What's blogging without comments? A blog means two-way dialog; one person posts, several comment, right?
Well, Engadget, a technology blog has stopped allowing comments on their blog because they felt that the tone of the comments had "really gotten out of hand."
Engadget editor-in-chief Joshua Topolsky said in an announcement that "We know you like to have your fun, voice your opinions, and argue over your favorite gear, but over the past few days the tone in comments has really gotten out of hand,…."
Topolsky went on to say that what is supposed to a fun environment for their users and editors had become mean, ugly, and in some situations, threatening which was "just not acceptable".
And it ended with something to the effect of "everyone cool down" and that Engadget will allow comments on their blog again when they feel that things have settled down some.
Websites which allow unfiltered comments from users is a very common problem faced by many sites including most of the newspaper and television blog sites.
This "unfiltered" commentary is a growing concern for most of us who like to play in the online networks. Should all comments be monitored? Should websites which serve as an informational source be setting up a whole "comment management" team?
More to come……….