Before September, the commentary section was a free-for-all jungle of anonymous, rude, profane and generally unenlightening remarks. While such inflammatory comments could be entertaining at times, they turned off readers and started to affect the reputation of the Kyiv Post for the worse.
The Kyiv Post is responsible for moderating the comments that are posted on its website and could, in extreme situations, be sued for libelous remarks that are left on the website. Given that our entire editorial staff consists of 17 people, we simply don’t have the resources to monitor the comments properly.
So we had to take action.
In search of solutions, we settled on one that many newspapers in the United States and around the world are using – allowing comments only through Facebook accounts via plug-ins. Many don’t trust Facebook and I was hesitant as well. However, at the moment, Facebook is the way the online world is going.
We tried to take a less drastic step by merely requiring registration, but that didn’t stop the problem with anonymous comments. We tried banning offending Internet Protocol addresses, only to find the same commentators move to different IP addresses. We even switched off comments for some stories that involved particularly controversial people or topics. We allowed readers to hide comments or see them, depending on their preference, but still the problems persisted.
I am happy to report that the Facebook plug-in has put an end to anonymous comments, since Facebook requires people to register by name, although other personal information – for instance age or occupation – can be withheld by users.
The system in place has also civilized the online discussion a great deal. One big downside is that the number of comments has also plummeted. That means fewer hits. But since the Kyiv Post website makes almost no money from online advertising, (most of our revenue comes from print advertising), there is no financial loss.
I, for one, am rejoicing over the stricter regulation and think a lot of readers are, too. Publisher Mohammad Zahoor approves.
Some of our regular sources – the newsmakers who are frequently writing or commenting in Kyiv Post stories – complained to us for months about the unregulated commentaries we had before. Some of them are community leaders who had developed enemies who took every chance to slam their foes online using the foulest language imaginable.
One victim of many online attacks wrote: “More sensible commentators feel it’s not worth chipping in their own views; and debate is stifled. I also notice that the variety and quality of Kyiv Post bloggers seems to have dwindled over the past year. Being exposed to repeated vitriolic attack may have something to do with it. There is a risk, therefore, that by not having proper arrangements to moderate comments, you are reducing the quality of the content the Kyiv Post can provide; and, in the long term, losing readers. Stopping debate and discouraging people from presenting their views in an independent media outlet such as the Kyiv Post is, of course, precisely what the (online) trolls seek to achieve.”
I agree.
Now, if someone wants to comment, they have to take some responsibility for their opinions and words – as we do at the Kyiv Post, and as most people do in almost any walk of life. No longer are people able to hide behind anonymity or, we hope, fake identities.
I expect that, after the initial shock, many of our regular commentators will come back to posting online commentary. As for those commentators who don’t return, I am not going to lose sleep over them. Many of these comments were so outrageously out of bounds that they had to be made by paid “trollers” – those who are deliberately offensive and provocative, often on behalf of a political party, a person or an agenda. Another category includes those who apparently had nothing to do with their lives besides sit on the Kyiv Post website and insult people.
That doesn’t mean everybody was happy about the change. Many readers let me know of their displeasure.
One reader wrote: “Why has the Kyiv Post changed the way a person can leave a comment by having to join Facebook? I’ve noticed that the number of comments has dropped drastically. Now my full name and age appear on any comments I make. Is that somehow relative to the comments I make? If this is some kind of censorship in the form of fear and intimidation then Ukrainian journalism has sunk to an all-time low.”
Another reader: “It would appear that the format in leaving comments/opinions on news stories must now go through Facebook. As a regular contributor to your news columns I am deeply hesitant in leaving any future comments as I do not trust Facebook. I hope that you will reconsider this form of communication.”
Yet another: “You know Mr. Bonner I truly do not understand why the Kyiv Post takes a very good system … and manages to ruin everything. You certainly manage to turn readers off. And the new layout is pretty bad too. In fact everything about Kyiv Post now is a turn-off. Are you and (President Viktor) Yanukovych working together to screw up Ukraine and communications? Looks like it.”
And one more: “So let me get this straight now. The only way to post a comment on an article is to now use your real name AND PHOTO from Facebook? No more anonymity? Now I understand why nobody is posting comments anymore, and I won’t either. God! Just how stupid are you people????”
I hope I have answered all of these questions in this column, except for the one about how stupid I am. That question always baffles me.
Kyiv Post chief editor Brian Bonner can be reached at [email protected].
