By now you might have heard that the venerable science magazine Popular Science is shutting off comments.
The debate over hosting online comments is as old as the internet. At best, they provide great feedback to news organization, help expand the discussion, and foster a sense of shared community. At worst, they're a platform for vile and abusive non-sense.
Most news rooms have discussed how to improve the quality of online comments - active moderation, no anonymous postings, prohibiting postings on certain stories - rather than question whether to host them at all. Our Beat the Press contributor, Dan Kennedy, had a thoughtful post on how he arrived on the comments policy for his blog, Media Nation.
The reasons behind Popular Science's decision are compelling. Personally, I think news organizations have just assumed that online comments are part of the online experience without questioning their value to readers, and Popular Science's move will hopefully jumpstart that side of the discussion.
What do you think? Do online comments add value? How? Are there better ways of engaging readers/viewers through social media?
We'll use your comments* to inform out discussion on Beat the Press this Friday.
(*If they add value to the discussion)
