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The risk of hiding comments?

Rarely are there comments which on their own significantly add to a post. The entirety of the comments may add content, but usually only one will shine through as the comment which caused the post to become more significant or contextual.

Hiding comments is an easy one click fix for a user, so the real risk is that a high value comment hidden would have been overlooked because the user did not know it was there.

As a user looking for value in posts, comments are often a place to look when examining the critique of a post. If there are no critiques or suggestions of value, then there is no point in examining them so I think that as long as enough are shown to entice a user to click through for the entire set then that will be enough to allow users to find the high value comments if they are hidden.

Measuring the risk

When being thorough, a user may want to see every comment regardless of their quality. I don't think many posts actually require the entire set of comments to have the answer be relevant.

Split test

Test for the amount of interaction done with the comments where finding them by clicking is undesirable, and upvoting them is desirable.

I think a measurement could be in the form of click through comparisons plus upvotes. Group A sees the status quo, B sees the new version (whichever version that is). Total points from how many times group A triggers the reputation hover for the username of a comment (+1 per username), upvotes a comment(+10), expands all comments(-5).

Whichever group has the most points indicates the most positive interaction with the comments.

The risk of hiding comments?

Rarely are there comments which on their own significantly add to a post. The entirety of the comments may add content, but usually only one will shine through as the comment which caused the post to become more significant or contextual.

Hiding comments is an easy one click fix for a user, so the real risk is that a high value comment hidden would have been overlooked because the user did not know it was there.

As a user looking for value in posts, comments are often a place to look when examining the critique of a post. If there are no critiques or suggestions of value, then there is no point in examining them so I think that as long as enough are shown to entice a user to click through for the entire set then that will be enough to allow users to find the high value comments if they are hidden.

Measuring the risk

When being thorough, a user may want to see every comment regardless of their quality. I don't think many posts actually require the entire set of comments to have the answer be relevant.

Split test

Test for the amount of interaction done with the comments where finding them by clicking is undesirable, and upvoting them is desirable.

I think a measurement could be in the form of click through comparisons plus upvotes. Group A sees the status quo, B sees the new version (whichever version that is). Compare total points from how many times each group triggers the reputation hover for the username of a comment (+1 per username), upvotes a comment(+10), expands all comments(-5).

Whichever group has the most points indicates the most positive interaction with the comments.

When to hide comments? In my opinion...

Never hide all comments

Commenting is a way to balance out posts which are either inaccurate or disputed. When an issue is raised, then the post's votes may be affected by the comment's content because it raises an unaddressed issue. However, I do not believe the mere presence of a comment negatively affects a post.

Always show the first two

Always show the first two because it sets the tone for the "thread" which follows. I know Stack Exchange is not a forum, but the comments sure seem to follow that path where the post( question or answer ) which is the parent to the comments is the start of the thread.

Apply your metric to any past the first two to get another 2 as a summary

Of 19 points, 10(max) for votes, 9(max) for content length - I am not sold on the days metric. Take the set of comments with points > 1, order by total votes then by date posted descending (oldest first), and then display another 2 of those.

Hide the rest

Hide every thing else with the "add/show more comments" link.

Summary

Take the first 2, add in 2 qualified comments, and hide the rest.

The risk of hiding comments?

Rarely are there comments which on their own significantly add to a post. The entirety of the comments may add content, but usually only one will shine through as the comment which caused the post to become more significant or contextual.

Hiding comments is an easy one click fix for a user, so the real risk is that a high value comment hidden would have been overlooked because the user did not know it was there.

As a user looking for value in posts, comments are often a place to look when examining the critique of a post. If there are no critiques or suggestions of value, then there is no point in examining them so I think that as long as enough are shown to entice a user to click through for the entire set then that will be enough to allow users to find the high value comments if they are hidden.

Measuring the risk

When being thorough, a user may want to see every comment regardless of their quality. I don't think many posts actually require the entire set of comments to have the answer be relevant.

Split test

Test for the amount of interaction done with the comments where finding them by clicking is undesirable, and upvoting them is desirable.

I think a measurement could be in the form of click through comparisons plus upvotes. Group A sees the status quo, B sees the new version (whichever version that is). Total points from how many times group A triggers the reputation hover for the username of a comment (+1 per username), upvotes a comment(+10), expands all comments(-5).

Whichever group has the most points indicates the most positive interaction with the comments.

The risk of hiding comments?

Rarely are there comments which on their own significantly add to a post. The entirety of the comments may add content, but usually only one will shine through as the comment which caused the post to become more significant or contextual.

Hiding comments is an easy one click fix for a user, so the real risk is that a high value comment hidden would have been overlooked because the user did not know it was there.

