◼ Since its inception, nearly four years ago, the Lost Coast Outpost has not only sought to be the place that delivers the best and mostly timely news it can deliver, given the resources at its disposal. - Hank Sims/Lost Coast Outpost (LoCo)
It has sought, also, to be the place the county gathers ’round to chat. It has sought to use the medium as effectively as possible, understanding that this is the medium it is. This is not a newspaper transfered awkwardly to the Web. This is a two-way street. We talk to you and you talk to us, and then you talk to us some more and we talk to you some more until the line between you and us gets a little bit fuzzier than it had been previously, before the Internet was a commonplace.
...The growth of the Internet as a means of delivering information and tragedy and funny, telling stories — doing all the things that newspapers used to do, with what we can now see are their obvious limitations — is, to my mind, just about the most exciting thing going. That’s why, when I see something like The Week’s recent retreat from the possibilities of the medium and into a safe fetal position, I shake my head in wonder. Why would you do that? Why would you say: Hey, you want to talk about our stories? Go sign up with Mark Zuckerberg first, and then do it over there with people you already know! Don’t do it within our earshot!
Why would you do that?
I personally love comment sections very much. I like perhaps 97 percent of the Outpost’s comments — a far higher percentage than most people, I realize. Naturally I like most of all the people who have something to say about one of the stories we have published — people who can offer more information, or some expert understanding, or a different way of looking at things. But I also like the people who come in blustery and bullheaded, seeking to make their mark on the world via a silly handle. They are so human. I made this case a while back in greater detail.
the Lost Coast Outpost comment section is going Choose-Your-Own-Adventure. You like the way things have always been, except maybe a little bit less heavy-handed in the moderation department? You got it. You want tightly controlled discussion, with the least possible amount of rage or hard feelings? You got that, too. Everyone gets to choose the Lost Coast Outpost commenting regime they feel most comfortable in. Get the details, HERE.
