Where did my username and avatar go?

WIth the advent of our new commenting platform, we decided to move away from usernames and require readers to provide us with their first name and last name to participate in our community.

As part of that change, we decided to do away with user avatars, focusing our efforts on enriching the conversation and social tools around it.

If you have any questions regarding these changes, please refer to our Privacy Policy or contact us.

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How do I flag an abusive comment?

Keen moderation is a key to ensuring a smooth, enjoyable conversation for each member of our community. You can help us with the process by flagging comments as "Spam", "Offensive", "Disagree", or "Off-Topic."

1. If you see an inappropriate comment, click on the "Flag" link for that comment.
2. Simply select one of the options: "Spam", "Offensive", "Disagree", or "Off-Topic". You will have to select one of the options to flag a comment.

We appreciate your help in flagging abusive comments. You can review our Commenting Guidelines here.

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How do I tag my friends from Facebook or Twitter in my comments?

Our new commenting system allows you to invite your friends from Facebook and Twitter to join in on the conversation. You will have to connect to your Twitter and Facebook accounts to start tagging your friends.

To tag someone, in the comment box, type the "@" symbol. This will bring up a list of your friends and followers from your connected Facebook and Twitter accounts. As you type more letters, we will narrow down the list to the specific person you wish to tag.

Clicking the name of the person tags them and when you click "Post Comment", a window pops up allowing you let your friends know that you mentioned them. Unfortunately, this feature will not be available for those using an Internet Explorer 8 browser. We're looking into a fix.

Please note: We will never post to Facebook wall or Twitter feed without your permission.

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Can I edit my comment after posting it?

Yes, but only within the first 10 minutes of posting your comment. This limit is set to help conserve the original context behind a conversation. You can delete your own comments at any time.

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How do I follow/unfollow a conversation?

Following a conversation allows you to receive comment updates from a particular blog post or article. You can follow any conversation, and just as easily unfollow it, with a click of a button.

1. Scroll to the comment stream you'd like to follow
2. Click "Follow Conversation"

How to unfollow a conversation thread:

1. Scroll to the comment stream of the conversation you are following
2. Click "Unfollow"

When you comment on an article, you automatically "follow" that conversation.

You can manage your "follow" notification settings here.

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How do I share my comment on Twitter and Facebook?

One of the great features that our new commenting platform has is the ability to share comments on various social networks.

Whether you want to share a simple link to the conversation or a customized Tweet or Facebook post, we give you the tools to do so.

To get started, you will have to first connect your Twitter and/or Facebook accounts to your user profile to use our social sharing features.

Here are two ways to share comments to your Twitter and/or Facebook account:

1. Sign-in to your MarketWatch account
2. Type your comment
3. Check the box next to the social network(s) you'd like to share your comment to
4. Click "Post Comment"

1. Sign-in to your MarketWatch account
2. Go to the comment thread
3. Enter your comment and post it
4. Hover over the timestamp of the comment you just posted and click "Share"

From there, you can change the text of your Facebook or Twitter share to read however you'd like it and get a short URL to that conversation.

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What does 'Followers' next to the comment box mean?

This number indicates the total number of users who are following that conversation via email notification PLUS the number of people currently sitting on that particular page at the moment.

You may see the number fluctuate up or down depending on whether users subscribe to updates to the conversation or leave/visit the page.

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How do I delete my comment?

Any user can delete their own comment from a thread in real time. Simply hover over the timestamp of the comment you wish to delete and click "Delete".

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How do I add video or pictures to my post?

• YouTube
• Flickr
• Twitpic
• imgur
• img.ly
• Tinypic
• Vimeo

To add the image or video, just enter its URL into your comment. We'll take care of the rest!

A link to the image or video will appear in the comment box, after you post your comment.

Add links to other pages by typing in or copying its URL into the comment box. It will automatically be hyperlinked.

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How do I change the order that comments are displayed?

Our new commenting platform allows users to sort the conversation by "Newest" or "Oldest" comments with a click of the mouse. The conversation's latest comments are displayed by default.

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How do I stop receiving notifications from articles?

To stop receiving e-mails about a conversation that you took part in, simply return to the article that you're following. You should see text button that reads "Unfollow". Click on "Unfollow" and the text button will change to read "Follow". You will no longer receive e-mail updates concerning that conversation.

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I've been blocked from commenting because of my name. Why and what do I do?

MarketWatch requires users to provide their real first and last names to comment on the site. In the process, your name may have been caught by one of our moderation filters. Please send your full name to mwspecialrequests@marketwatch.com for a customer service representative to review your account. Or you can visit your profile to update your first and last name. Here is our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.