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Dear reader,
The silence was deafening.
Ten days ago, we ended open commenting on the stories we post to PennLive.com. The move came after years of moderating them for civility and appropriateness.
The task became more daunting as engagement on the site grew to more than 1,000 comments a day. Meanwhile, a small group of commenters was creating an unwelcoming atmosphere for others with consistently nasty, belittling and off-topic remarks.
We realized we needed to use the time, effort and money spent on moderation elsewhere and made the tough call.
Objections poured in during the two days between the announcement and the comments shutdown. We were accused of everything from "forced censorship" to taking away the constitutional right to free speech. We heard from angry conservatives, ticked-off liberals and everyone in between.
This was a difficult decision and we knew it would be an especially painful one for our frequent commenters. We do miss reading the insightful and often humorous remarks so many of you offered on a daily basis.
But we still believe it was the right thing to do in forging a better experience for PennLive's readers. Over the past week and a half, we've also heard from many of you who agree.
Several folks told me they used to comment regularly but had stopped, due to increasingly negative responses. Others said they'd avoided looking at the comments altogether.
I think reader Ken Harper summed it up best:
"After reading the 1,200 comments on the article announcing the closing of the system, there is no question in my mind that you made the right decision. Sadly, too many people hide behind the keyboard to bash whole groups of people, promote political views at a propaganda level and trade insults with others. This simply is not a good thing."
While the commenting has been quieted on PennLive.com, it continues to thrive on our social media channels. Readers are urged to continue posting to the stories on our Facebook pages and Twitter accounts. For more information, see our detailed Q&A or contact us through this link.
We greatly appreciate your loyalty and hope you will consider supporting our decision on the comments with a subscription to The Patriot-News or PennLive.com. Thank you.
All the best,
Cate Barron
President
PennLive & The Patriot-News
