As of Thursday, Cleveland.com will no longer accept reader comments on stories.
Citing the generally vile and mean-spirited nature of the comment sections, as well as the fact that a small percentage of readers were responsible for the vast majority of comments, Cleveland.com editor Chris Quinn wrote today of the decision:
“In cleveland.com’s 20-plus year history, comments have been our biggest flashpoint. Screening comments for personal attacks, profanity or off-topic remarks has become an increasing drain on newsroom resources. Despite the invested time, money and effort, we have failed to dampen pervasive meanness. It’s such a shame. We genuinely wanted the platform to work, because people have so few places to meet others with different viewpoints who want to discuss the topics we cover.”
Cleveland.com had previously closed commenting on individual crime and court stories, venues where comments inevitably devolved into digital distillations of racism, and instead offered a single daily comment section for all crime and court stories in an effort to stem the tide.
Rare is the comment section that lives up to the Socratic ideals of engagement and debate media organizations had once envisioned. Almost exclusively, they are instead cesspools of hate, harassment, trolling, racism and bigotry. Moderating those online petri dishes is imperfect, time-consuming and expensive. Even with automated methods, which pull or quarantine comments based on keywords, there still exists a need for humans to mine through the shit to flag vile comments that make it through the safety net. And even with those explicitly hateful submissions excised, the general hateful spirit remains, driven in large part by that small minority responsible for the vast majority of comments.
“We have more than 7.5 million devices connecting to our site in an average month, but just over 4,000 left a comment,” Quinn wrote today. “That works out to a tiny bit more than one tenth of one half of one percent. Across all 11 Advance Local websites — which serve 50 million visitors in an average month — just 2,340 people produce more than half of the comments.”
The move, which is sure to be met with universal applause in the newsroom at 1801 Superior Ave. and others around the country, is one that sister outlets owned by Advance Publications have either already made or will in the future.
“Not hosting a place where a tiny number of people spew caustic nonsense is our latest step to make for a better Greater Cleveland community,” Quinn wrote.
There are currently well north of 800 comments on the piece. Two illustrative examples [sic, of course]:
I actually come here to read the comments as many of the poster have interesting information and points of view. You have the “mute” button to take care of trolls. And many of the articles only give information of things that we fans already know – nothing new. You’re taking away a vital part of this site because of personal over-sensiblity and not taking into account what the readers think. Did you take a poll to see what your readers want? Or is this some sort of authoritarian move to control criticism !!! You might want to look in the mirror before imposing your personal interpretation on those that contribute to the “success” of this site.And:
Check back in a month and tell us how many hits you’ve lost. I for one, will now look at other possibilities where I can share views with fellow fans.
i find it quite amusing the reasons for this decision. the double standard is so apparent. for instance, there have been many troy smith stories about rappers. included in the stories are links to play the rap music. of course anyone could click on those rap links to hear the hateful abusive lyrics complete with the n word. and that was ok yet you censor many times opposing views and information that goes against the agenda. no rules were broken other than the truth triggered some buttercup. this is why people aren’t trusting the main stream media
This article appears in Feb 19-25, 2020.
If only Scene could block comments… just from What A Dump!
I don’t blame you. You should use your resources for reporting not babysitting.
Should be…the only major network that HAS NOT done so is ABC. But they will ban you from their site in a New York minute if you step on thee wrong toes and piss them off. I’ve been banned from ABC since 2016.
This looks like a nice place.
Quinn spews out stats as if he’s Craig Karmazin of Good Karma Brands justifying his leadership of the sinking ship that is ESPN Cleveland.
The haters will now migrate here. And SCENE will also have to pull the plug because this site will quickly become the same kind of cesspool that Cleveland. com was for decades. The bastards always win. It’ll happen here, too…within six months, tops.
Worry not! We have Scene and What a Dump. We will be fine.
800 comments? Try doubling that…it’s already at 1,600 and climbing. Just saw this one a little while ago:
“I have no further use for ClevelandDotCommie. I can just go to CleveScene instead. I doubt they’ll be making the same mistake.”
Better start hiring a roomful of moderators and putting them on round-the-clock schedules. Looks like you might need them.
The haters aren’t wasting any of their precious time…they’re already on their way across town. Hating is what they do, And ALL they do–24/7/365.
Six months? Hell…you’ll have to close down these comment boards by June. Better start building a firewall. Right now. Today.
Where else can we vent our frustrations about our utterly inept local leadership???
From Stories of blatant waste of taxpayer dollars week after week, to urging voters to VOTE NO on the next ma$$ive property tax levy renewal AND increase all to benefit the crooks over at the county…
It’s important as ever for our voices to be heard!!!
1. Run for office.
2. Vote
3. Start your own paper
4. Form a collective; there is power in numbers
just another socialist newpaper trying to silence hardworking republicans. they always say you hate what you cant understand.
Yeah, hating is hard work, especially when it’s all the Rethugs do 24/7/365. As for being silenced, GOP sludge has finally silenced the PeeDee comment boards after twenty years of toxic waste buildup . Not because it was objectionable to the click-bait counters, but simply because there were no longer enough janitors available for clean-up duty. Who wants to wallow in crap eight hours a day? It’s offal!
Let the games begin.
The people who are motivated to comment on news sites, they are trying to get attention by being loud, weird, and/or offensive, but they’re all in an empty room by themselves and… no one else really reads it. They aren’t offending my liberal sensibilities. It looks like they’re trying to troll, but technology and internet culture has passed right by them. They’re just over there, like the gang of Canadian geese are over there holding territory in the empty corner of the parking lot.
No one reads it? Then why so many likes and dislikes, Sidney?
A lot of the die-hards over there seem absolutely determined to show why this was an excellent decision. Count is up to 3,000 now.
Half the time, the comments are more interesting than the story…
I see Rooskie is here.
Can’t wait for the rest.
You’re gonna have a lot of new friends in a day or two, pal, who’ll sound just like you. What dies that mean? A lot more deletions.
They shut down the comments because of too many questions about all the chemtrails and fake clouds being spit out by military tanker jets at high altitudes.
Hilarious
Why will people come here? For the poor articles? Man are you in for a surprise
The “people” who will visit this left-of center site will be trying desperately, from behind their keyboards, to kick the asses of the liberals they despise so much. It’s not only what they do, it’s ALL they do, because most of them are losers who don’t have lives.
You’re the one in for the surprise. And so are they.
If Cleveland is a such a disaster and a national embarrassment, then WTF are you here for? The good jobs? The mild climate? The sunshine? You were misinformed.
I find it hard to care about the PD. I haven’t bought that newspaper for almost 20 yrs. Their reporting is mostly bias. Any criticism is viewed as offensive. I wish that the Scene would go daily, but that’s not reality.
Marybeth Ripley Johnson – “I don’t blame you. You should use your resources for reporting not babysitting.”
Even better, they should use their resources to hire reporters with a good grasp of basic grammar. This is just for starters, of course.
Marybeth Ripley Johnson -” I don’t blame you. You should use your resources for reporting not babysitting.”
Better yet, they should use those resources to hire reporters (I use the term loosely) who have grasp of basic grammar.
#TRUMP2020
#MAGA
– Dickson Tufar (yeah, it’s me)
sid – “They aren’t offending my liberal sensibilities. “
That’s an oxy, moron. Tell me, what doesn’t offend a liberal? Besides our great President Trump, of course.
#TRUMP2020
#MAGA
– Dickson Tufar (yeah, it’s me)
Mark Joseph for mayor. 2024! He’ll blow away the competition
The left does not value debate and the free exchange of ideas….they value personal attacks and THEIR ideas….