Gannett sites use Facebook to improve comments

MyCentralJersey.com
Paul C. Grzella, general manager of MyCentralJersey.com, the Home News Tribune and Courier News tells readers that user comments on the site, like other Gannett newspaper sites, were too often mean and off-topic. “By holding commenters accountable for their actions through Facebook, the hope is that this will help keep the conversation interesting and stimulating for the rest of us,” he writes. An Oregon blogger summarized the reaction when the Statesman Journal in Salem announced the switch: It has “created a frenzy among the many rabid, profane, uninformed, hateful, and profoundly clueless people whose main joy in life is leaving anonymous flaming troll comments on the Internet.” || Related: New York Times overhauls comment system, grants privileges to trusted readers (Poynter) | News sites using Facebook Comments see higher quality discussion, more referrals (Poynter) | Facebook comments can’t guarantee a lack of anonymity (Zombie Journalism)