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SALT LAKE CITY -- If you visit KSL.com Monday, you might notice something new. The comment boards, which were shut down on Friday, have been significantly renovated.
The goal is to rein in uncivil behavior and to provide for healthy, open, respectful dialogue.
Living in a democracy, you expect strong opinions when it comes to topics like politics or sports. But a funny thing has happened on the Internet, where comment boards too often become a toxic forum for anonymous smackdown.
Starting Monday, KSL.com hopes to change that.
"Anybody who has been offended in the past or has not liked the structure of our comment boards, we've really made some significant changes and we really are focused on elevating that dialogue and creating an atmosphere that is open and is civil," said Brett Atkinson, general manager of KSL.com.
Visit the comment boards and you'll see new posting guidelines, a new voting system, a new user profile page and, on some news stories, specific questions to prompt discussion.
"Now that you have to register and that your profile stays with you on your comments there's actually some responsibility and accountability that sticks with you," said President and CEO of Deseret Digital Media Clark Gilbert.
With the new system, users will be able to filter out inappropriate comments. Those comments will automatically be collapsed and readers will be able to ignore any user.
"Starting next week on KSL.com, you'll be able to say, ‘show me all the comments that are insightful,' or ‘I don't want to see the comments that are uncivil or inappropriate,'" said Gilbert.
A number of KSL.com users have told us they'd participate on the comment boards if it was a more civil environment. The new changes represent an invitation to re-engage in the discussion boards.
E-mail: jdaley@ksl.com
