Reading online comments shouldn’t be icky


APME Online Credibility Roundtable

There’s been a lively discussion about online comments as a result of the APME Online Credibility Roundtable on Comments we held recently in Knoxville. Our excellent Roundtable guests raised many points that others are reacting too. 

The comment threads are spread across at least three different URLs. You can see the discussion on Knoxviews, on News Editor Jack McElroy’s column about the Roundtable and on knoxnews’ “This is How We Roll” blog.

We’ve posted two video pieces from the Roundtable plus the complete session as an audio file (they’re linked from the “This is How We Roll” post).

The goal is to develop strategies and solutions to curb the meanness and hate that too often deelops in comment threads. Join the conversation. We think this is a bigger problem than just one newspaper news site in Knoxville. if you blog it, let me know and I’ll add a link to our coverage links.

But it’s more than just talk. We’re developing a strategies to improve comments on the News Sentinel’s web sites on five fronts. We’re be talking about those efforts in more detail in the future.