How Long Before Most Websites That Still Have Them, Remove..

I think most will keep them.

Both Comment sections & forums have been removed left and right in the last decade.

Even at its core, it's a multifaceted issue and it starts with expectations.

Somehow, when comment sections & forums are created (for the first time, not this one here or other "refuges" across the Web) the idea is to create a place where only positive things will happen. In other words, the vision is a utopia where messages will either be letters of adoration or constructive discussions about creating something better. The truth is, you just created a new town in the American frontier process moving west. Most people who will settle in town are good people but every now and then you got bad guys (trolls) and the Sheriff and his men (Admin & moderators) have to take actions against them.

The next thing is, you have to remember that's it's people interacting with people. To keep using my Old West analogy above, you got different types of Sheriffs too. Some will be more tolerant and open while others will be strict. But it's not only the approach that you have to consider but their beliefs too.

For instance, when he was here Satyaghara (can't remember the exact spelling) hated my guts for some criticism I made about some actions the USA made in history. That was one side. Has Johnthehumble, the same guy never actually took any actions against me, even if he was probably boiling, because I never crossed the line when it came to the rules of the forums. When he admitted being both members, I gave him credit for it, he acknowledged it and that was the end of it, but that's how he separated his personal views from his role.

Back in my gaming days, when LucasArts still existed, I got hooked on their forums for a joke I made in a not-so-serious thread. My joke was on topic but somehow a moderator found that it was infringing the rules about religion. So I sent him a message asking for clarification and the answer was something about the possibility that my post could be construed a certain way (which I didn't intent or thought about), even if it was far fetched. That was their approach.

Sometimes you also have to add ego to the equation.

The last facet is often the interest the company or organization has in paying people to do the policing versus having those people spend time doing other things. In many cases, the moderation team lost control (and/or interest) of the boards and the Trolls are running rampant. The somewhat funny or sad thing is how the reasons listed for closing are always the same, "the experience isn't positive anymore" or " Some other medias are better suited" while the members know best.


Adding to the list in the article posted by OP:

The NFL (yup, the National Football League) used to have forums up until 2010-2012. I can't remember exactly when they closed but I can't remember when I saw any kind of moderation done except for porn or racist posts.

LucasArts, that was the studio for Star Wars game. The admins posted messages coming from the top brass saying that forums were not something they were interested in anymore. At first they restructured the boards, removing some sections and fusing others but eventually they even removed the General board because it was considered too "general". The two issues were trolls running rampant and admins being quite strict, has I said earlier. It closed around 2011-2012.

Wizards of the Coast, the company that is behind Magic the Gathering and acquired Dungeons & Dragons many years ago. They had forums for years. They kept too many sections, which often meant that some had about 1 post per year while some had posts every minutes, so there were wastelands that created the impression the boards weren't really alive. Also another case where trolls were running rampant and the reasons listed were similar to the other sites. Forums closed in 2015.

La Presse, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Presse_(Canadian_newspaper), had comment sections for some articles and columns. This case is actually a bit different than others. While it had its trolls, most discussions were mostly people debating a subject in a relatively polite manner. The real issue was the fact that some columnists actually replaced facts with their own opinions and got called out for this practice. Thanks to Internet many users found actual scientific and serious studies or documents that proved the authors didn't do their journalistic jobs. Since there were no real moderation done, it resulted in columnists actually "fighting back" by making a column about people not being open or being trolls and the subject was being brought up again, only to have the same result. So about 2 years ago it was over, with some journalist still pointing the finger at users for highlighting their journalistic shortcomings. Their teachers at university would be ashamed.


And we all know another site, from which we came from.


My guess is the closing won't stop unless the organizations actually understand the dynamic behind online communities.

It's so cute that you think these websites will last more than a few years.

I think most websites that had comment sections and forums have ALREADY removed them...

Among those who still have them, I think most will remove them before long. Which is a shame. Personally, I love comment sections - it tells me a lot about wha ordinary people think about an issue.

It's just another case of the net demonstrating that wherever robust difference of opinion might be brewing, the First Amendment flies out of the window.

I've seen a number of atheist-based websites (some run by academic and scientific figures) where anyone disagreeing with, or seriously attempting to debate with the host's point of view is quite quickly blocked and banned from posting comments, many times with the ban being irreversible. One might think that these sites in particular would champion freedom of expression and rational debate, but as often as not this is far from the case. So if they can't handle it, why should we think that sites where it may not necessarily be assumed that logic and lucidity reign foremost are apt to respond in any other way than to block any and all comments?

My view is: you either have freedom of speech or you don't. If your site isn't able to support this dictate, then either be honest about that upfront with your readership, or perhaps you're better off suspending comments altogether. And then, many of your readers may find they're just as satisfied to dispense with reading your website. If comment suspension becomes the accepted norm, I suspect a number of these sites might very well end up dying of attrition, as perhaps they should.