Plain Dealer editor acknowledges vitriolic reader comments, throws up her hands

Re: Plain Dealer editor acknowledges vitriolic reader comments, throws up her ha

I don't agree with that. Most people won't pay for e-mail accounts now, so you're going to almost eliminate all comments, even the good ones. I have a Yahoo account and my university e-mail. Once I graduate, I'm not getting a new address that isn't provided by my job, and why should I? Most people have that mindset. You can't block free e-mail accounts, or you might as well not allow comments.

 

Most often what you see are comments made between the posters, with little or nothing to do with the original story. The "conversation" becomes an angry pissing match.

 

To what benefit? How much money does the newspaper make from those hundreds of respones? I know newspapers have to sell their souls in these times (front-page ads, that "newsy" ad/TV review on the front of the LA Times etc.). What I've never been able to understand is why we give our souls away for free.

 

Even if a story on our site has 100-150 comments, the vast majority are by five or six posters who just get in a pissing match.

 

That's fine. But users will just have to treat a paid account (i.e., one that comes with their Roadrunner service, etc.) as the price of admission if they want to comment. It contributes toward bringing accountability to these comment threads.

 

Somehow, it became our obligation to publish worthless drivel?
What memo did I miss?
Write an actual letter to the editor, foofs.

 

I've wondered that as well. We're not adding anything by allowing these comments.

We have standards for letters to the editor. Those standards should apply to the comments.

 

Just a few moments ago I was looking at my local paper's website. A 52 year old woman was hiking, fell off the mountain and died. Tragic story, particularly on Mother's Day.

First comment:

Yeah, that's adding a lot. I didn't look at the rest, but I'm confident within a few more posts they'll get around to blaming Mexicans. I would imagine her family enjoyed reading that. If it was someone I knew and I was a subscriber, I would cease to be a subscriber.

Don't think for a second this isn't turning off readers. It's just created a playground for idiots.

 

The "Paid account" distinction doesn't work. AOL will give an e-mail account to non-AOL users. It takes about 30 seconds to set it up, no different from Hotmail or Yahoo.

 

HOLY CRAP! After reading all the leftist pap Fenian spews on the political board, and thinking the guy a complete and utter close-minded idiot, I finally can say "Amen, Fenian...preach it."
Just goes to show, even people who could not possibly be more different than you with their views on politics can have some thoughts you agree with. and I thought all liberals were clueless...

Calm down, I was just kidding about the clueless crack. I have a couple of liberal friends ... well, centrists friends anyway.

 

Damn straight. Or at least require the same standards (address for verification, etc.).

 

The companies are whores for the traffic, so they let the comments sections roll without real registration or supervision.

Registration is no better than a speed bump. The obsessed know all the shortcuts. But moderating goes a long way to solving the problems. People get frustrated when their obscene posts don't show up immediately, so they find another playground.