Silence of the Blogs
The comment feature on blogs and websites is an important innovation in online publishing—mainly because it allows interactivity between the writer and the reader. But do bloggers and readers take it for granted? What if it didn’t exist?
The editors of Engadget, a popular technology website, silenced the comment feature on its blogs on Tuesday, February 2, stating, “over the past few days the tone in comments has really gotten out of hand. What is normally a charged—but fun—environment for our users and editors has become mean, ugly, pointless, and frankly threatening in some situations… and that’s just not acceptable.”
Flame wars and trolling on the Web are nothing new. And there are those who claim that “there’s no such thing as bad publicity,” whether to justify snark or simply to enlarge one’s presence on the Web. According to this perspective, there is no point in shutting down a comment system—even the flakiest or rudest comment still generates clicks, which in turn generates interest.
On the other hand, “sticks and stones” isn’t true. False, misleading, and/or defamatory stories placed online can and do hurt the reputations of the people they include and subjects they cover. And there is also the question of what value sarcasm and mean-spiritedness add to an online posting. Do they shed light on the subject matter, or are they simply invitations to join in the bullying?
If all blogs turned off their comment features, people would turn to Facebook, Twitter, and other online social media, as well as traditional channels of communication like newspaper editorials, to get across their points—and the average editorial page of a major newspaper is probably 75% snark generated by disappointed local readers.
Editors and moderators concern themselves, rightly, with the amount of snarky commentary generated by their articles, especially those generated by trolls who amuse themselves by looking to create controversy. If there is too much trolling and snark, these editors and moderators may take the action those behind Engadget did, and shut down commenting entirely. But in so doing, they may also be stifling the ability of readers to make positive or otherwise valuable commentary on their content—which is counterproductive to the whole point of having a blog!
Finding the right balance between interest and value is an editor’s paramount—and hardest —task. The most interesting content also needs the best eye-catching and interest-holding editorial treatment—while at the same time not allowing the publication to turn into a free-for-all. Otherwise, everyone will end up paying in pain for the hurtful words.
