Sbudah
Well-Known Member
Can you prove this? Please post a link to a story with "bad" comments. Just one.
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News24 to switch off comments on articles
- Thread starter Kevin Lancaster
- Start date
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- news24
Can you prove this? Please post a link to a story with "bad" comments. Just one.
rwenzori
Honorary Master
News24 - too cheap to employ sub-editors. This is the "lead" article at the present time. Makes one want to slit one's own writs.
KleinBoontjie
Honorary Master
Then ofcourse, like with MyBB, there is the articles that sprout from the comments that will also dissapear. Lots of journalist get ideas for their articles from the comments, or sometimes even breaking news or some new development from the current story that they didn't know about.
Then again, News24 might already have journalist lurking MyBB for tips.
Then again, News24 might already have journalist lurking MyBB for tips.
Grep
Senior Member
So then don't go there! Is it really that hard? If you don't like something, don't view it!
I am so grateful that myBB uses the Disqus powered commenting system below articles which generally draws interaction from the more general folks. (Disqus may be more effective at thinning out the trolls, but there is no short supply of very polarized, dramatic and strongly opinionated South Africans whose comments are polarizing, confrontational and aggravating - and they too can drag out an endless self-righteous argumentative debate that tends to communicate their own points whilst belittling the opposing points raised. They are equally effective at dragging out an argumentative debate that ends up having nothing to do with the article. Even people who know big words and are educated and able to comment intellectually - whether I agree with them or not - get sucked into confrontational exchanges and we are all fallable so it is quite likely that very offensive or hateful or racist etc. rhetoric sneaks into their debates at some point - but worded carefully disguising what essentially amounts to hate speech etc. etc. be it intentionally or not. Even the best of us - myself included - can get sucked so deep down the rabbit hole that we lose sight of taking the high road. Point being, Disqus appears to be an effective troll-filter but the counter-productive degradation of a comments feed isn't fuelled by trolls alone.)
Not that I am so sure it's constructive at all to have post-moderation commenting freedom by default on every article - especially in South Africa. User comments do little for 'bringing out the realities' and so much more for aggravating the hatred or disgrace between the very vocal opposing users. Subsequent to fueling both their own and the opposing person's hatred for one another above all else, other users who feel like they either identify with one of these very controversial commentators or feel threatened by the strongly inflammatory comments of the opposing side also react and the divide widens and they too get sucked into choosing a side defined by willy nilly loudly opinionated brash and extreme comments made by extremely polarized individuals. In my opinion, that in no way serves a greater good, is in no way productive or meaningful no matter how much the people posting these comments insist otherwise. They could care less if they are facilitation renewed and aggravated divide in the country because in their opinion, that's the ugly truth and anyone who thinks otherwise is fooling themselves. Ironically, insisting on highlighting the 'ugly reality' making damn sure it isn't swept under a rug are just adding more fuel to the causes that keep this divide and these ugly truths alive and thriving. Great plan - let's fix South Africa with hatred and division. Because that always ends well! South Africans have a tendency to be very dramatic and negative and increasingly using the internet to drive their tactless controversies. The ability to comment publically on current affairs and other sensitive topics should be severely restricted and tightly managed in South Africa - wherever it's allowed at all. Comment sections rarely have any real use, so in my opinion news websites should avoid the system, or selectively implement it in a highly regulated manner. Many people are going to cry 'CENSORSHIP' on that but they need to get over themselves. Comments are tarnishing the image and trust of places like news24 and end up leaving Tabloids looking like professional news services by comparison. The news isn't a debate forum, it's a source of NEWS. User interaction should only be a small part of the service in its own place and managed so that it reflects the mission and ethics held by that particular news site. They reserve the right to restrict or remove user submissions and users reserve the right to go elsewhere.
