Comment Shutdown: A Technical Perspective
Hello readers.
I’ve been silent on this issue since Pete Abel has been spearheading the communication of this. But I’m going to offer a technical perspective as well. We have a significant amount of processing overhead with comments. Since TMV isn’t funded we have limited technical resources. Almost 80% of slowdowns and associated issues (including several big hacking attempts) this past year has been due to the commenting system. Even if we eliminated the commenting system and hosted them ourselves, that would cause even more overhead and management. So we had to make a technical as well as a “environmental” decision about this.
Yes, we are always looking to increase and enhance site participation. There are several solutions we are looking into right now (maybe a little chat box in the very near future, eh). BUT that isn’t in the immediate plan. From a site administrator point of view, I am more interested in keeping the site running at the most optimal levels with minimal downtime and slowdowns.
I will also miss comments since I have engaged in much lively debate here. But sacrifices have to be made. What I’m hoping is that this decision causes a technical stabilization which allows more interactive features to be added. Rest assured friends and enemies, I constantly stay ahead of the curve and will always look for ways to enhance this site.
Stay tuned as I will be adding features in the next couple of weeks.
11 Responses to “Comment Shutdown: A Technical Perspective”
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Sounds like no longer eating because it costs too much to grow food
Thanks for your hard work. I've truly enjoyed my time here.
“What I’m hoping is that this decision causes a technical stabilization which allows more interactive features to be added.”
What he said. Thanks, Tyrone.
“What I’m hoping is that this decision causes a technical stabilization which allows more interactive features to be added.”
That will preserve at least some of the traffic on here, Mr. T.
Thanks for filling us in on this perspective T.
Thanks to everyone at TMV, authors and commenters alike, liberals and idiots alike <g>
I'll still be here, but I guess no one will know it. Thanks for the 1484 points and the 742 likes. I'll treasure them. Once again, let me recommend a visit to TPM to see how they handle this issue. Main posts usually have commenting turned off. Readers can post replies as posts on TPM Cafe, which has comments enabled, and recommend button. Those with enough recommends rise to the top, and become the comment threads for the post. Of course, their readership seems a bit less diverse of opinion, but still some are quite diligent about finding and linking to facts, not just flaming (there's some of that too). There is frequently good humor in the comments too.
Perhaps those who have blogs can quote articles from here on their sites that do accept comments. My own blog is mostly dormant and I'd say there is a 10:1 ratio of spam comments (which I deny) to real comments, so I certainly appreciate how much moderation is needed. Not sure what the solution is, other than cross posting comments here to a site that will carry on the discussion..
Thanks for giving us the wider view, Tyrone. Very few of us realize the full extent of what you do around here, of what your job as site administrator entails (which goes for the work of all the other TMV staff as well), and it's good to get that broader perspective.
I also think it's good that some interactive features may be in TMV's future. That will be fun, as well as audience-building.
Thanks for all your hard work, and for how seriously you take this wonderful site.
Tyrone–
Thanks for all hard the work you do.
Another thanks T from one of the troublemakers. Best of luck with the (continuing) technical wizardry.
Yes there has been some serious hacking here to be sure. But cutting the immediate interactive comments out of the site is a bit like taking the stuffing out of a pillow and calling it good. I mean, seriously, why even bother? We can read the news at the NY Times if that's what we're after.
Here's how TMV serves humanity.
1. Authors from the left and right of center present their interpretation of mainstream news articles.
2. People here read and respond to/challenge those perspectives with the author and with each other.
3. In this way we carve out and create what it means to be moderate. Without all the components, all we have, as another poster put it, is a pulpit that cannot be challenged: ie: another fringe interpretation of what it means to be a given political bent, dictated instead of created.
Where would the site be if not for the real-world critics? Grinches Are Good.