Stuff comments: FAQ
Friday, 28 October 2016
Why do we do the things we do at Stuff when it comes to comments? Here are all the answers.
Do I have to use my real name?
Commenting under your real name is not required, but is encouraged. We find readers who comment under their real names, rather than a pseudonym, are more likely to engage in intelligent, respectful discussions and debate.
Do you edit comments?
No. Comments are reviewed against our Terms and Conditions and either approved or rejected.
Why do you let other people's mean comments through but not mine?
It's ok to disagree with the subject matter of a story, as long as your comment is well thought out and adds value to the debate. Bear in mind, your comment must meet our terms and conditions for publication.
Why has it taken so long for my comment to appear?
We receive thousands of comments every day. They are manually moderated by our (human) editors, in addition to other duties. While we try to get through them as quickly as possible, at peak times there can be a delay between when your comment is posted and when it is published to the site.
Why are comments not open on certain stories?
We reserve the right to decide which stories we open comments on. A range of factors might inform that decision - including staff resourcing and the topic of the story.
When considering the topic, we'll be particularly mindful whether the story is likely to elicit a high volume of comments that would breach our terms and conditions. For instance, we rarely open comments on stories about court proceedings or other legally contentious topics.
Why can't I add a comment to an existing thread?
In order to keep comments at a manageable level for our editors, when readers have had fair and reasonable opportunity to discuss or debate a particular news story, the ability to comment will be switched off - at which point we will move to newer discussions. This is where you'll be seeing comments you can up or down vote, but not add to the discussion any further.
We appreciate this means some threads may not be active as long as you would like them to, but is the only way we can realistically maintain a civil comments community.
Why are my comments never approved?
Provided your comment meets our terms and conditions, it will be approved for publishing to the Stuff site. Readers who repeatedly breach our terms and conditions or post offensive comments may find their username has been blocked.
Can I criticise Stuff?
We welcome strong opinions and critique of our work and critical comments of the article in question will be approved. However, we will not approve any comments which attack our staff or contributors, or which are abusive of the subjects of stories.
Comments which discuss or critique our moderation policy will be considered off-topic and rejected.
Another user's offensive comment has been approved, what can I do?
If there is a comment posted by another user which you feel is in breach of our T&Cs and should not have been approved, you can 'flag' it underneath (to the left of where you would up or down vote) which will resubmit it to our editors for review.
Where you believe a comment posted by another user which breaches one or more of the Digital Communications Principles set out in the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015, you may lodge a complaint by emailing comments@stuff.co.nz. Where you have submitted a valid complaint, Fairfax will respond within 48 hours. You can find more information on the Harmful Digital Communications Act here.
I want to link to an external site, why won't you approve it?
We do not allow links to websites, with the exception of Stuff articles or Govt-owned domains. This is as much as to protect our readers from malicious / pornographic websites as it is to protect Fairfax Media NZ's reputation.
I have more than 200 words to say on a subject, where can I post it?
You are welcome to write us an opinion piece of 300 words or more for Stuff Nation. You can submit that here.
Did you reject my comment because you're in thrall to John Key?
No.