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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Week is closing its comments sections down.
Here is The Week's explanation of why they're closing down their comments;
Here at The Week, we have a deep respect for the intelligence and opinions of our readers, and take very seriously our mission of concisely giving smart, busy people all they need to know about everything that matters, on all topics, from all perspectives. And as our site continues to grow and change we're now averaging 10 million unique visitors a month, and have a beautiful new redesign launching in early 2015 we want the work we do to drive more and more smart and vibrant conversations among thoughtful people from all ideological backgrounds.
But as our industry has changed in recent years, so too has the optimal forum for these conversations. There was a time not so long ago! when the comments sections of news and opinion sites were not only the best place to host these conversations, they were the only place. That is no longer the case. Too often, the comments sections of news sites are hijacked by a small group of pseudonymous commenters who replace smart, thoughtful dialogue with vitriolic personal insults and rote exchanges of partisan acrimony. This small but outspoken group does a disservice to the many intelligent, open-minded people who seek a fair and respectful exchange of ideas in the comments sections of news sites.
And so today, the smartest, most thoughtful, and most spirited conversations are being driven not by pseudonymous avatars in the comments sections of news sites, but by real people using their real names on the social web. It is no longer a core service of news sites to provide forums for these conversations. Instead, we provide the ideas, the fodder, the jumping off point, and readers take it to Facebook or Twitter or Reddit or any number of other places to continue the conversation.
That's why we will be closing the comments section on TheWeek.com at the end of the year.
But as our industry has changed in recent years, so too has the optimal forum for these conversations. There was a time not so long ago! when the comments sections of news and opinion sites were not only the best place to host these conversations, they were the only place. That is no longer the case. Too often, the comments sections of news sites are hijacked by a small group of pseudonymous commenters who replace smart, thoughtful dialogue with vitriolic personal insults and rote exchanges of partisan acrimony. This small but outspoken group does a disservice to the many intelligent, open-minded people who seek a fair and respectful exchange of ideas in the comments sections of news sites.
And so today, the smartest, most thoughtful, and most spirited conversations are being driven not by pseudonymous avatars in the comments sections of news sites, but by real people using their real names on the social web. It is no longer a core service of news sites to provide forums for these conversations. Instead, we provide the ideas, the fodder, the jumping off point, and readers take it to Facebook or Twitter or Reddit or any number of other places to continue the conversation.
That's why we will be closing the comments section on TheWeek.com at the end of the year.
I suppose all the members of the GOP 69th Keyboard Warriors Division will soon find other homes to spew their hatred from.
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The Week is closing its comments sections down. (Original Post)
47of74
Dec 2014
OP
Initech
(99,909 posts)1. If they're expecting to find intelligence and decency in a comment section...
They're on the wrong internet.
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)2. I bet they're overloaded with alerts and the number of employees
they have to have to respond and patrol the comments because some get so out of hand.
tanyev
(42,356 posts)3. No great loss, I'm sure.
It was an improvement when the Dallas Morning News changed their anonymous comments to Facebook logins, but I'm still amazed at how many people will still post vile things even with their name, photo and sometimes employer attached.
47of74
(18,470 posts)4. One nice thing about Facebook comments...
...if you block the most offensive people in facebook you don't see them on the comments section - which I don't participate in anymore.