In the first of what we hope will become a regular series of debates, we want our readers to tell us if, and how, we should clamp down on the types of comments we allow people post on our stories.
We're proud that Dezeen hosts the most vibrant and passionate debate about architecture and design on the internet but some people like to make critical, negative or even rude statements about designers' work (or even designers themselves). Which isn't much fun for those being criticised.
We're all for freedom of expression and we don't want our comments sections to become as bland as those on other sites. But we set up Dezeen to support designers, not undermine them, so should we allow readers to slag off designs and designers they don't like? Or should we be more selective in the comments we allow to appear on the site? Should readers have to register before then can comment, or should we make them publish their real names? Should we block comments that don't contribute to a meaningful debate, or should we operate an "anything goes" policy?
Some of our readers certainly think the negativity has gone too far: the quotations in the graphics here are from recent discussions on Dezeen. Click on the graphics to see the stories they relate to.
We welcome your opinions and we hope to come up with a stated policy on acceptable comments soon. Please use the comments section below to tell us what you think - just don't be abusive!
