As previously reported on How-Do, the paper took the decision to suspend its comment offering “until further notice” after certain stories were “hijacked” by web users, while others were subject to repeated rambling and irrelevant postings that led to complaints.

It now seems that the News has given up on the option of some form of comment moderation and chosen to encourage readers to post on the site’s forums instead.

This move was explained in a forum post from David Crookes, the paper’s digital content editor, who noted that the changes were being made “because of a minority of people who have insisted on spoiling our previous comment facilities.”

He continued: “We have taken the decision to disable the comment facility on individual news stories, allowing us to bring reader reaction together in one place.

“To ensure people can post comments in a safe environment, we will immediately ban anyone who vandalises the site, with personally abusive messages or obscenities.

“If the problems persist, we will approach internet service providers to ban troublesome users.  That will leave the majority free to discuss topics, safe in the knowledge that their opinions will be respected.

“It's a move our readers have asked for and we're happy to be able to provide this level of service.”

Crookes told How-Do that the new system would be more “manageable,” adding,  “hopefully this will go some way to relieving the problem of troublesome posters.”

www.theboltonnews.co.uk

Did you enjoy this article? Please share it!