Getting comments on your blog, newspaper site,… is seen as an added value for your site as it will trigger conversation.

We already know that there is a downside to having comments on your site. Trolls are the most common example of bad behaviour triggered by the possibility of commenting and Godwin’s Law formulated that as a conversation online grows longer the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.

Window On The Media focuses on three not so evident negative sides to comments.

1. As your audience grows in size, the total value of comments increases more slowly.

2. A larger audience automatically leads to a conversation of lesser value, relative to the number of participants.

3. To control the large number of comments on your site, you need to have good moderation. This will lead to high costs.

All is explained quite well in this graph.

Economic

Source: Window on Media