First Posted: 10/9/2011
You should never be afraid to put your name next to your opinions if you really believe them.It’s a key to the freedom of speech. You can express exactly what you wish, as long as you’re willing to face the possible scrutiny of your thoughts. It was a huge evolutionary step for newspapers about half a century ago, and it’ll be a big jump as our website, LimaOhio.com, eliminates anonymous comments this week.We’ve required people to stand personally behind their words in print for a long time. My name and picture appear next to my column every Sunday and on my blog online. Our daily editorials include the names of those on the editorial board above them, showing the group of people who formed that opinion. Even letters to the editor require a valid name and address from members of the community, as we won’t print anonymous letters.Our readers demand transparency out of us, and we demand it back. Knowing who says what should raise the intelligence of the discussion, as you can more easily see possible biases.We hope to raise that intelligence and transparency online Tuesday afternoon, when we switch our story commenting system to Facebook Commenting. The new system allows people to comment on stories using their account on the popular Facebook social network.Facebook has a variety of privacy safeguards in place, where people can control how much or how little of your online life people can see. Still, we enabled the option of signing up with a valid email address and real name to accommodate people who are uncomfortable with that site.We understand the likely reaction of our online community. Many of them will be unhappy to lift the veil of anonymous comments and may walk away. We’ll be sad to see some of them go. Unfortunately, the constantly negative, harassing and borderline racist comments of others who receive constant warnings ruined the online experience for everyone.Over the years, countless people asked why we permitted things online we’d never tolerate in your printed newspaper. We’d always answer that the Internet was a different animal, but really it isn’t. It’s just another platform to share news, information and opinions. We hope to narrow this chasm now. Even the Wild West tamed over the years, and the Internet has, too.We’ll maintain the standards we’ve always had online, asking people to avoid profanities and threats.It’s partially an economic decision, too, as Freedom Communications, the corporate parent of The Lima News, makes this change at all of its properties. The new story commenting system is significantly less expensive than the current one. It also appears to work much better and have features people requested for years, so it’s an upgrade for us.We’re not blind to the consequences. We know some people will stop commenting on stories. Some will claim they feel less free to say what they want. As someone who’s put my name to my words for most of my life, I assure you it’s a freeing experience to say what you mean and have everyone know it’s you.Eleven newspapers in our company already made this change. They warned us the number of comments go down at first. They also said the quality of the comments improved, as did the civility and feeling of respect among commenters.Thought-provoking comments? Civility? Respect? That’s what will make LimaOhio.com an online community instead of just a website.You can comment on this column at www.LimaOhio.com.
