Popular Science is disabling comments on their stories. The research they cite shows how influential reader comments can be, undermining PopSci’s mission to promote science.
From the time I’ve spent in the reader forums of local media sites, I wholeheartedly agree that comments often do more harm than good.
Comments can be bad for science. That’s why, here at PopularScience.com, we’re shutting them off.
It wasn’t a decision we made lightly. As the news arm of a 141-year-old science and technology magazine, we are as committed to fostering lively, intellectual debate as we are to spreading the word of science far and wide. The problem is when trolls and spambots overwhelm the former, diminishing our ability to do the latter.