A great loss in the comedy world

[Don]

KSL has disabled it's comment boards.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=12440686

ksl.com disables its comment boards
September 16th, 2010 @ 8:00am

SALT LAKE CITY -- With the long term goal of improving community dialogue amongst its users ksl.com has paused all activity on its comment boards.
As of Thursday, ksl.com has temporarily disabled the comment boards as it looks for alternative community forums.
In the interim, ksl.com and its parent company Deseret Digital Media (DDM) will gather and analyze feedback from its users as it aims to provide more civil community discourse.
In a statement to ksl.com users it reads, "We believe that public forums come with the responsibility both on the part of the media company and the users. Over the past year ksl.com has invested significant resources toward improving the level of dialogue on our comment boards. Unfortunately a small, but active minority of our users repeatedly abuse this privilege by posting comments that are inflammatory and disrespectful of others."
Some of those improvements included user ratings and profiles, community policing tools, and partial editorial moderation.
"While we have observed some improvements to the tone of the discussions, we have not reached the point where we are meeting the expectations of our users or our own journalistic standards," Brett Atkinson, General Manager of ksl.com explained.
Atkinson said comment boards could be re-launched in the future, but no timetable has been set and any revamped system will include removing anonymity, expanded moderation, and prioritizing relevant comments.
Meanwhile, DeseretNews.com, another DDM property, will continue to maintain its fully-moderated comment boards. However, it will make some significant improvements including enhanced moderation standards that filter out comments with personal attacks, violent or hate-filled remarks, epithets and racial stereotypes, and irrelevance with respect to the commented story.
"Less than 1% of our visitors contribute and read comments. At KSL.com, the percentage is even less than that," Chris Lee, General Manager for DeseretNews.com, explained. "We believe that many more of our users would like to participate if we offered a civil and respectful environment for dialogue."
Also, the comment boards have moved off the DesereNews.com story pages, allowing only those who choose to participate to view the comments.
"As a company we uphold and value integrity, civility, morality and respect for all people," it reads in the statement to ksl.com users. "We believe that it is possible to have an open discussion in which all viewpoints may be articulated in a respectful manner. "
A point reiterated by, Clark Gilbert, President and CEO of Deseret Digital Media and Deseret News. "Our Deseret Digital Media properties continue to learn from our readers and we take seriously our responsibility to provide a platform of respect and civility in dialogue."

Also noted in the Trib.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/money/5...oards.html.csp

[asdf]

about time...

[Sombeech]

This isn't the first time though right? I assume they'll come back in another form.


Sent from my Samsung Vibrant using Tapatalk

[ibenick]

Where will I go now when I need to remind myself how most of my neighbors feel about me?

[mtthwlw]

Where will I go now when I need to remind myself how most of my neighbors feel about me?

I know you mean this in jest, but people on those boards say some horrible things-- and there's no moderator to send that stuff to the rubbish bin.

A few years ago I was working with a family who lost a child under some devastating circumstances. On the message boards, below the article, there were horrible things said about the family. Most were lies or misinformation. It was horrible for the family and others associated with the tragedy.

Message boards like the ones on KSL.com, sltrib.com, and the Deseret news' website do more harm than good.

So, if you are interested in being inflammatory, just come to Bogley!

[Sombeech]

Maybe it could have been more effective with registration via cell phone text response. That way if there were really any horrible remarks, that phone number could be banned. It's just too easy to join up with an email address. Everybody knows I've got 12000 accounts here on bogley.

[ibenick]

I know you mean this in jest, but people on those boards say some horrible things-- and there's no moderator to send that stuff to the rubbish bin.

A few years ago I was working with a family who lost a child under some devastating circumstances. On the message boards, below the article, there were horrible things said about the family. Most were lies or misinformation. It was horrible for the family and others associated with the tragedy.

Message boards like the ones on KSL.com, sltrib.com, and the Deseret news' website do more harm than good.

So, if you are interested in being inflammatory, just come to Bogley!

Yeah, earlier this year a coworker of mine lost his daughter in a strange and tragic accident. It was absolutely sickening to read the things people could post about something like that. Amazing the things people will say when they don't have to own up to it.

[asdf]

I really liked the anonymity KSL provided me for talking smack about Scott

[accadacca]

Hey now.

I am not so sure that they will be back. Sorry KSL, but you can't keep everyone in your little bubble.

[trackrunner]

Maybe it could have been more effective with registration via cell phone text response. That way if there were really any horrible remarks, that phone number could be banned. It's just too easy to join up with an email address. Everybody knows I've got 12000 accounts here on bogley.

or in addition to banning the cell phone # you also publicly post the number and register user's name.