<story><title>Why we’re removing comments on most of Inquirer.com</title><url>https://www.inquirer.com/about/philadelphia-inquirer-comments-section-changes-20210201.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dredmorbius</author><text>I&amp;#x27;d be curious to compare early rationales arguing news sites &lt;i&gt;should&lt;/i&gt; run comments sections wth the reality that&amp;#x27;s transpired.&lt;p&gt;There &lt;i&gt;are&lt;/i&gt; numerous articles from the past decade arguing &lt;i&gt;against&lt;/i&gt;.  (These turned up searching fror the &amp;quot;pro&amp;quot; argument.)&lt;p&gt;Why comments sections must die (2018)
&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.salon.com&amp;#x2F;2018&amp;#x2F;11&amp;#x2F;17&amp;#x2F;why-comments-sections-must-die&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.salon.com&amp;#x2F;2018&amp;#x2F;11&amp;#x2F;17&amp;#x2F;why-comments-sections-must-...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is it really wise for news websites to stop people from commenting? (2015)
&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theguardian.com&amp;#x2F;media&amp;#x2F;greenslade&amp;#x2F;2015&amp;#x2F;sep&amp;#x2F;25&amp;#x2F;is-it-really-a-good-idea-to-turn-for-news-websites-to-turn-off-comments&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theguardian.com&amp;#x2F;media&amp;#x2F;greenslade&amp;#x2F;2015&amp;#x2F;sep&amp;#x2F;25&amp;#x2F;is-...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Comment sections are poison: handle with care or remove them (2014) &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theguardian.com&amp;#x2F;science&amp;#x2F;brain-flapping&amp;#x2F;2014&amp;#x2F;sep&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;comment-sections-toxic-moderation&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theguardian.com&amp;#x2F;science&amp;#x2F;brain-flapping&amp;#x2F;2014&amp;#x2F;sep&amp;#x2F;...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;No Comment! Why More News Sites Are Dumping Their Comment Sections (2018) &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.kqed.org&amp;#x2F;lowdown&amp;#x2F;29720&amp;#x2F;no-comment-why-a-growing-number-of-news-sites-are-dumping-their-comment-sections&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.kqed.org&amp;#x2F;lowdown&amp;#x2F;29720&amp;#x2F;no-comment-why-a-growing-...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>anigbrowl</author><text>Well, I was a big evangelist for the idea back int he 1990s, as well as for anonymous posting. With hindsight, this was a big mistake, predicated on an overly rosy view of democracy-as-civic-participation. I thought that people who really wanted to comment (such as myself) were doing so in good faith and wanted ideas to succeed or fail on their merits.&lt;p&gt;On the one hand, I formed these overly rosy views prior to Eternal September, but on the other it should have occurred to me that the reason trash tabloids sold in large quantities was not that people were tricked into buying them but because a lot of people are in fact awful.</text></comment>
<story><title>Why we’re removing comments on most of Inquirer.com</title><url>https://www.inquirer.com/about/philadelphia-inquirer-comments-section-changes-20210201.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dredmorbius</author><text>I&amp;#x27;d be curious to compare early rationales arguing news sites &lt;i&gt;should&lt;/i&gt; run comments sections wth the reality that&amp;#x27;s transpired.&lt;p&gt;There &lt;i&gt;are&lt;/i&gt; numerous articles from the past decade arguing &lt;i&gt;against&lt;/i&gt;.  (These turned up searching fror the &amp;quot;pro&amp;quot; argument.)&lt;p&gt;Why comments sections must die (2018)
&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.salon.com&amp;#x2F;2018&amp;#x2F;11&amp;#x2F;17&amp;#x2F;why-comments-sections-must-die&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.salon.com&amp;#x2F;2018&amp;#x2F;11&amp;#x2F;17&amp;#x2F;why-comments-sections-must-...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is it really wise for news websites to stop people from commenting? (2015)
&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theguardian.com&amp;#x2F;media&amp;#x2F;greenslade&amp;#x2F;2015&amp;#x2F;sep&amp;#x2F;25&amp;#x2F;is-it-really-a-good-idea-to-turn-for-news-websites-to-turn-off-comments&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theguardian.com&amp;#x2F;media&amp;#x2F;greenslade&amp;#x2F;2015&amp;#x2F;sep&amp;#x2F;25&amp;#x2F;is-...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Comment sections are poison: handle with care or remove them (2014) &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theguardian.com&amp;#x2F;science&amp;#x2F;brain-flapping&amp;#x2F;2014&amp;#x2F;sep&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;comment-sections-toxic-moderation&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theguardian.com&amp;#x2F;science&amp;#x2F;brain-flapping&amp;#x2F;2014&amp;#x2F;sep&amp;#x2F;...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;No Comment! Why More News Sites Are Dumping Their Comment Sections (2018) &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.kqed.org&amp;#x2F;lowdown&amp;#x2F;29720&amp;#x2F;no-comment-why-a-growing-number-of-news-sites-are-dumping-their-comment-sections&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.kqed.org&amp;#x2F;lowdown&amp;#x2F;29720&amp;#x2F;no-comment-why-a-growing-...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>rgoulter</author><text>I&amp;#x27;d guess the rationale for comments would be implicit before then. e.g. it&amp;#x27;s not strange to see that there&amp;#x27;s a chat alongside livestreams on Twitch, or a comment section beneath YouTube videos. There&amp;#x27;s a natural community of people interested in the content enough to comment. - I&amp;#x27;d guess the difference here is that newspapers get significantly more traffic from social media.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;d also think it comes from a positive vision of technology. The internet as a means of &amp;quot;making the world more connected&amp;quot;. Empower people to communicate in ways which weren&amp;#x27;t possible before. - Turns out this wasn&amp;#x27;t as positive as expected.</text></comment>