Why Stuff’s comment section looks different

Friday, 22 January 2021

The Stuff comment section is like your favourite neighbourhood bar: everyone you know is always there (plus a few people you’d rather not talk to); it’s had the same, familiar set up for a decade; the staff try to keep everyone happy, but we stop serving when folks get belligerent.

Over the past few years we’ve overhauled the menu and the clientele has cleaned up considerably. Now we’re renovating the building.

Consider this the grand re-opening of the Stuff comments pub: same crowd, same chat, same rules, but a slick new interior and fresh sound system.

We’re nerdishly pumped about this update, and we think you’ll like it too.

* Stuff Editorial Code of Practice and Ethics

* Stuff's charter; a brave new era for NZ's largest media company

What’s different?

Things look a bit flash now

At the top of the comment section you’ll see a quick overview of our comment policy, and a link to the full terms and conditions. Then you’ll see some shiny new bells and whistles:

Featured comments: Comments from users which really represent the kind of conversations we want to have on Stuff will be featured at the top of the comment stream. These might be particularly insightful, honest or just a really smart take on an important issue. Featured comments aren’t an endorsement from Stuff. They’re an example of the kind of interaction we encourage in comments.

Show respect: We have a new option for ‘respecting’ comments from other users. Sometimes giving a ‘like’ can feel a bit off if it’s a serious or sad topic. The ‘respect’ button allows you to show appreciation for the sentiment without things getting awkward.

Filters: You can choose to view the comment thread by newest, oldest, most replies and most respected.

Mute the noise: If there is a particular commenter you’d rather not see anymore, you can click on their username and choose to ‘ignore’ them. This means you won’t see any comments or replies from that user. You can un-ignore them in your profile.

Your profile: At the top of the comment section you can use the tab My Profile to view your comments (made through this new system, more about that below), and change some of your settings. You can select if you want to get email updates about your comments, and see the commenters you’ve ignored.

Edits: When you post a comment, you’ll have a brief 30 second window to make a small edit - for example if you see a typo you want to fix.

To help manage our comment volumes, and ensure newer stories can have comments open, streams will automatically close after 48 hours.

You’ll hear from us a bit more

If you post something that breaches our terms and conditions, you’ll hear about it from us. If it’s a first, minor offence, you’ll likely see a warning message next time you come to comment. To continue commenting you’ll need to acknowledge the warning. That’s probably a good time to take another read of our terms and conditions to see where you went wrong.

You’ll notice warnings pop up if something you’re about to post is likely to be in breach, which gives you the opportunity to change it before posting. A notification will also pop up if your comment has been automatically rejected, for example if it contained a swear word.

For serious or repeated breaches, our moderators can suspend or ban you. A suspension means you won’t be able to comment for a set period of time, such as 24 hours or a week. You’ll receive an email telling you why, and for how long.

If you’ve already had a suspension or two, or if your comment is a very serious breach, such as threatening harm against someone, you will be banned. That means you will no longer be able to comment, react or report comments. If you think you’ve been unfairly banned, you can email us on comments@stuff.co.nz.

Your comment history has moved

If you’re an app user your comment history is in a new spot. Instead of the My Comments tab under sections, simply go to any comment stream and use the tabs to access your profile and comments.

Your old comments are missing from the site

Comments made in our old system aren’t currently visible on the site. They’re still safely stored and will return. It was a big piece of work to change systems, so we’re doing it in stages. Over the next couple of months our team will work to reinstate the past two years’ worth of comments to the site.

What’s not different?

We still won’t serve you if you cross the line. We’re advocates of free speech, but this is not a public forum. We reserve the right to moderate this space to ensure our members are safe and that the conversations happening here are relevant and constructive.

We’ll still try to cater for as many people as possible by opening comments on as many stories as we can. However, due to time and topics, that’s not always possible.

Your profile and the log in process should be exactly the same. If you get prompted to log in and can’t remember your details, please use the forgotten password process to recover your account.

For feedback and help, email comments@stuff.co.nz

Why does Stuff have comments at all?

It’s our mission at Stuff to make Aotearoa a better place. In a democracy, a great place is somewhere people can share their views, debate issues, challenge authority and ask questions - in a safe and respectful way. We believe the comment section can be a home for those conversations, and we’re committed to upholding standards to achieve it.

We also believe our readers have a right to tell us what they think about what we report, and how we report it. For 150 years our newspapers have had a letters to the editor page, which serves that purpose. The comment section offers a similar opportunity.

So tell us what you think. Share your views, ask us questions, make your voice heard. The bar is open. Come on in. Nau mai, haere mai.