* From the SJ-R…

Starting Wednesday, SJ-R.com will begin using a new set of social and interactive features underneath online articles. Our goal is to enhance the experience on SJ-R.com by giving readers new ways to interact with each other, share opinions and engage with the news.

At the same time, we’re attempting to make commenting less anonymous, which we hope will make readers think twice about posting inflammatory, hateful or objectionable content, thereby increasing the level of civility on the website.

* The Daily Herald switched to a Facebook commenting system not long ago. I took a look at a random DH story today about pension reform and saw this comment…

Um, OK.

* From Reuters…

Rudeness and throwing insults are cutting online friendships short with a survey on Wednesday showing people are getting ruder on social media and two in five users have ended contact after a virtual altercation.

As social media usage surges, the survey found so has incivility with 78 percent of 2,698 people reporting an increase in rudeness online with people having no qualms about being less polite virtually than in person.

One in five people have reduced their face-to-face contact with someone they know in real life after an online run-in.

Joseph Grenny, co-chairman of corporate training firm VitalSmarts that conducted the survey, said online rows now often spill into real life with 19 percent of people blocking, unsubscribing or “unfriending” someone over a virtual argument.

* And this is from a comment posted on the above SJ-R announcement…

Rude comments aside, why would someone risk their job by criticizing the wrong person or story ? This town is too small and way to political to NOT allow anonymous accounts.

That’s exactly why we have anonymous comments here. People are given the freedom to express their thoughts on issues without fear of retaliation, as long as they remain civil. Policing comments requires significant work on my part, but the effort has paid off.

Overall, history shows that the SJ-R comment section may improve. The Daily Herald’s comments are now more readable than they used to be. But switching to Facebook won’t get rid of the trolls. If you want a quality comments section, you gotta work at it.

       

