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# The main lesson of Boaty McBoatface
- URL: https://onemanandhisblog.com/2016/04/main-lesson-boaty-mcboatface/
- Published: 2016-04-25T13:56:39.000Z
- Updated: 2016-04-25T14:11:37.000Z
- Author: Adam Tinworth
- Tags: community management, community theory

[The main lesson of Boaty McBoatface](http://radar.oreilly.com/2016/04/four-short-links-25-april-2016.html?ref=onemanandhisblog.com)

Nat Torkington:

> \[…\] you want opinions, but you also want committed opinions. Your poll/survey/vote will erect (or fail to erect) barriers to participation, and those barriers represent a measure of commitment. No barriers = lots of votes, but high risk of Boaty McBoatface. High barriers = few votes, but from those who care.

It’s basically another example of that classic measurement of potential abuse on any online community: *time to penis*. Because, in any free-for-all community submission, you’re always going to end up with a picture of a penis. To rewrite the above:

> No barriers = lots of participation, but high risk of unsolicited penis