The Future of Comments Sections
By now we all know that having some sort of forum for users to interact with news stories can be either very constructive or extremely damaging. The politicization of information in the United States over the past six years to everything from how many people were at Donald Trump’s inauguration to the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic has made any discussion in any sort of shared online space increasingly volatile.
That said, comments sections are somewhat out of date and studies show only a small number of people actually interact in comments sections or page-provided forums. In 2019, two publications closed their respective comment sections, citing heightened “attacks” from anonymous sources, as well as the rise of social media. Twitter in particular has served as a place where people both get news and comment on it, as well as interact with others across boundaries. This, however, comes with its own issues as Twitter does not require anyone to verify sources before sharing news, and the algorithm allows fake news to spread faster than real news. Additionally, the inundation of bots on Twitter and other forms of public meddling makes interacting with other users volatile and unpredictable.
So how can publications use comments sections going forward? One participant in a Nieman Lab study on what the future of comments sections look like said that newsrooms and consumers “disagree on what the space should be. We want you to talk about the news, but we don’t want this to be this horrible free-for-all where people can just go at each other for sport. That’s a chat room.” Participants went on to say that they also wanted more resources given by publications for discussion, such as tools and prompts.
Furthermore, participants said targeted newsroom forums could actually spread both misinformation and disinformation. Trolls are easier to spot when a format is given because trolls usually are interested in no such thing, and the detested game of “whack-a-troll,” as one participant put it, takes the edge off.
“Any time we even just moderated a comment, a new account would pop up to pick up where that conversation left off and it became very abundantly clear that it was the same person doing this,” said one participant.
Other commenters reached out until problems were fixed but troll interactions can actually hurt a newsroom’s overall brand. Having a quick and clear way to identify and clear out off-topic comments so that the uncivil trolling does minimal damage to readers’ perception of your work — that’s where moderators come in and they’re important.
Moderators ensure that everyone using the comments section staying on topic and contributing to conversation rather than contributing negatively to the space. However, this can take a mental toll, and according to research, diversifying the moderating task is also important to keep things running smoothly.
Journalism.co.uk asserts that the comment section is “only as good” as the editorial strategy behind it:
“For those on the brink of ending comments in favour of something else, I would encourage you to think critically about what that 'something else' is, how it works long-term and the control that your publication has in the day-to-day engagement.”
“For those with comments, let’s start to think strategically at how to approach comments, not just from an editorial stance, but also a product and technology stance.”
“Your comments section is only as good as your strategy.”
There are conflicting opinions on whether or not there is a future for comments sections at all. New technologies and strategies are suggestible ways to bring them back to the forefront of internet interactivity, but unless these strategies are widely implemented, journalists argue that comment sections will fade away.