25 Comments - Just Observing - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 12:04 pm: Sometimes I think Rich is a tad too harsh in his policing, but overall it makes for a much better blog. I often read the comments in the Trib, Sun-Times, and other online publications and they make me sick… full of racism, utter dumbness, name calling, etc. - Jimmy CrackCorn - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 12:06 pm: The “punky QB” is anti-union? - Anyone Remember? - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 12:39 pm: For the record, this is the only place I’ve seen where anonymous comments work. Most places, anonymity leads to all sorts of nasty and vile comments. The Peoria Journal Star had a story about the controversy surrounding the flying of the Confederate Battle Flag in the North Carolina Capitol. Not a single comment. http://www.pjstar.com/free/x1037529983/Confederate-flag-at-old-NC-Capitol-raises-ire On the anonymous State Journal Register website, the anonymous commenters would still, a month later, be re-fighting the Civil War. - downstate commissioner - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 12:45 pm: Agree with Just Observing; have seen nasty stuff on a JHS and HS Wrestling forums, including profanity, insults, that I have actually complained about. Here, if something out of line is said, Rich usually has it deleted before we can complain. And he is fair about it; if you haven’t been deleted at least once or twice, you aren’t doing your job as a commenter… - Mason born - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 1:02 pm: Rich You do a great job here. Thank you for Encouraging the responsible use of free speech. As for SJR i used to read it for IL Political News then i found Cap Fax. - StayFree75 - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 1:16 pm: I don’t know why I got banned, but promise to clean it up. Sorry, never meant to offend anyone. - illinifan - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 1:54 pm: Rich glad you monitor. I dislike the comment sections on many other sites since lately they are used to bully people rather than attempt to really share ideas. In some ways though they are reflecting what occurs on TV….we now equate people yelling at each, talking over each other and just being rude as political commentary. It is time for our moms to resurface, tell us she does not like the tone of our voice and to go to our rooms until we know how to behave. Rich I think I have promoted you to being a Mom. Happy early mothers day. - Skeptic - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 2:08 pm: I agree, I enjoy reading comments here but rarely elsewhere…too inane, too hateful, just too . As long as Rich’s policing isn’t deliberate editing to express a point of view (I don’t believe it is, but we have no way of knowing, do we?) it’s fantastic. The bigger question is, the SJ-R has news worth commenting about?? - Wensicia - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 2:15 pm: I usually find the saner blogs have commenters with a higher level of intelligence and knowledge than others. This blog rates as the one of the best! - reformer - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 2:35 pm: Since the FB regime, Daily Herald editorials receive significantly fewer comments compared to January, the last full month of anonymous comments. Rarely were editorial comments uncivil. When there are personal attacks, the DH now says it’s up to FB to decide if it violates FB standards, which are far more lax than the old DH standards. - Publius - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 2:36 pm: Read their comments? Heck, i can’t stand to read the j-r’s “news”. But Rich runs a first class operation. This space is filled with intelligence, humor,friendship, and classy items and comments. - Roadiepig - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 2:41 pm: Even though Rich has deleted a couple of my posts I still appreciate the effort he makes to keep the ones that make it through relevant and (for the lack of a batter word) polite. I have posted on the Trib’s site a few times but don’t bother much anymore. Most of the posts there appear to be written by rabid partisans who argue at a second grade level at best. - wishbone - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 3:05 pm: I get 84.73% of my comments by Rich, but who is counting? Great job btw. - Secret Square - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 3:24 pm: I suspect that one immediate change on the SJ-R site will be a huge reduction in the number of state-employee-bashing comments claiming they are all overpaid hacks who can’t make it in the real world, etc. - Tom B. - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 3:57 pm: The thing I never get about this hole issue is why people are surprised that there are jerks out there. Those jerks just now have more avenues to show they are there now. And Rich, you deserve kudos for working at the comment section to keep it clean. Not easy work. - Arthur Andersen - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 4:01 pm: The SJ-R also selectively opens stories for comment, for better or worse. I gave up reading their comments years ago because they seemed to be dominated by a few talkers and the comments were generally worthless. - L.S. - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 4:59 pm: Rich’s policing of comments is one of the things that makes this blog work. Most comment sections are endless strings of nonsense, trolls, spam and just uninformed or off topic idiots. - Happy Camper - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 5:15 pm: Thank you Rich for keeping confidentiality. Most business or blogs have no clue when it comes to privacy and “your word”. Without this site many stories would go unjustly untold. Thank you for the opportunities, the wit, the deletions & monitoring. All of which I have been lucky enough to be a part of! - iThink - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 5:49 pm: —Those jerks just now have more avenues to show they are there now.— That’s the magic of the open-source internet where everyone is an expert and the only thing you need to cite is yourself. Seriously, people are far more brazen on the internet because the pauper posting on economic theory on the internet is undifferentiated from the real economist. There is no filtering, there is no vetting, for better and worse. - dawson resident - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 6:06 pm: I am opposed to the SJ-R changes. As someone else said, they often only selectively allow comments to articles. Seems to me that since they print the paper in Peoria, edit it in Rockford, comments are their only real interaction with Sangamon county residents. Furthermore,since I can’t access Facebook at work and don’t have a LinkedIn acct…. I won’t be able to make any comments untl the evening. That is too late to be involved in any conversations. Nor do I care to use my real name. Springfield is not as big of a town as people think. Seems to me that the SJ-R could do what Rick does, take an active interest in the comments and delete them as neccessary. - Just The Way It Is One - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 7:43 pm: Hallelujah for Anonymity on Capitol Fax–it’s ABSOLUTELY the best way to go, unless the individual Commenter decides otherwise…! - frmrdav - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 8:24 pm: Hi everybody. I’m a former SJ-R commenter. I’ll have none of the FB silliness and really couldn’t care less about Linkedin, whatever that is. I suspect you’ll see a flood of refugees in the coming days. I knew the gig was over when the PJ-Star went that route. Too bad, there was a lot of give and take both places. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 8:26 pm: As one of the commenters basking in the warmth of anonymity, I would be remiss if I did not comment. To that, Rich is beyond fair, and we all, me included, need to keep this in mind … ===People are given the freedom to express their thoughts on issues without fear of retaliation, as long as they remain civil. === Thems the Rules, and thanks to Rich’s Policing, it is the best place to be. It takes tons of work for Rich, I bet, but the reward for us all is living and breathing every day. This ain’t your Dad’s newspaper comment section, and we are all better for it. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 8:29 pm: Sorry! === but the reward for us all is THIS WONDERFUL BLOG, “living and breathing”, every day.=== Apologies. - RNUG - Tuesday, Apr 23, 13 @ 10:08 pm: SJ-R is going to lose another commentator with their new “rules”. Hell, the publisher can’t even answer emails with my name that point out FACTUAL mistakes in their news stories they reprint from other sources. At least their writers were willing to discuss mistakes in the stories. Heck, their web site was almost unusable with a high speed connection due to all the ads … where I’m traveling now with so-so hotel connections, the SJ-R site is unusable for any length of time. BTW: my volume here has gone down recently due to that same traveling and limited time … Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.