AVweb Lowers the Boom on Article Comments

#AVweb is one of the leading #internet #aviation #news sources, and, like a lot of news sites they allow comments on articles by readers. Over the years most of the commenting has some from pilots and other people involved in aviation who make up their readership ansd these have generally been thoughtful, insightful and add some perspective to the subject. In the last few years there has been a problem, just like on much of #socialmedia, as their publisher explains:

Too many times in recent months information about aviation has spiraled downward into political dogma, disinformation and ranting. These toxic tirades spoil the experience for the rest of us and demonstrate that the loud and often misinformed get way too much of the attention, drowning out the reasoned information and debate brought forth by other readers. We think a vigorous forum benefits everyone, as long as comments are germane to the topic. But we are going to be more aggressive in deleting comments and blocking commenters if the bad behavior persists. We won’t allow name-calling, disparaging political language, toxic chat focused on individuals or groups, misinformed, pseudo-scientific theorizing, or general off-point bombast. Going forward, anyone who chooses to ignore that policy will be blocked from commenting following their third deleted post.

Readers who sully our comments section are entering a place where we live and work, and leaving their mess behind for us to clean up. Let’s be clear, there are other websites where the politically and polemically minded can congregate. Not here. Please respect AVweb, its readers and its staff by keeping comments free of vitriol.

Sad that this needed to be said, but it has been quite needed, unfortunately.