Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Times- Standard Changing Comments Format

The Times- Stamdard editorial this morning tells us they're changing the format for online comments. It looks like they haven't made the switch just yet. When they do, you'll have to have a Facebook account to comment.

As I wrote on the still available Topix comments, good. Since a number of other folks say they won't comment unless they can comment anonymously, that will make my comments stand out more.

I'm not sure the new system will solve the problem of uncivil comments, but maybe it will cut down on some of the clutter. I'm a bit concerned with the idea as I've had problems with other news sites that allow Facebook cross- posting where my browser would freeze up and the comment would never show on either Facebook or the news site.

We'll see how the new system works.

12 Comments:

At 9:51 AM, Blogger Rose said...

I agree. GOOD. Newspapers went down a bad path with the anonymous comments thing.

Newspapers are a permanent and official record of our time, and commenters on those sites should be held to the same standard as their letters to the editor.

I don't like it being linked to Facebook, but, oh well. I guess they can't figure out a better way. It's still the right thing to do. Too bad they didn't do it sooner.

 
At 9:53 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It will simply increase the number of Facebook accounts created with fake identities.

 
At 12:13 PM, Blogger Rose said...

The average teenager has 16 online identities - how many do adults have?

 
At 9:40 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

this is wack. I don't want every child molester who reads the paper to know my facebook account. well looks like I will make a fake one. But there will be alot less discussion on the articles now. Sorry Times Standard but that was a bad move

 
At 6:44 AM, Blogger Fred Mangels said...

Amazing how many people are scared to death of having their opinions linked to their names.

 
At 1:09 PM, Blogger Fred Mangels said...

I've made my first two Facebook style comments. Doesn't seem as fun as the old Topix format to me, but it works, I guess.

 
At 7:23 AM, Anonymous Doug Brunell said...

It still doesn't make the Times-Standard any more relevant.

 
At 2:26 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I dislike the change because I'm unable to post comments now even though I'm logged into my Facebook account.

At the TS website, I click the Facebook login button, a new window opens, I log in, and then I go back to the T-S page, refresh and I'm told to login again. I've tried flushing my cache, but the system is still broken for me. I'm using the latest version of Firefox under Windows.

 
At 2:28 PM, Blogger Fred Mangels said...

Strange. I seem to always be logged in to FB no matter what web site I go to. Works fine for me. I'm using Firefox and Windows, too.

 
At 8:54 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

My spouse also has a Facebook account, so the always-logged-in thing doesn't work. I have to log into Facebook on every visit.

This morning, on the TS website, after doing the login thing once, hitting the login button again opens and closes a new window ultra fast, shooting me back to the TS page, still not logged in.

If commenting doesn't work for married couples who both spend time online, the TS is excluding a significant portion of its readership.

 
At 10:56 AM, Blogger Fred Mangels said...

I wonder why I always seem to be logged in to FB? Maybe it has something to do with my cookie settings?

One thing I've noticed I don't like about the new system is it doesn't easily allow you to reply to other's comments. With topix, you could click "Quote", or whatever the button was, and the other person's comment would end up at the beginning of your own.

I suppose you could copy and paste another comment but I like the way Topix worked.

 
At 12:22 PM, Anonymous Mr. Nice said...

Topix and Facebook both suck. All these newspaper knucleheads got to do is get a twitter feed. Then folks'd just be all like @FredMangels. Nobody needs to man

Twitter will no doubt make all these blogs and facebooks and comment boards irrelevant. 140 characters is enough text to read about some cop stabbing or whatever the news is.

 

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