Alternative Welllington new source following Stuff's new restrictions on leaving comments

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D1023319

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#248462 27-Mar-2019 12:49

Reading comments has always been my favourite part of Stuff so I am looking for a alternative Wellington news source now that Stuff is restricting comments on its articles and removed the voting buttons.
IMHO its social manipulation by stealth....

So where do people here get their local news?

Background - FYI - Stuff have implemented the following changes that impact the ability of readers to leave comments on their articles

1. Readers can no longer upvote or downvote comments with the thumbs sign. They say in their opinion this feature led to the most divisive comments being promoted. now, comments will simply be displayed chronologically.

2. Introduced an 'Editor's Pick' function to set a positive example by showing readers what Stuff recognise as the best comments.

3. The comment rules now include a list of topics on which no longer open comments.

4. On each comment, next to 'reply' and 'share', you'll now see a 'report' button.

5. Stricter terms and conditions for comments. They are explicit about not tolerating personal attacks or prejudice.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/111534436/do-read-the-comments-announcing-a-new-approach-to-stuffs-comment-moderation?fbclid=IwAR17SbCtnoENY8PJ35orbbs58t9Pero9Z-qA6jfvrzPy1AadZ-flrijeR_o

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472 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2205616 27-Mar-2019 12:56

This is a good change. Might get me to visit their site more often.

Stuff comments are cancerous.

mudguard

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#2205619 27-Mar-2019 13:00

The Herald redesign and removal of the ability to leave comments switched me to Stuff. So I'll look elsewhere too. I actually liked the fact it debated the opinion pieces more than anything. To be honest I didn't really notice any offensive comments.

sidefx

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#2205620 27-Mar-2019 13:04

"Reading comments has always been my favourite part of Stuff"

I understand each of these words on their own, but when you put them together like that I'm completely lost... :-?

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gehenna

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#2205621 27-Mar-2019 13:06

sidefx:
"Reading comments has always been my favourite part of Stuff"

I understand each of these words on their own, but when you put them together like that I'm completely lost... :-?

It's like when a bot tries to engage in conversation

Oblivian

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#2205627 27-Mar-2019 13:09

If only they could work out how to log onto their social media accounts when publishing and know how easy it is to turn comments off on FB too!

They have some sort of API that they click send to FB, we know this as often it craps out and posts garbage and google analytics errors.

Often find articles posted have comments disabled on the web, but free reign on FB

Getting sick of the same commenters skewed views ending in opinionated poohfights. Especially around vaccinations, guns, and hatespeech they've not been moderating.

sbiddle

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#2205630 27-Mar-2019 13:17

I'm always curious why people care about comments? I see it adding absolutely zero to a news story.

I'd be happy if they got rid of them and the clickbait.

surfisup1000

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#2205632 27-Mar-2019 13:18

My favourite news site is NBR.co.nz

Sure, it is weighted to business/politics. But they do cover wider topics too. eg, todays online stories cover guns, gambling issues, Jordan Peterson, universities , and power generation.

And , good opinion columns too. I enjoy opinion columns as they are usually well written and put forward a view. Even if I disagree completely with opinion I gain an appreciation into how others think ( even though they are wrong haha).

Comments tend to be more restrained, i guess because people pay for access?

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allio

885 posts

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#2205662 27-Mar-2019 13:44

I am 100% in favour of these changes. Stuff comments are where the absolute worst of NZ tends to gather.

The removal of upvoting/downvoting is particularly welcome. Stuff was frequented by brigades of users who would mass upvote/downvote comments based solely on whether or not they were left or right wing. On most days a perfectly reasonable and accurate comment that happened to be supportive of the government would be downvoted to -50. Occasionally (but much less often) you'd see it go the other way, so it really was a problem of the platform rather than any one group of specific users.

As far more visitors read comments than leave them, those upvote/downvote squads managed to create a very misleading impression about the views of "the public" - which I guess was the point.

I was personally so relieved that comments were disabled on all the news stories about the Christchurch terror attack. Even though I generally read the comments (and sometimes, god help me, I even make them, as pointless as it is) I was actually hoping they wouldn't come back at all.

tripper1000

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#2205674 27-Mar-2019 14:03

This change confuses me slightly because I thought that Stuff/Herald etc were in the business of selling emotional reaction and not facts, for which the comments section was fertile ground.

The cynical side of me agrees with the social manipulation comment made by D1023319 above. Now Stuff can churn out an unchallenged monologue of how they want the world to appear to their readers. Their commitment to suppress any balance in the global warning/cooling/change theme reeked of social engineering to me, a' la sharia law.

gehenna

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#2205675 27-Mar-2019 14:06

sbiddle:

I'm always curious why people care about comments? I see it adding absolutely zero to a news story.

I'd be happy if they got rid of them and the clickbait.

But how will I know if Stuff is telling porkies about Wi-Fi if I can't read your comment on their post??

D1023319

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#2205683 27-Mar-2019 14:14

tripper1000:

This change confuses me slightly because I thought that Stuff/Herald etc were in the business of selling emotional reaction and not facts, for which the comments section was fertile ground.

The cynical side of me agrees with the social manipulation comment made by D1023319 above. Now Stuff can churn out an unchallenged monologue of how they want the world to appear to their readers. Their commitment to suppress any balance in the global warning/cooling/change theme reeked of social engineering to me, a' la sharia law.

Agreed.

Queue all the positive comments in favour of the Island Bay Cycleway and Shelly Bay Development in all future Stuff articles on these!

Andib

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#2205687 27-Mar-2019 14:25

allio:

I am 100% in favour of these changes. Stuff comments are where the absolute worst of NZ tends to gather.

Let me introduce you to the Trademe message board.

<#
.DISCLAIMER
Anything I post is my own and not the views of my past/present/future employer.
#>

muppet

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#2205729 27-Mar-2019 15:26

I think it's important to read the comments. You take the time to read the news, as horrid and sh**ty as it is, to stay informed. Why not read the comments too? I fully agree, they're even more horrid and sh**ty, but they show you how real, actual people out there in the real world are thinking. The guy that fixed your leaking tap? That's how he thinks. The teacher teaching your child? They might be posting some of those comments.

What's even more interesting is, the comments I think are horrid, terrible and rubbish often won't at all be the same comments that you, person reading my "comment" now, think are horrid, terrible and rubbish.

I personally think a big part of the reason Trump got in is because of the same sort of mentality as "Don't read the comments". That is the refusal to believe that actually there are large swaths of people out there with really, really messed up world views. And when I say messed up, what I really mean though we don't tend to admit it, is "different to my world views", because I have no right to say my views are more correct than theirs (do I?)

I think we should all take more interest in what "the nutters" are thinking, because it turns out there's quite a few of them. Better to think of ways to combat/educate/understand their ways of thinking, than just pretending they don't exist.

Bung

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#2205731 27-Mar-2019 15:36

sbiddle:
I'm always curious why people care about comments? I see it adding absolutely zero to a news story.

I'd be happy if they got rid of them and the clickbait.

Sometimes you had a chance of correcting a mistake. Emailing the reporter never seems to get a response or a correction.

alasta

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#2205738 27-Mar-2019 15:51

Stuff isn't a news site. It is a lightweight gossip site, which The Spinoff does much a better job of.

If you want actual news then try RNZ, Newsroom or interest.co.nz.

If you want comments from the pea-brained masses then try Facebook.

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