Read before Comment

Comments often reflect the perspective and opinions of people that have not engaged with the content deeply. Instead, comment sections often serve as a performative space where group identity can be expressed and constructed and interpersonal connection can be affirmed and displayed. While that might suit the needs of platforms that are built for  this kind of identity building, other platforms that wish to prioritize space for conversation on the merits of content might need a different approach.

A platform could gate the ability to post a comment based on the passage of time, as a way to estimate whether a user has actually read the content. For example, on a video this could be the duration of the video, or on a text post it could be scroll depth or time off site. To implement this on an existing site might be too large of a behavioral change to ask users to make, but new sites ought consider this form of gatekeeping when they endeavor to prioritize space for informed discussion.