Josh Scacco: Lecture on Comment Sections

Image courtesy of The Exponent.

My Social Media Strategies class was lucky enough to have Joshua Scacco (PhD, The University of Texas at Austin) give a guest lecture over Skype on comment sections on his research on news outlet's social media comment sections. Dr. Scacco is an Assistant Professor of Media Theory & Politics in the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University. He also serves as a Research Associate for the Engaging News Project. ENP is an organization that researches and reports on American news media while encouraging and moderating global discourse on the subject (if you are interested in this subject, I suggest you follow him on Twitter like I do).

We are all too familiar with how ugly comment sections can get on social media. Dr. Scacco and his colleagues have researched the tone of discourse in this particular medium, particularly on accounts of news organizations. Upon introducing himself to our class, Dr. Scacco posed the question that we would go back to throughout the lecture:

How do comment sections reflect on the news organizations that have them?

The answer might seem obvious- if hostile discourse appears rampant on a news organization's comment section on Facebook, for example, that might turn visitors away who wish for a more objective atmosphere. News organizations are aware of this, and some solve the problem by not having comment sections at all. Dr. Scacco and his colleagues saw an opportunity and sought to make comment sections better for newsrooms.

Dr. Scacco described in his lecture a fascinating study that his team conducted in partnership with a news station. The team had a journalist moderate the comment section with their identity revealed.

On days that journalist interaction was present, the level of incivility went down 15%.

These findings might be a solution for some news organizations, but for others, not so. Monitoring comment sections can be labor intensive for journalists, and require time and pay taken away from other projects or stories. A news organization might not be able to afford journalist interaction on comment sections. However, Dr. Scacco and his team found that five or so strategically placed comments can improve the tone of a comment section.

The internet is where a large majority of discourse regarding politics occurs, and with Americans' passion for free speech, comment sections are almost necessary on news outlets. When mediated, they will have a more civil and positive tone. It is simply up to the news organization whether they feel potentially offensive content on their social media accounts can harm them.

In light of this topic, I have recently added a comment section to my blog. Always feel free to leave feedback on my blog, or answer this question if you feel so inclined!

Do you think news organizations should have journalists monitor their comment sections?

Warmly,

Colette

P.S.

Since we are in the midst of a presidential election, check out this unrelated article from The Exponent where Dr. Sacco explains factors that go into millennial voting!

#socialmedia #news