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posted by martyb on Friday August 19 2016, @12:11AM   Printer-friendly
from the you-can-talk,-but-not-here dept.

Karl Bode over at Techdirt brings us news that NPR will no longer be allowing comments on its website in order to promote relationships and conversation:

For several years now we've documented the rise in websites that shutter their comment sections, effectively muzzling their own on-site communities. Usually this is because websites are too lazy and cheap to moderate or cultivate real conversation, or they're not particularly keen on having readers point out their inevitable errors in such a conspicuous location. But you can't just come out and admit this -- so what we get is all manner of disingenuous prattle from website editors about how the comments section is being closed because they just really value conversation, or are simply trying to build better relationships.

NPR appears to be the latest in this trend du jour, with Managing Editor of digital news Scott Montgomery penning a new missive over at the website saying the comments are closing as of August 23:

"After much experimentation and discussion, we've concluded that the comment sections on NPR.org stories are not providing a useful experience for the vast majority of our users. In order to prioritize and strengthen other ways of building community and engagement with our audience, we will discontinue story-page comments on NPR.org on August 23."

Again, nothing says we "love and are engaged with" our community quite like preventing them from being able to speak to you on site (this muzzle represents my love for you, darling). The logic is, as Montgomery proceeds to proclaim, that social media is just so wonderful, on-site dialogue is no longer important:

"Social media is now one of our most powerful sources for audience interaction. Our desks and programs run more than 30 Facebook pages and more than 50 Twitter accounts. We maintain vibrant presences on Snapchat, Instagram and Tumblr. Our main Facebook page reaches more than 5 million people and recently has been the springboard for hundreds of hours of live video interaction and audience-first projects such as our 18,000-member "Your Money and Your Life" group."

And while those are all excellent additional avenues of interaction and traffic generation, it's still not quite the same as building brand loyalty through cultivating community and conversation on site. By outsourcing all conversation to Facebook, you're not really engaging in your readers, you're herding them to a homogonized[sic], noisy pasture where they're no longer your problem. In short, we want you to comment -- we just want you to comment privately or someplace else so our errors aren't quite so painfully highlighted and we no longer have to try to engage you publicly. All for the sake of building deeper relationships, of course.

Say it with me now: control the narrative at all costs.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 19 2016, @12:15AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 19 2016, @12:15AM (#389802)

    Shouldn't it be "Retutors" not "Retuters"?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 19 2016, @12:31AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 19 2016, @12:31AM (#389807)

    No, it should be "Re-tutters"; it's a site where people pass on grumbles about news stories.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by hemocyanin on Friday August 19 2016, @02:24AM

      by hemocyanin (186) on Friday August 19 2016, @02:24AM (#389847) Journal

      I don't know where you lot went to school, but the term from the Oxford English Dictionary is "presstitute.

  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 19 2016, @12:33AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 19 2016, @12:33AM (#389809)

    I get so confused. Was Mary, Queen of Scots one of the Retutors?

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by TheGratefulNet on Friday August 19 2016, @12:37AM

      by TheGratefulNet (659) on Friday August 19 2016, @12:37AM (#389810)

      no, it was mary queen of arkansas. she was wrapped up like a douche, from what I've heard.

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 19 2016, @12:46AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 19 2016, @12:46AM (#389813)

        Blinded by the Light! Loved that song.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 19 2016, @01:35AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 19 2016, @01:35AM (#389829)

        Um, that line is "Reved up like a duce".

        • (Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Friday August 19 2016, @02:25AM

          by hemocyanin (186) on Friday August 19 2016, @02:25AM (#389850) Journal

          So when speaking the word "duce", it is perhaps wise to use the correct diction, otherwise, well, for the rest of all time people will wonder why he's singing about douches.

        • (Score: 1) by boxfetish on Friday August 19 2016, @03:43AM

          by boxfetish (4831) on Friday August 19 2016, @03:43AM (#389892)

          it's 'Revved up like a deuce". 'Reved' isn't a word, and duce is the Italian word for Duke and is pronouced "due-chay"

          For the record, I always thought it was "wrapped up like a douche..." while growing up.

      • (Score: 2) by archfeld on Friday August 19 2016, @04:54AM

        by archfeld (4650) <treboreel@live.com> on Friday August 19 2016, @04:54AM (#389928) Journal
        --
        For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 19 2016, @12:57AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 19 2016, @12:57AM (#389818)

      Mary Queen of Scots - Tutorial
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeUsB8mKKVk [youtube.com]

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 19 2016, @12:45AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 19 2016, @12:45AM (#389812)

    not a mistake, it's about retuters.com

  • (Score: 2) by cmn32480 on Friday August 19 2016, @12:53AM

    by cmn32480 (443) <reversethis-{moc.liamg} {ta} {08423nmc}> on Friday August 19 2016, @12:53AM (#389817) Journal

    Whoops! Fixed it.

    Thanks for the speel cheeck!

    --
    "It's a dog eat dog world, and I'm wearing Milkbone underwear" - Norm Peterson
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 19 2016, @08:19PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 19 2016, @08:19PM (#390252)

      Et and al are -not- abbreviations.
      Each of those is a complete (Latin) word.
      Neither needs a period after it (unless al is the last word of a sentence).

      -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

      • (Score: 2) by cmn32480 on Friday August 19 2016, @08:35PM

        by cmn32480 (443) <reversethis-{moc.liamg} {ta} {08423nmc}> on Friday August 19 2016, @08:35PM (#390262) Journal

        gewg_, as per usual, you are only half right.

        From the Grammerist [grammarist.com]:

        Et al.is an abbreviation of the Latin loanphrase et alii, meaning and others.

        [...]

        Et al. does not need to be italicized in normal use. It does take a period after the second word, even when it falls in the middle of a sentence.

        That said, I have removed the offending period.

        --
        "It's a dog eat dog world, and I'm wearing Milkbone underwear" - Norm Peterson
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 19 2016, @01:00AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 19 2016, @01:00AM (#389819)

    Hmm, "retutors" is an anagram for "tortures."