Changes at the Boston Globe

Changes at the Boston Globe comments policy, published March 9:

We’re experimenting with new ways to generate conversation at Globe Opinion. For the next month, instead of our usual anonymous comments section, we’re inviting you to submit signed 100-word responses to what you read, some of which will get published in our Letters section. On select op-ed columns and editorials we’ll have an audience tool like the one here to collect and publish your feedback.

What do you think about this idea? What would you most like to see in online conversation here and what would entice you to participate?

Ordinary comments appear to still be available at the Globe.

Telegraph limits comments to subscribers only

The Telegraph (based in the UK) has announced a comments policy where only subscribers can post comments, effective April 29. The Wall Street Journal did the same thing last year. (I think The Times of London does the same. Not a subscriber, so not certain.)

The Telegraph had ended comments in 2016, but reinstated them sometime since. The Telegraph also has a set of guidelines for comments.

Artificial intelligence to detect positive comment threads

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have devised an artificial intelligence algorithm which highlights positive comments, or what they call "help speech." Other similar algorithms have been devised to block hate speech. This effort would, "assist with the cybertopian ambition of better making the internet a voice for empowering the voiceless," according to the article here.

OregonLive ditches comments

OregonLive, the website for the Oregonian newspaper, ushered in 2020 by banning comments from its site. Incivility and the cost of moderating comments are the reasons offered, and the paper's editor makes the point that only a tiny fraction of the audience posts comments. All true.

The story attracted 3,600 reader comments, which seems a lot for a publication of this size, before the commenting was shut down. Readers are encouraged to take their conversations to social media.

Update: A short iMediaEthics report on this.

NYT writers comment on their comments

This is a nice piece about how NYT writers feel about reader comments. The sentiment is nearly entirely positive, and I suspect that is not always the case. Nonetheless, the writers nearly all point to differing points of view that further enlighten our understanding of a topic.

The comments on the article, too, show the large audience for this reader content.

Wall Street Journal comments have changed

The Wall Street Journal has changed its online comments to give it more control of the comment process. There are five changes (outlined here).

1. Only WSJ members (subscribers) can participate.
2. Comments will close 48 hours after an article is posted.
3. More moderators have been added. 
4. Comments will be opened with a question: "To facilitate thoughtful and meaningful discourse, a WSJ reporter will initiate the discussion with a question. This will help keep comments on point and give members the ability to interact with our journalists."
5. Immediate e-mails about whether a comment is approved or rejected.

Closing comments after a certain amount of time is nothing new, and most comments are made in the hours after an article is posted. Opening the article comments with a question is unusual, however. I am skeptical it will keep discussions on track, but worth a try. 

The Year in Comments (Washington Post)

The Washington Post offers a round-up of the year in comments.

A Times commenter in rhyme

This is a charming remembrance of Larry Eisenberg, a prolific writer of limericks in the comments sections of The New York Times - and the comments section is filled with limericks in tribute! Writers like Eisenberg and Richard Luettgen make the Times comments worth reading.

Lawyer disbarred for online comments

"A former federal prosecutor has been disbarred for posting anonymous online comments about cases being handled by himself or by his office" - ABA Journal

What is a university obligated to do about online harassment?

A federal appeals court has kept alive a lawsuit from students of the University of Mary Washington who contend that the university did not do enough to protect them from online harassment.