Journalism and internet comments

Résumé du document

Over the past few years, the advent of the Web 2.0 or the "social Internet" allowed almost every existing website to integrate social elements into the content it produces. Facebook, Twitter or YouTube are often cited as perfect examples of how this social revolution has reshaped the way we communicate. There have been several changes in other areas as well. The practice of online journalism, which had begun long before Web 2.0, has been deeply affected by the implementation of social features on websites of newspapers. Today, the most concrete expression of this transformation is undeniably the presence of commenting systems on nearly every informational website, whether it is a newspaper website, a blog, or a participative platform.

Extraits

[...] As underlined by blogger Scott Karp on his blog Publishing the number of social interactions in today's websites is simply astonishing RSS feeds, readers, links, blogs, social networks, social bookmarks, instant messaging, news aggregator, and of course comments! With current features, an article posted on a specific website will often be visible (hence commented) through many other platforms. Such opportunities for interaction have been praised by almost all websites: if people can feel more involved in the public debate, why not encouraging it? Some of these websites even decided to go all the way, by selecting the most relevant comments and highlighting them as complementary information to the original article. [...]

[...] Only then will they be able to make the most of the tremendous opportunities the Internet has to offer. Journalistics, On the Future of Journalism, http://blog.journalistics.com/2009/on-the-future-of-journalism/ Stilgherrian, Note to media” journalists: adapt, or stfu! http://stilgherrian.com/media/note-to-old-media-journalists-adapt-or-stfu/ Socialreporter, Citizen journalism, http://socialreporter.wordpress.com/2008/04/13/citizen-journalism-what-if- no-one-comes/ AgoraVox, Journaliste à l'heure d'Internet, http://www.agoravox.fr/actualites/medias/article/journaliste-a-l-heure-d- internet-20974 Publishing The Only Way For Journalists To Understand The Web Is To Use It, http://publishing2.com/2008/01/21/the-only-way-for-journalists- to-understand-the-web-is-to-use-it/ Rue89, Un site participatif, http://www.rue89.com/les-faq# 2.1 Novactif, Internet, bête noire des journalistes, http://www.novactif.com/2009/01/13/internet-bete-noire-des-journalistes/ Rue89, Morandini s'en prend à Rue89 et doit fermer les commentaires, http://www.rue89.com/2009/07/31/morandini-sen-prend-a-rue89-et-doit-fermer- les-commentaires Arrêt sur images, Peillon supprime les commentaires négatifs de son blog, http://www.arretsurimages.net/vite.php?id=6800 2803.fr, Quelle est la place des commentaires ? [...]

[...] French socialist Vincent Peillon should have thought about this issue when he first decided to allow free commenting on his blog. Although the original idea was certainly laudable, he recently discovered the flipside of the coin. When, in January 2010, he decided not to come to the France 2 political debate A vous de juger without warning Arlette Chabot, the presenter of the show, the provoked by Peillon's absence quickly started to affect his blog, where displeasing comments began to pour. [...]

[...] As I wrote in the introduction of this essay, the social revolution of the Internet could bring good as well as harm to the way people interact with one another, and publicly discuss. Comments may be immensely beneficial to our democratic life, but negative uses, such as anonymous posting, useless contributions or libelling may damage newspapers' reputation, more than enhancing it. In the end, as with any technical improvement, it is people's ability to adapt to it that will make it a profitable innovation. Traditional journalists have to realize how quickly their profession is transforming, in order to cope with those profound changes. [...]

[...] What difference did it make? Who benefited? Over the past few years, the advent of the Web 2.0 (the “social Internet”) allowed almost every existing website to integrate social elements into the content it produces. Facebook, Twitter or YouTube are often cited as perfect examples of how this social revolution has reshaped the way we communicate. But in other areas, changes have been significant as well. The practice of online journalism, which had begun long before Web has been deeply affected by the implementation of social features on newspapers websites. [...]