As Mark Briggs, author of “Journalism Next” put it, “Now that news is a conversation, one of the greatest challenges facing journalists is how to manage, and leverage, that conversation.”
Managing and leveraging the conversation about news has become more and more relevant on the internet. News outlets utilize comment areas on all of their posts so as to create an area to begin the conversation and see where it goes from there.
In order to keep the conversation going in these comment areas, it is essential to follow Mandy Jenkins’ “rules of engagement.”
- Answer all questions.
- Address criticism without spats.
- Publicly or privately respond.
- Share Good Responses.
- Publicly correct yourself.
- Always acknowledge new tips.
When it comes down to it, all of the rules seem logical to follow. However I must question the validity of the option of publicly or privately responding. If an author only privately responds to user comments, then wouldn’t there be minimal interaction and furthermore, less of an incentive to leave a comment in the first place if the author doesn’t care enough to respond?
All in all, conversation via comment areas is essential and can shed light onto new ideas on specific matters. However, in my opinion it needs to be regulated so as to show progress and create a beneficial effect on the community of viewers and commenters.
Leave a Reply