Why We Don’t Have Comments
What were we thinking with this whole ‘no comments’ thing?
I f there’s one question we got more than any other in the few weeks after launching The Establishment, it was this one: Why don’t you have comments? On the surface, it might seem strange for a newly launched online publishing platform to not allow comments. Frequently commented stories are shared more often and drive up page views, as well as time on the site. Comments equal clicks, and clicks equal revenue. For a brand-new platform with no established (yes, I see what I did there) reputation, it just doesn’t seem like smart business.
In addition, as a platform dedicated to discussing issues that don’t usually get attention in mainstream media, wouldn’t we want to promote dialogue in our comments section?
Really — what were we thinking with this whole “no comments” thing?
The truth is, in the ramp-up to launch, we thought long and hard about whether to include a comments section, but when it came time to decide, each and every one of us said “no.” The founding team — Kelley Calkins, Nikki Gloudeman, Katie Tandy, Jessica Sutherland, Ruchika Tulshyan, and myself — all had our own reasons for deciding that we didn’t want a comments section. We’ve decided to share those reasons with you here.
