How the WSJ handles comments
Brian Boyer (@brianboyer) of NPR posted this interesting link about how the WSJ handles comments on one of their pages.
Suuuuper clever way to do comments in this WSJ project. Scroll down, on the right. http://t.co/syb8mjPgCb
— Brian Boyer (@brianboyer) November 20, 2013
Here's a screenshot of what they're doing on that page:
There are a few things going for this method:
1) It pushes the comments off of the story, preventing the comments section from detracting from the actual story. At the Spokesman, we have more trolls than Khazad-dûm, so this is one way to keep their bile from polluting and coloring stories that are otherwise quite neutral and peaceful.
2) Instead of a free-for-all comments section, they've directed the discussion by asking a relevant, interesting question. Your vitriol is not welcome, trolls.
3) They encourage intelligent discussion by highlighting decent, humane comments that were written intelligently. You can dissent and you can have your opinion, but you can also speak like a reasonable person.
Do you have any thoughts about the WSJ's solution here? Thoughts about how the Spokesman could better handle our comments sections?
