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# Commenting life behind the paywall
- URL: https://onemanandhisblog.com/2015/01/commenting-times-paywall-community/
- Published: 2015-01-06T15:30:40.000Z
- Updated: 2015-04-08T16:28:12.000Z
- Author: Adam Tinworth
- Tags: commenters, comments, community management, national newspapers, paywalls, The Times

[Douglas Boulton](http://dougbolton.co.uk/?ref=onemanandhisblog.com), one of this academic year’s crop of Interactive Journalism students at City, has just finished a couple of weeks ~~as Ben Whitelaw’s personal coffee table~~[doing shifts on *The Times*‘s community desk](http://www.interhacktives.com/2014/12/31/how-to-comment-online-without-being-a-jerk/?ref=onemanandhisblog.com), and he’s shared his experiences:

> I’m well aware of the bile that comments sections online are often dripping with, and honestly I was expecting my two weeks of moderating to be a fairly harrowing experience. Fortunately, you guys are alright, really. I don’t know if it’s something to do with the fact that The Times is a paywalled site, but by and large, 95% of you are respectful, rule-abiding, and most importantly, interesting in what you comment.

Not quite what I expected, either. One of the interesting things about *The Times* right now is that it’s one of the biggest experiments in building community behind a paywall, and that leads to some interesting side-effects. Maybe people won’t pay for the privilege of being arseholes online?

> So please, when I give you a warning because you’ve libelled someone with your comment, relax for a minute and think of me sitting in a lonely office half way through a nightshift and a bit sweaty from my fifth cup of coffee, before you send me a furious email in which you call me a “jumped-up little c\*\*\*.” Cheers.

Well, OK, apparently some of them will…