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Thread: Thinking of you Captain

  1. #1
    Join Date
    10-22-01
    Location
    All Over
    Posts
    38,200

    Thinking of you Captain

    This is from an email sent by the Patriot News which is a Newspaper in Harrisburg (state capital of PA) and what I have found is the best coverage of State government. They have just shut down their "experiment" in an open forum "discussing" politics. I expect you will share their thoughts



    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
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty” ---Sir Winston Churchill
    "Political extremism involves two prime ingredients: an excessively simple diagnosis of the world's ills, and a conviction that there are identifiable villains back of it all." ---John W. Gardner
    “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” ---C. S. Lewis

  2. #2
    Join Date
    11-22-03
    Location
    In the Village...
    Posts
    43,956
    Well, that sounds vaguely familiar......Ben
    The future is forged on the anvil of history...The interpreter of history wields the hammer... - Unknown author...

  3. #3
    Join Date
    04-23-02
    Location
    SW Colorado
    Posts
    4,959
    It will be interesting to watch their participation. My guess is the 1000 posts a day goes down. The internet is a wonderful place where lunatics have voice. And the rest of us can watch (and encourage as necessary) the spectacle.
    "Back after 5 years. I thought you had died.

    don"


    Splitting my time between the montane and the mesas

    The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
    But I have promises to keep,
    And miles to go before I sleep,
    And miles to go before I sleep.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    10-30-01
    Location
    Salt Lake City
    Posts
    30,650
    After being here online for several years, and then leaving, and then returning - I've noticed how smoothly things here tend to operate. It's been impressive to experience and it's due to our members. I sincerely can't say enough good things about them all. And our Captain? He's shown outstanding value, literally for years.

    Thank you.

    Hunter
    I don't care if it hurts. I want to have control. I want a perfect body. I want a perfect soul. - Creep by Radiohead

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