Over a study period of 70 days, the TV station reacted to comments on its Facebook page in one of three ways: a prominent political reporter interacted with commenters; the station, using a generic station logo, interacted; or no one interacted.
The results showed that when a reporter intervened in the comment section, the chance of an uncivil comment – defined as obscene language, name calling, stereotyping and exaggerated arguments – declined by 15 per cent compared to when no one did so.
I’ve been teaching this as best practice for years now – based on experience and anecdotal evidence collected from friends working in full-time community management. Nice to see some research starting to emerge that backs up that experience.
Adam has been a blogger for over 20 years, and a journalist for more than 25. He currently works as a consultant and trainer, helping people do better, more engaged online journalism.
Adam Tinworth
What happens when journalists interact with the comments section?
I’ve been teaching this as best practice for years now – based on experience and anecdotal evidence collected from friends working in full-time community management. Nice to see some research starting to emerge that backs up that experience.
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Adam has been a blogger for over 20 years, and a journalist for more than 25. He currently works as a consultant and trainer, helping people do better, more engaged online journalism.
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