Introduction
During the formative days of the internet, many people hoped that it would be used as a very resourceful tool for sharing ideas. Less than two decades later, this objective has not been achieved. The promise of thoughtful sharing through the comment sections of online articles has failed to be achieved. The biggest challenge is that many of those who make comments go off topic. Comment sections of very popular newspapers and online journals have become so crowded with visitors who make nasty, off-topic comments that it becomes impossible for participants to engage in a thoughtful discussion. This is particularly the case for articles that address specialist topics such as medicine, economy, accounting, nursing, or law.
A number of suggestions have been made to deal with incivility in the comment sections. One of them is the requirement that those who make comments give reveal their identities. Another suggestion is for journalists and writers of the articles to moderate the comments. Opponents of the requirement that people reveal their identities argue that anonymity is at the heart of the contemporary online experience. On the other hand, those who oppose the suggestion that journalists and writers moderate comments argue that this is impossible since they simply need to move on to the next article and that they have no time to monitor such a huge number of comments. The aim of this paper is to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of online comment sections. It particularly investigates whether the problem of incivility in online comments can be cured by moderation of comment sections by journalists. The thesis of the paper is that journalists’ involvement in comment sections can help deal with the problem of incivility among those who make comments anonymously.
The problem of incivility in online comment sections
News outlets the world over are increasingly adopting integrated comment sections into their websites. Today, most of online publications have introduced comment sections in their websites. A substantive number of people who read the online articles or watch online views choose to leave a comment. A significant number of those comments tend to be uncivil. They use obscene language, exaggerate issues, and make offense remarks, thereby blowing the issue under analysis out of proportions. The online…
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