating discussion to be sure. Go on and check it out, and show Uncle Dave some respect, ya hear? –Adam Frucci

The Netiquette Diaries [NY Times]

One word.....gay

this sport is gonna be a hit in SF. If it blinds a few chodechuggers, I say "just do it!"

I for one tend to get emboldened when I'm behind the keyboard. Typing anonymous comments to people you'll never actually meet in person is a really dehumanizing thing, even as it purports to connect us. It really has more in common with talking to ourselves than it does with actually talking to another person, so the normal filters of tact and self-restraint are peeled away. That's not really an excuse to be needlessly mean or nasty to other people online, but I think it probably has a lot to do with explaining the phenomenon.

I don't think that all hope is lost, however. I may be trying to not shit where I eat here, but I think the Giz has a collection of some of the more articulate commenters around. Even when I need to get slapped around for lax fact checking/speedy post writing the pigpile is generally only a couple people deep. It's certainly nothing compared to the fracas at Digg, which can feel more like a schoolyard than a tech site full of intelligent adults. I think it probably has a lot to do with the semi-closed comment accounts that give people pause before posting something particularly inflammatory.

So what's the deal, commenters? This whole discussion is about you, so let's hear it. Have you sometimes crossed the line into nasty territory and later regretted it? Is there something in particular about the online environment that breeds misanthropes? Is Pogue just a big wuss who doesn't come down from his ivory tower at the Times enough and can't take the heat of hanging with the proles? Do some of you want to apologize for hurting my feelings? I'm waiting. –Adam Frucci

Whatever Happened to Online Etiquette? [NY Times]

Neuro: I like your thinking, not your grammar. You're fired.
Anonymous, it's against Valleywag policy to purely enjoy the comments of others. Positivity will not be tolerated.
Funmeister: Your logic does not compute.
Gawker artist Travis Hammond: Fired for that silly iPod art. Also, no one really says "ubik." If I see your art on Valleywag again, I'm calling security.
Michael Schurter, I don't get you. Fired.

Comment Cull: You're Fired [Valleywag]