This expectation that News24 is somehow OBLIGATED to entertain the notion that users are rightfully meant to and should be allowed to throw in their own 2c as they please is silly. As a news website, their obligation is to source and generate content, and selectively implement that. As a news publication they are ethically obligated to report objective, unbiased content (excluding opinion and letter pages/columns) and if they are not following that and are being biased and censoring news to hide their bias - you as the reader are free to raise your objections using countless platforms at your disposal and take action if you feel so strongly about it. Or you can just stop using them. Your insignificant opinion being blocked from use on a news website is not censorship. If you are being gagged where YOU are generating the content such as social media, blogs or using a forum, then you are being censored. News24? Please, get a life. As for other reputable international news sites (whose audience is typically made up of similarly minded users as there are usually enough alternative sources catering to people you don't share some general point of view with) commenting is either very regulated and being able to participate or even read them requires jumping through hoops if they allow it at all. This shift in how news websites view, use and manage comments is one that is currently happening and the death to the importance of a comments section will soon be one of the standard hallmarks of large, reputable news sites. Those that don't will become what they are already are now to some degree - trashy tabloids made for people who look for stuff to get worked up about.
I realize this is rich coming from me in this 'so long nobody is going to bother reading it' post - but those who shout the loudest and have the most to say are usually the minority looking for attention. Those of us in the middle (most myBB forum users are an example here regarding this topic) are generally too busy living life and getting along to throw a total hissy fit over news that really isn't going to change anything other than getting yourself riled up. You know what DOES make a difference? The strong united front against e-tolls, where we're doing more than trying to be the next Steve Hofmeyer on the internet and actually taking a stand. Ranting about the ANC hasn't done jack s*** until now - so really.
THANKFULLY myBB has 'run of the mill' article comments following the article AND for somehow more like-minded and intelligent users in general there's the forum. A lot less drama. A lot more sense. The unfortunate essays from PsyLenT every so often. All that's lacking - besides censorship when I get totally carried away in a post - is a 'like' button on other comments in a thread. We should start a thread to encourage that... I should make that suggestion on another thread in no more than 2 sentences. To anyone who actually read this, you may need to see a psychiatrist, and I can't decide if you should be given a Darwin Award or the Nobel Prize but try for both anyway!
Till the next time South Africans make Donald Trump seem like Jesus compared to the doomsday reality before their eyes - CHEERS!
Not that I am so sure it's constructive at all to have post-moderation commenting freedom by default on every article - especially in South Africa. User comments do little for 'bringing out the realities' and so much more for aggravating the hatred or disgrace between the very vocal opposing users. Subsequent to fueling both their own and the opposing person's hatred for one another above all else, other users who feel like they either identify with one of these very controversial commentators or feel threatened by the strongly inflammatory comments of the opposing side also react and the divide widens and they too get sucked into choosing a side defined by willy nilly loudly opinionated brash and extreme comments made by extremely polarized individuals. In my opinion, that in no way serves a greater good, is in no way productive or meaningful no matter how much the people posting these comments insist otherwise. They could care less if they are facilitation renewed and aggravated divide in the country because in their opinion, that's the ugly truth and anyone who thinks otherwise is fooling themselves. Ironically, insisting on highlighting the 'ugly reality' making damn sure it isn't swept under a rug are just adding more fuel to the causes that keep this divide and these ugly truths alive and thriving. Great plan - let's fix South Africa with hatred and division. Because that always ends well! South Africans have a tendency to be very dramatic and negative and increasingly using the internet to drive their tactless controversies. The ability to comment publically on current affairs and other sensitive topics should be severely restricted and tightly managed in South Africa - wherever it's allowed at all. Comment sections rarely have any real use, so in my opinion news websites should avoid the system, or selectively implement it in a highly regulated manner. Many people are going to cry 'CENSORSHIP' on that but they need to get over themselves. Comments are tarnishing the image and trust of places like news24 and end up leaving Tabloids looking like professional news services by comparison. The news isn't a debate forum, it's a source of NEWS. User interaction should only be a small part of the service in its own place and managed so that it reflects the mission and ethics held by that particular news site. They reserve the right to restrict or remove user submissions and users reserve the right to go elsewhere.
