Will our mystery guests enter and sign in please?
May 5th, 2008, 3:35 pm · Post a Comment · posted by madisontaylor
A letter to folks who comment on Times-News stories posted on this Web site.
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First let me admit that I have a love-hate relationship with the posters or bloggers who populate the Times-News online. I love the traffic on our stories. Our page views have grown with the numbers of you who provide running commentary on stories ranging from the school budget to new developments in the case involving alleged moonshiner and sex offender. Many people drop in on our sites to see what you all have to say.
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Thanks.
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And let me say that such forums are great for opening venues for people to speak their minds. We appreciate any of you who have done so. Some of the posts have been thought-provoking, some downright provoking and others funnier than all get out.
But I’ll also say that I’ve at times been troubled by how far the comments go or how angry some posts may get. But so it goes.
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All of this is preface to a larger message: I wanted our online customers to know that a change is coming to our site this week that will alter how comments can be posted. Our corporation, Freedom Communications, Inc., is changing the supplier for the service that handles our online comments to one called SiteLife. We’ll probably come up with some other name for it later.
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The good news is SiteLife will make our site much more interactive overall. Readers will have the ability to create their own interactive community that would include blogs and photos they post themselves. Users, many of whom have already created alternate identities such as Amazed, Sheez or Unfair and Unbalanced can still do so but also maintain their own page and profile.
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Here’s what some might consider the bad news. The ability to comment on online news articles — a popular but controversial feature that has, at times, been abused — will also change. By requiring registration with SiteLife before users can post comments on articles, the Times-News will be able to restrict users who abuse the comments feature or violate the terms of its use.
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But we also know that many people resist signing in to make comments. If this is the case, then we hope you reconsider.
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You’ll be missed.
