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San Luis Obispo Tribune commenters required to use Facebook

September 15, 2013

tribuneThe San Luis Obispo Tribune began requiring commenters to belong to Facebook in order to comment on stories on Sunday.

This weekend, several McClatchy papers began requiring commenters to have a Facebook account in an attempt to improve the tone of their reader’s comments. While Facebook does not verify account holders, McClatchy reports that more people use their real names when joining Facebook.

Several papers such as the Chicago Tribune and the Fresno Bee require that their readers have Facebook accounts while the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times allow readers to register through the newspapers’ websites. Papers that require members to post through Facebook generally have substantially fewer comments.

 


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And there’s absolutely no kick-backs from the ‘benefit’ of sharing data with Faceplant.


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Facebook is the electronic devil……


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I call it “The Electronic Sheep-Herder.”


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Don’t have a facebook page…don’t want a facebook page…maybe if I were a 14 year old girl Id have one but I’m not so I don’t. If there ever were a group of worthless rags it’s the papers mentioned in this story.


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The worst newspaper I’ve ever read. Not worth wrapping yesterday’s fish in it. No guts to cover

all the corruption and political dealings going on in this county. New Times getting to be running a

close second. Have to read CCN.com to get the facts nowadays.


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I personally do not believe in using facebook…..Many folks really shouldn’t be putting their lives out there for strangers to see….and to see their friends etc. Not smart in my opinion.


If the Tribune wants more control of who is commenting….then they should set up their own rules I suppose.


I understand some of the reasons I suppose for the new agenda….but they will probably have fewer folks commenting….and fewer readers as well.


We get more NEWS in a timely fashion on CCN site anyway……Tribune’s days are numbered I feel.


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I think the Tribune might have been getting a lot of push-back from the malignant troll and his floozy. People are tired of seeing CAPSLO ripping off and treating badly those who are in the most need of help, and their message-board comments reflect that.


Having it on Facebook helps distance the Tribune from the public outrage expressed over certain topics of their articles.


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I don’t have a facebook page because I don’t trust them to keep my information private. And the idea that they can use things from your face book page without your permission for what they want. No thanks.


I do agree that a lot of people just get on and spew their political views and it is the same people over and over. And after a bit it is just one blogger going after another and they seem to know who is who whether using their real names or not. So I understand why they are asking for it.


I will just not post comments anymore, not that I have ever posted that many. I sure won’t miss Mary Malone and her comments


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My goodness. The Trib had to drop-kick their message-board system to Facebook for you to avoid reading my comments?


Here is a clue. Simply skip over my comments if they bother you so much. I am sure there are people who post here who routinely skip over my comments, and I respect them taking they power they have as adults and simply controlling what they read.


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And I thought the Borg was science fiction.


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Papers that require members to post through Facebook generally have substantially fewer comments………….


Probably have substantially fewer readers also.


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I know the Tribune has one fewer subscriber than they did before they initiated this forced-Facebook-posting policy.


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Fewer comments because those who are unrestrained in their vitriol don’t actually want to put their name to it. I commend the Tribune. But if selling clicks is the objective, I’d see why this wouldn’t work for everyone.


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Lynette_Tornatzkysays:says:” I commend the Tribune”

For trashing ten’s of thousands of comments about the community and news of our area.


If anybody was wondering how the trib/mclatch corp feels about the community.


Flush gurgle gurgle swish……….


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While I commend you for using your real name with your comments. There are good reasons for many people to not use their real names as well. Political comments, whether stated tactfully or not, can come back to bite one hard in either the workplace (for employees) or in business (for business owners.) Enough people will “punish” someone for their political/philosophical views alone to make open commentaries unwise financially. When politicians and other public figures are being criticized, the consequences can take other forms as well (e.g. Adam Hill’s vendettas.)


Some of us don’t want to make the choice between total silence and conflicts or losses. If I were a retiree or otherwise financially independent, I think that I would be willing to speak more openly but I am not, so I won’t. It is up to the website managers and moderators to control the tone and censor comments that are vitriolic or irrelevant. That is probably too much work for the Tribune so they will try to take an easier way out to avoid that effort. I seldom read it anyway and haven’t commented there for years. This will guarantee that I don’t in the future as Facebook is anathema to me for several reasons.


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You can be punished for speaking out at a community meeting as well. I live in Los Osos. But if you don’t participate in your community….well, you can see where I’m going with that.


Some people feel the risk is worth it to use their real name. The problem is, without a name, many just ignore the comment, as frequently happens on the blogs I read, we talk right around the no-names.


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QUOTING LYNETTE_TORNATZKY’s REPLY TO “ONTHEOTHERHAND”: “The problem is, without a name, many just ignore the comment, as frequently happens on the blogs I read, we talk right around the no-names.”


———


LOL. Yeah, “Ontheotherhand” is a person’s real screen name. You are such a hypocrite.


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I think you are wrong there, Lynette. Many postings with nom de plumes get read just as much as those with “real” names. This is especially true with nom de plumes that, after months or years of use, have gained a reputation and people actually seek out posts by them.


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Amen Otherhand. I have mentioned in past when I have been asked why no real name, because I am a business owner in a VERY small county. You are right about the possible ramifications.


With that said I try not to use that as an excuse to troll or be belligerent to others and for the few that do, I agree, that is what Sister George can watch over.


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Just because a poster’s name is that of a real person does NOT mean that the poster is that real person.


I could go over to Topix or one of its derivatives right now and make up a screen name for “Lynette_Tornatzky,” or a variation of that name. Does that mean I am really Lynette and that the posts under that screen name actually reflect her opinions?


NO.


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