This expectation that News24 is somehow OBLIGATED to entertain the notion that users are rightfully meant to and should be allowed to throw in their own 2c as they please is silly. As a news website, their obligation is to source and generate content, and selectively implement that. As a news publication they are ethically obligated to report objective, unbiased content (excluding opinion and letter pages/columns) and if they are not following that and are being biased and censoring news to hide their bias - you as the reader are free to raise your objections using countless platforms at your disposal and take action if you feel so strongly about it. Or you can just stop using them. Your insignificant opinion being blocked from use on a news website is not censorship. If you are being gagged where YOU are generating the content such as social media, blogs or using a forum, then you are being censored. News24? Please, get a life. As for other reputable international news sites (whose audience is typically made up of similarly minded users as there are usually enough alternative sources catering to people you don't share some general point of view with) commenting is either very regulated and being able to participate or even read them requires jumping through hoops if they allow it at all. This shift in how news websites view, use and manage comments is one that is currently happening and the death to the importance of a comments section will soon be one of the standard hallmarks of large, reputable news sites. Those that don't will become what they are already are now to some degree - trashy tabloids made for people who look for stuff to get worked up about.
I realize this is rich coming from me in this 'so long nobody is going to bother reading it' post - but those who shout the loudest and have the most to say are usually the minority looking for attention. Those of us in the middle (most myBB forum users are an example here regarding this topic) are generally too busy living life and getting along to throw a total hissy fit over news that really isn't going to change anything other than getting yourself riled up. You know what DOES make a difference? The strong united front against e-tolls, where we're doing more than trying to be the next Steve Hofmeyer on the internet and actually taking a stand. Ranting about the ANC hasn't done jack s*** until now - so really.
THANKFULLY myBB has 'run of the mill' article comments following the article AND for somehow more like-minded and intelligent users in general there's the forum. A lot less drama. A lot more sense. The unfortunate essays from PsyLenT every so often. All that's lacking - besides censorship when I get totally carried away in a post - is a 'like' button on other comments in a thread. We should start a thread to encourage that... I should make that suggestion on another thread in no more than 2 sentences. To anyone who actually read this, you may need to see a psychiatrist, and I can't decide if you should be given a Darwin Award or the Nobel Prize but try for both anyway!
Till the next time South Africans make Donald Trump seem like Jesus compared to the doomsday reality before their eyes - CHEERS!
MickeyD
RIP
TL;DR
F
Fudzy
Guest
Disqus works well but AFAIK they have no 3rd party clients or even native clients for browsing different comment pages. A Tapatalk style app would work well. And a review of it's method of threading and searching.
KleinBoontjie
Honorary Master
:wtf: Oooo..Kay
F
Fudzy
Guest
It's not a bad read. But it could do with a summary.
*like buttons* Saw a guy put in two sentences what I wrote 3 loaded paragraphs on and he said exactly what I did. I have a problem :/
Wasabee!
Executive Member
- Joined
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But the mods keep deleting relevant posts? Maybe it is an ego thing or maybe they can't be objective.
MickeyD
RIP
I read it
rwenzori
Honorary Master
I did not realise that the purpose of journalism is to fix the country. Is that an ANC plan?
Ugly truths are ugly truths.
MickeyD
RIP
Had to re read the thesis a few times due to grammatical errors... 
rwenzori
Honorary Master
So your own pet hobby-horse should be exempt? Call up that Andrew Trench chap and insist he leaves comments open on e-toll articles.
rwenzori
Honorary Master
Had to re read the thesis a few times due to grammatical errors...
LOL. I'm only two-thirds of the way down. A bit turgid for 05h30.
I did not realise that the purpose of journalism is to fix the country. Is that an ANC plan?
Ugly truths are ugly truths.
Correct, that is not the purpose of journalism. Much less insta-comments on news that the quote you are referencing is referring to. "They" = every Tom, Dick and Sally spewing their crap in the comments section. Subjective truths on user comments at the end of an article serves no real purpose. Even though Sonette Bridges with her social media campaigns and Steve Mofmeyer at least know how and where to make their noise to get actual attention - even if they're about as objective as the infamous Kagiso from news24's comments.