Research

Comment Sections

offensive comments

How the Public Views Deletion of Offensive Comment...

June 16, 2021

The Center for Media Engagement teamed up with researchers in three countries to examine how the public perceives comment deletion and the moderators who do it....
How the Public Views Deletion of Offensive Comments

Journalist Engagement in Facebook Comments: Try Ac...

March 24, 2021

We tested journalist responses to Facebook comments on news stories in order to find out which responses led to more positive perceptions regarding the news outlets and its comment moderation. The messages were tested in the U.S. and Germany to see how well they worked across different cultures....
Journalist Engagement in Facebook Comments: Try Acknowledging Commenters’ Emotions

News Comments: What Happens When They’re Gon...

October 21, 2020

We worked with 24 Gannett-owned newsrooms and Coral by Vox Media to engage in the most ambitious test to-date of what comment sections mean to news sites....
News Comments: What Happens When They’re Gone or When Newsrooms Switch Platforms

Moderating Uncivil Comments Hurts Trust In News

July 18, 2019

The Center for Media Engagement’s previous research showed that uncivil comments can taint the perception of a news site. Now, we…...
Moderating Uncivil Comments Hurts Trust In News

Attacks in the Comment Sections: What It Means for...

January 24, 2019

In a new study, the Center for Media Engagement looked at how uncivil comments affect perceptions of a news site and ways journalists can address the problem....
Attacks in the Comment Sections: What It Means for News Sites

Comment Section Survey Across 20 News Sites

January 12, 2017

We partnered with 20 U.S.-based news organizations to conduct one of the largest-ever surveys of online news commenters....
Comment Section Survey Across 20 News Sites

Journalists and Online Comments

August 30, 2016

By interviewing working journalists, we learned that they do read the comments and respond to commenters....
Journalists and Online Comments

10 Things We Learned by Analyzing 9 Million Commen...

June 21, 2016

This report describes what we learned from analyzing 9,616,211 comments people posted to The New York Times website....
10 Things We Learned by Analyzing 9 Million Comments from The New York Times

Survey of Commenters and Comment Readers

March 14, 2016

We describe the demographic makeup, attitudes, and behaviors of the people who comprise the online commenting world....
Survey of Commenters and Comment Readers

Background Information & Facts

June 10, 2015

People are more willing to get involved in political discussion when they're provided with background information containing pro and con arguments....
Background Information & Facts

Restructuring Comment Sections

January 30, 2015

There are several benefits - and limits - to using a three-column comment section as opposed to using a traditional one-column section....
Restructuring Comment Sections

New Approaches to Comment Moderation

November 24, 2014

For three months, we attempted to code for incivility within online news comments in new ways. In this progress report, we share thoughts on what worked, what didn't, and what research can be done next....
New Approaches to Comment Moderation

Journalist Involvement in Comment Sections

September 10, 2014

Uncivil comments decreased when a journalist interacted with online commenters....
Journalist Involvement in Comment Sections

Improving Civil Discourse

September 10, 2014

We have partnered with the National Institute for Civil Discourse to research how to improve online discourse. We began by reviewing academic research on creating civil online spaces. In the coming months, we will conduct a series of focus groups to understand people's thoughts about discussing politics online....
Improving Civil Discourse