Expert community builder and comment cultivator Monica Guzman recently gave a talk where she implored people to be quality commenters and not trolls.

I would certainly recommend showing this to your Web site users. Maybe it will help spur some better conversations. But Guzman also says that news organizations and journalists have to take ownership of the comments on their site.

Guzman says this means providing the right tools for community moderation, having enough resources to police that community and recognizing that news is a conversation.

But you knew all that good stuff already. Right? The rest of Guzman’s talk is about how our users can make the whole experience better.

Some of the points that Guzman made:

• Choose your story wisely — Guzman says that no one cares what you have to say on a Britney Spears story or on a liberal/conservative debate. Those comments and debates always turn out poorly.
• Focus on what’s smart — Comment on something that’s smart in a story or something that you like about it. Pointing out accidental misspellings doesn’t forward the conversation along.
• Tell us what you think — But of course think first. You know, read the whole story first.
• Tell us your story — “Quote yourself.” Guzman wants you to tell your story in the comments section. And maybe you’ll become a new source.
• Tell us what you know — Post links, talk about studies, add to the conversation, etc.
• Ask a question — Ask a good question, and you might get a great answer.
• Introduce yourself — Own up to your ideas.

Yes, it’s really that simple (hat tip to Chris O’Brien for finding this video).