Popular Science Dot Com Shuts Down Comments

Popular Science is a magazine showing the latest scientific and technological discoveries and advancements. It is not an opinion-piece magazine.

Can't say I blame them for finally getting fed up with the useless verbal vomit coming from the armchair quarterbacks.

This is not censorship, this is a business attempting to hang onto its base fundamental purpose and continued reputation as being nothing but an informative magazine, first and foremost.

The debates should be taking place elsewhere, and there's plenty of forums/blogs/discussion boards for that to happen in.

CranialSponge
Can't say I blame them for finally getting fed up with the useless verbal vomit coming from the armchair quarterbacks.

I think you're buying into a red herring argument.

In bold is what gives them away:

A politically motivated, decades-long war on expertise has eroded the popular consensus on a wide variety of scientifically validated topics. Everything, from evolution to the origins of climate change, is mistakenly up for grabs again. Scientific certainty is just another thing for two people to "debate" on television.

CranialSponge
Popular Science is a magazine showing the latest scientific and technological discoveries and advancements. It is not an opinion-piece magazine.

Can't say I blame them for finally getting fed up with the useless verbal vomit coming from the armchair quarterbacks.

They also chose to put the comment section there in the first place. What else are you doing if you publish an article and ask the readers for comments than inviting them to tell you what they think about the article?

If they want to get rid of the comments section now that they have decided they don't want to know what people think about their stuff, that's just fine. I agree that they have that right. However, people DO pay for this magazine and have been doing so for many years. I used to have a paid subscription well before the internet was anything. I used to enjoy that magazine and would look forward to getting it (along with several others I subscribed to) every month.

They need to understand they are operating on the money they've made off of people like me and everyone else who pays for a subscription. Now they can do as they please but it is still rude to say "We don't care what you think of our articles".

OK. I won't read them.

reply to post by Mary Rose


Not at all. They are closing comments because they're sick of people trying to argue with them about how UFOs are powered.

reply to post by BrianFlanders

Yeah. Go ahead and publish your street address here. I'm sure that would make the people who don't like you or what you have to say much more polite.

That's not how it works, Albert.

if they ever decide you have to do this, that's the day I cancel my internet.

If that's how you feel about it, I don't think you'll be missed.

Astyanax
reply to post by BrianFlanders

 

Yeah. Go ahead and publish your street address here. I'm sure that would make the people who don't like you or what you have to say much more polite.

That's not how it works, Albert.

Oh, OK. You tell me how it works. What exactly are you talking about? The only anonymity I'm aware of is if someone goes to some pretty extreme lengths to hide their identity. I'm not anonymous right now. My ISP knows exactly who I am. I don't think anyone else needs to know. They have a TOS and they will generally enforce it if they get enough complaints.

reply to post by BrianFlanders

You tell me how it works.

It's rather obvious — exactly the opposite way from how you appear to think it works.

I don't think anyone else needs to know.

Anyone you insult on the internet deserves to know who you are.

Astyanax
reply to post by BrianFlanders

 

You tell me how it works.

It's rather obvious — exactly the opposite way from how you appear to think it works.

I don't think anyone else needs to know.

Anyone you insult on the internet deserves to know who you are.

That's ridiculous. For one thing, everyone has their own idea about what constitutes an insult. I've personally seen MANY people get offended over nothing on the internet. What you're suggesting would be an absolute disaster.

Not only that, even if it really is an insult, it generally ends there as long as the two people don't know each other. To suggest that people should be able to stalk someone who insulted them is also just crazy. It would obviously cause many acts of violence, which is the complete opposite of what you claim to be trying to prevent. If petty arguments among strangers on the internet are bad, isn't that even worse?

I've been online since the late 90s and have seen many (probably thousands or tens of thousands) of flame wars and arguments and I have never to my knowledge seen anyone get physically hurt. They occasionally go on for years but they usually fizzle out once they get bored.

reply to post by BrianFlanders

everyone has their own idea about what constitutes an insult. I've personally seen MANY people get offended over nothing on the internet. What you're suggesting would be an absolute disaster.

You have been online so long you have forgotten something basic about honour and decency.

When we speak to one another face to face, each speaker knows who the other is.

When decent people write to one another, they sign their notes and letters to accept reponsibility for what is in them.

Talking to people on the internet should be no different.

You reveal something quite disgraceful about yourself by your attitude: you show that you like writing anonymous letters.

Astyanax
You reveal something quite disgraceful about yourself by your attitude: you show that you like writing anonymous letters.

You, on the hand, are harping on something off-topic in regard to science and technology and the rationale given in the OP for shutting down comments.