Maybe in 2005 the comment section made some sense. Maybe. Frankly, I get nothing out of finishing an article on the local kid's bike race and seeing the latest comment posted was about how Obama is a secret Muslim, that we can blame everything on Big Business, or that things were better back in the past when we all lived in black and white TV shows (apparently).
Really, Estate 4.1 has turned the entire enterprise of reading these comments into an art form.
There's no doubt that news sites were hoping to build a web 2.0 world where communities thrived on their websites, but its been sort of like putting a bird feeder out to maybe watch some Blue Jays and realizing in a month that the thing is completely full of really stupid but furious hornets, and if you try to spray them, that's just going to make them mad.
Back in March I opined that I thought DC Comics was wise to remove comments from their blog. I've seen a few people call them out on this as recently as Comic-Con, but I have to think those people never actually read the comment section and saw the bubbling cauldron of fear and loathing that the comments had become.
I also have no idea why DC bothers to host its own message board which is an even viler hive of scum and villainy.
Every once in a while, I ponder anonymous comments here at this site. I've been very, very lucky that so few people comment here without leaving a sig on their anonymous comment (thanks, NTT!). And because I don't want anyone to have to post through a service they don't want to use, I keep anonymous comments available. But I don't like it.
Its very hard to have a conversation with someone if you don't know who you're addressing. And, I also know some of you post anonymously when you're being a bit pissy,* and that's just... well, its weird and not something I want to police. But day in and day out? Its not a big deal.
For news sites? I think the experiment if over. Letters to the Editor worked fine for a good, long while, and if you're likely to write a letter worth publishing, then its likely you've got something worth saying and you've been a bit thoughtful about what you'd say and hopefully worked out the type-o's.
I'm not even sure why news sites are dragging their feet or finding half-measures to seemingly slowly back away from the comment sections. And I REALLY don't know why CNN thought a great idea was to have anchors read viewer feedback. That's not balanced coverage, that's reading two or three anonymous jerks' opinions.**
*yes, I know exactly who that is.
**clearly, the right way to consume an anonymous jerk's opinion is through reading his blog. amiright?
8 comments:
who? me?
Sigh.
You might watch it, or you'll end up pissing off the internet trolls that go by the 'A' word...that would be NOT cool...
I envision a future message board hosted by comixology or one of the other on line comic buying services where you can discuss the comic you've just purchased. I'd suspect the discourse would be above average as the service would know your real name.
Hey, I'm not exactly anonymous. Everyone who needs to know knows exactly who I am!
-NTT
Right, NTT. I don't mind the consistent use of anonymous commenting when you sign it every time. That's more than welcome and why I don't turn off anonymous comments.
Simon, that seems like it might be okay. The biggest issue I see are the folks who decided to live on those boards. I dunno. I don't read reviews at Amazon, but I will look at a general rating before I try something, so the value for me is pretty low.
I guess I can create a google account specifically for commenting here. Doing the anonymous thing was just easy when the blog first started.
-NTT
If you want, I'd welcome it, but its not necessary at this time. If we start having a spate of annoying anonymous comments, I'll give you a heads-up.
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