In a post at Popular Science titled “Why We’re Shutting Off Our Comments,” Suzanne LaBarre writes:

Comments can be bad for science. That’s why, here at PopularScience.com, we’re shutting them off…That is not to suggest that we are the only website in the world that attracts vexing commenters. Far from it. Nor is it to suggest that all, or even close to all, of our commenters are shrill, boorish specimens of the lower internet phyla. We have many delightful, thought-provoking commenters.

But even a fractious minority wields enough power to skew a reader’s perception of a story, recent research suggests.

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In other news, YouTube is trying to make their comments less of a cesspool. Gizmodo explains how.

6 replies on “Shutting Down Comments for Science”

  2. Well, there’s always the teensy detail where Popular Science is actually about engineering and the promotion of militarism and consumerism- with almost no science content whatsoever. That’s enough to keep me away from it.

    Bless his noodly appendage, I can always count on the folks here for rational discourse when it comes to science. The baristas, waitresses, and professional stripper boyfriend/musicians are always well read and open to challenging opinions. It’s not quite as good as the Clark County dominated KATU website discussions, but it’s a close second.

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