NJ.com eliminates comments section

NJ.com removing comments section on Thursday

Personally I think it was way past time. Anyone who thinks MOL or SOMA Lounge are bad probably never read the comments on nj.com. It was the poster child for "never read the comments." It was a cesspool of the most hateful people you can imagine, and reading their garbage was depressing. 

I don't think news organizations have any obligation to give any idiot with an ax to grind a platform to spew hate and/or anger. 


This is true of pretty much all online comment sections.   


What are all those haters going to do with all their hate? I hope all that evil energy vanishes instead of getting redirected out into the real world. They were the worst ever, for news sites.


bub said:

This is true of pretty much all online comment sections.   

 nj.com comments were a special kind of hell. Your response suggests to me you didn't read them very often grin


ml1 said:

bub said:

This is true of pretty much all online comment sections.   

 nj.com comments were a special kind of hell. Your response suggests to me you didn't read them very often
grin

 I do read them and many others.  They attract the same kind of ignorant and nasty comments.  Sometimes I'm more saddened by the basic lack of grammar and coherence.  I can tell someone is angry but their writing is so muddled and shoot-from-the-hip that I can't tell what thy are angry about.


bub said:

 I do read them and many others.  They attract the same kind of ignorant and nasty comments.  Sometimes I'm more saddened by the basic lack of grammar and coherence.  I can tell someone is angry but their writing is so muddled and shoot-from-the-hip that I can't tell what thy are angry about.

The great thing thing about Democracy is that the illiterate, very angry, emotional vote counts as much as yours or mine. No discrimination there.

Wonder what happens when they become the majority?


I have mixed feelings. It did feel antiquated for a news org to have anonymous comments on stories. But at the same time having no comments will feel like something's missing. 

The comment sections were often cesspools, but at the same time they were entertaining at times, and for better or for worse, they did provide a window of what's out there. Removing the comments section doesn't drain the cesspools, it only puts a curtain around them.

I had some laughs posting and reading comments here and there. I remember in particular the pooperintendent guy and the Caren Turner traffic stop comments were pretty raucous and entertaining.  


Smedley said:The comment sections were often cesspools, but at the same time they were entertaining at times, and for better or for worse, they did provide a window of what's out there. 

 Totally agree with this--always incredulous when reading the comments and getting a guilty pleasure on the clusterfcuk of loonies that spend their time and vitriol commenting, usually on the wrong side of history.


The NJ.com comments section almost always made MOL look good.


There were times my comments were not inappropriate, but removed because the trolls flagged them. And then I would see clearly bigoted comments and they were left up even after I flagged them.

One comment I remember was about people following GPS into a forest or river.  I said if people don't have the sense to not blindly follow GPS, they probably should not be driving at all....and that was deleted.

I even commented 'why is this comment not disabled'  on a racist comment and that was removed, but the bigoted comment remained.  Flagging them didn't seem to help.


Smedley said:

I have mixed feelings. It did feel antiquated for a news org to have anonymous comments on stories. But at the same time having no comments will feel like something's missing. 

The comment sections were often cesspools, but at the same time they were entertaining at times, and for better or for worse, they did provide a window of what's out there. Removing the comments section doesn't drain the cesspools, it only puts a curtain around them.

I had some laughs posting and reading comments here and there. I remember in particular the pooperintendent guy and the Caren Turner traffic stop comments were pretty raucous and entertaining.  

I've wandered over to nj.com from time to time and it is indeed a cesspool. But I don't think that removing the comments just puts a curtain up. Instead it takes the bullhorn away from a very small number of people whose voices were being amplified. 


For anyone who might miss the comments on nj.com, I recommend philly.com (inquirer.com) - probably a lot of the same commenters


I could have sworn they shut the comments down back in 2016. Did they do that then turn them back on again?


Smedley said:

I have mixed feelings. It did feel antiquated for a news org to have anonymous comments on stories. But at the same time having no comments will feel like something's missing. 

The comment sections were often cesspools, but at the same time they were entertaining at times, and for better or for worse, they did provide a window of what's out there. Removing the comments section doesn't drain the cesspools, it only puts a curtain around them.

I had some laughs posting and reading comments here and there. I remember in particular the pooperintendent guy and the Caren Turner traffic stop comments were pretty raucous and entertaining.  

 in the article, it indicated that the percentage of readers who comment averages 0.03%.  So as an indication of what's "out there," it's not that useful.  Sure those people exist, but not in any numbers worth paying attention to.


apple44 said:

For anyone who might miss the comments on nj.com, I recommend philly.com (inquirer.com) - probably a lot of the same commenters

The sports comments there have their bright spots. The knuckleheads in the news sections don’t always go unchallenged, but, yeah, they tend to dominate. I bet you’re right about the overlap.


Looks like all the local cranks moved to Next Door. Guy posted about an increase in state school aid that he is NOT happy about. “We shouldn’t need more aid.” Some just live to complain...


You're probably thinking of the town message board forums they used to have, which as bad as the comments were, the forums were much much worse.

ridski said:

I could have sworn they shut the comments down back in 2016. Did they do that then turn them back on again?

 


jimmurphy said:

Looks like all the local cranks moved to Next Door. Guy posted about an increase in state school aid that he is NOT happy about. “We shouldn’t need more aid.” Some just live to complain...

All that he does is complain. It was one of the most stupid comments that I've seen anywhere.  Not worth responding to. 


cramer said:

All that he does is complain. It was one of the most stupid comments that I've seen anywhere.  Not worth responding to. 

 holy cow.  a number of the commenters there are just as bad as the OP.  What ignorance.


kenboy said:

 

 That's it! Thanks!


jimmurphy said:

Looks like all the local cranks moved to Next Door. Guy posted about an increase in state school aid that he is NOT happy about. “We shouldn’t need more aid.” Some just live to complain...

 I hope that you're referring to this thread as I can't imagine that there could be worse.


That’s the one. There’s a similar thread on development from a few days ago. I’d delete the link though.


When I read stuff like that I hope that it's just people spouting off, and not an indication of what they're really like.  Because it would be dismaying to think there are people among us who are angry all the time, and think everything is going to hell, and that they personally are always getting the short end.  Because that's how so many of those comments strike me -- everyone in elected office is some combination of corrupt, stupid, and incompetent, all changes are bad (and by implication make regular folks' lives worse), and usually, that the idiot libs are to blame (apparently we libs are so concerned with being woke that we'll ruin our own lives if that's what it takes, and take everyone else down with us).


ml1 said:

Because that's how so many of those comments strike me -- everyone in elected office is some combination of corrupt, stupid, and incompetent, all changes are bad (and by implication make regular folks' lives worse), and usually, that the idiot libs are to blame

Did I miss something?  Is another Post Office being replaced with apartments somewhere? 


The rant started, believe it or not, because the SOMA district is getting a big increase in state aid. You can't make this stuff up. 


I used to go to nj.com when a bad news story broke just to see the comments. I knew they would be evil and hateful no matter what the story was, but I couldn’t help myself. Luckily, I broke myself or the habit before this happened. Joking about breaking the habit, but it did seem like an addiction for some...



In order to add a comment – you must Join this community – Click here to do so.