As a user looking for value in posts, comments are often a place to look when examining the critique of a post. If there are no critiques or suggestions of value, then there is no point in examining them so I think that as long as enough are shown to entice a user to click through for the entire set then that will be enough to allow users to find the high value comments if they are hidden.

Measuring the risk

When being thorough, a user may want to see every comment regardless of their quality. I don't think many posts actually require the entire set of comments to have the answer be relevant.

Split test

Test for the amount of interaction done with the comments where finding them by clicking is undesirable, and upvoting them is desirable.

I think a measurement could be in the form of click through comparisons plus upvotes. Group A sees the status quo, B sees the new version (whichever version that is). Total points from how many times group A triggers the reputation hover for the username of a comment (+1 per username), upvotes a comment(+10), expands all comments(-5).

Whichever group has the most points indicates the most positive interaction with the comments.

When to hide comments?

Here is my take:

Always show the first two

Always show the first two because it sets the tone for the "thread" which follows. I know Stack Exchange is not a forum, but the comments sure seem to follow that path where the post( question or answer ) which is the parent to the comments is the start of the thread.

Apply your metric to any past the first two to get another 2 as a summary

Of 19 points, 10(max) for votes, 9(max) for content length - I am not sold on the days metric. Take the set of comments with points > 1, order by total votes then by date posted descending (oldest first), and then display another 2 of those.

Hide the rest

Hide every thing else with the "add/show more comments" link.

Summary

Take the first 2, add in 2 qualified comments, and hide the rest.

The risk of hiding comments?

Rarely are there comments which on their own significantly add to a post. The entirety of the comments may add content, but usually only one will shine through as the comment which caused the post to become more significant or contextual.

Hiding comments is an easy one click fix for a user, so the real risk is that a high value comment hidden would have been overlooked because the user did not know it was there.

As a user looking for value in posts, comments are often a place to look when examining the critique of a post. If there are no critiques or suggestions of value, then there is no point in examining them so I think that as long as enough are shown to entice a user to click through for the entire set then that will be enough to allow users to find the high value comments if they are hidden.

Measuring the risk

When being thorough, a user may want to see every comment regardless of their quality. I don't think many posts actually require the entire set of comments to have the answer be relevant.

Split test

Test for the amount of interaction done with the comments where finding them by clicking is undesirable, and upvoting them is desirable.

I think a measurement could be in the form of click through comparisons plus upvotes. Group A sees the status quo, B sees the new version (whichever version that is). Total points from how many times group A triggers the reputation hover for the username of a comment (+1 per username), upvotes a comment(+10), expands all comments(-5).

Whichever group has the most points indicates the most positive interaction with the comments.

When to hide comments? In my opinion...

Never hide all comments

Commenting is a way to balance out posts which are either inaccurate or disputed. When an issue is raised, then the post's votes may be affected by the comment's content because it raises an unaddressed issue. However, I do not believe the mere presence of a comment negatively affects a post.

Always show the first two

Always show the first two because it sets the tone for the "thread" which follows. I know Stack Exchange is not a forum, but the comments sure seem to follow that path where the post( question or answer ) which is the parent to the comments is the start of the thread.

Apply your metric to any past the first two to get another 2 as a summary

Of 19 points, 10(max) for votes, 9(max) for content length - I am not sold on the days metric. Take the set of comments with points > 1, order by total votes then by date posted descending (oldest first), and then display another 2 of those.

Hide the rest

Hide every thing else with the "add/show more comments" link.

Summary

Take the first 2, add in 2 qualified comments, and hide the rest.

The risk of hiding comments?

Rarely are there comments which on their own significantly add to a post. The entirety of the comments may add content, but usually only one will shine through as the comment which caused the post to become more significant or contextual.

Hiding comments is an easy one click fix for a user, so the real risk is that a high value comment hidden would have been overlooked because the user did not know it was there.

As a user looking for value in posts, comments are often a place to look when examining the critique of a post. If there are no critiques or suggestions of value, then there is no point in examining them so I think that as long as enough are shown to entice a user to click through for the entire set then that will be enough to allow users to find the high value comments if they are hidden.

Measuring the risk

When being thorough, a user may want to see every comment regardless of their quality. I don't think many posts actually require the entire set of comments to have the answer be relevant.

Split test

Test for the amount of interaction done with the comments where finding them by clicking is undesirable, and upvoting them is desirable.

I think a measurement could be in the form of click through comparisons plus upvotes. Group A sees the status quo, B sees the new version (whichever version that is). Total points from how many times group A triggers the reputation hover for the username of a comment (+1 per username), upvotes a comment(+10), expands all comments(-5).

Whichever group has the most points indicates the most positive interaction with the comments.