# Pitting the Comment Sections of Many Popular Websites **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 15, 2008, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-comment-sections-of-many-popular-websites/463752 "2008-09-15T22:31:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-comment-sections-of-many-popular-websites/463752/1 "2008-09-15T22:31:50Z")
What’s up with these [sites](http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displayStory.cfm?source=hptextfeature&story_id=12208546&mode=comment&intent=postTop) that list comments in reverse chronological order? It’s annoying enough when you have to scroll down to the bottom and then backtrack in order to follow the flow of comments. What’s really fucking stupid is when they not only reverse the time order of the comments, they break them into pages of 10 or so comments each. Then you have to go to the last page, read those comments backwards, then click on the next-to-last page, read those comments backwards, etc. It is to the eternal credit of the SDMB that a more rational system of displaying posts is used. While I’m on the topic, it’s also really goddamned irritating when someone posts an obviously pre-written, generic screed that is only tangentially related to the original post and has probably been cross-posted to multiple sites. I believe many of these posts come from the political campaigns. The SDMB is thankfully free of this sort of thing; is it too much to ask for other sites to keep a lid on it? For example, in response to a story about the hurricanes, some buttplug will post [QUOTE=A Liberal Buttplug] Hurricanes are thought to be a consequence of global warming by many scientists. Global warming is Bush’s fault. Obama will pursue a platform of racial inclusiveness, making government part of the solution… [/QUOTE] or [QUOTE=A Conservative Buttplug] Hurricane damage would be much less if people would not continue to live in vulnerable areas. Years of big-government mistakes have encouraged people to remain in harm’s way. The McCain administration will restore personal responsibility to America, starting with entitlement reform. Then he’ll make sure we win in Iraq… [/QUOTE] Comment sections are not free advertising for your motherfucking candidate or an opportunity to post your latest crackpot theory about the Bilderbergs. So stay the hell away from them unless you have something relevant to say. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-comment-sections-of-many-popular-websites/463752/2 "2008-09-15T22:42:47Z")
This place exists pretty much solely as a comment section. _The Economist_ apparently thinks comments are a sop to the readers and only have value if they increase ad impressions. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of that spam was from _The Economist_’s own employees, trying to troll the people there and run up page views. But I thought you would be commenting about YouTube comments, otherwise known as the rock bottom of moronic, offensive crap. I’ll show you the future: A racist, homophobic 14-year-old pounding his fist into a keyboard, forever. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-comment-sections-of-many-popular-websites/463752/3 "2008-09-15T22:54:58Z")
[Obligatory.](http://xkcd.com/202/) ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-comment-sections-of-many-popular-websites/463752/4 "2008-09-15T22:58:54Z")
This thread makes a lot of sense. When Obama is elected, he will make sure that all comments sections are listed in reverse chronological order. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-comment-sections-of-many-popular-websites/463752/5 "2008-09-15T22:59:46Z")
A large number of these atrocious comment systems are perpetrated by Pluck (the Economist’s is one such). They seem to specialise in javascript-ridden abominations, preferring to display the “most recent comments” despite this inevitably presenting you with comments shorn of all conversational context. The reason sites use them is that Pluck provide a whole lot of back-end stuff that is very useful to commercial site operators; unfortunately they appear to have employed designers who have never used a comment system in their lives. I think The Economist is actually quite keen on user interaction (they’ve actually got a surprisingly continuous community there, given the usability nightmare). It’s not just a sop, as their occasional organised debate series shows. I just don’t think they’ve got the hang of it yet, and as a result have ended up with Pluck’s most offensive implementation ever. I don’t understand how anyone could think reading a conversation backwards is a good idea, still less updating the page ajax-style, forcing you to navigate to the last page of comments and read to the top, then scroll back to the bottom and select the next page before repeating the whole stupid rigmarole. I can only assume these people converse in reverse polish notation, a bit like Yoda. Unfortunately, the Guardian has just finished converting its enormously popular in-house blogs (which while spartan were very readable and quick) to Pluck’s rubbish, meaning dynamically-loaded comment sections (complete with loading progress bars!), javascript-dependent posting and godawful “most recent” display preferences are the order of the day. The users are not pleased. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-comment-sections-of-many-popular-websites/463752/6 "2008-09-15T23:04:52Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > This thread makes a lot of sense. When Obama is elected, he will make sure that all comments sections are listed in reverse chronological order. Must we. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-comment-sections-of-many-popular-websites/463752/7 "2008-09-15T23:13:44Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > Must we. Hey, I’m new… and easily amused. ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-comment-sections-of-many-popular-websites/463752/8 "2008-09-16T00:23:51Z")
Personally I’m getting sick of Yahoo Answers. Every time I google something these days I get a page from Yahoo Answers. Seriously it sounds like the majority of answers come from teenagers. There is such little useful info there it’s sad. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-comment-sections-of-many-popular-websites/463752/9 "2008-09-16T01:17:05Z")
Well, when you post a full reply here all the posts all of a sudden are in reverse order-does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-comment-sections-of-many-popular-websites/463752/10 "2008-09-16T01:33:41Z")
That I have no problem with, because you’ve probably already read through the thread and are most likely replying to one of the last few posts. It makes sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-comment-sections-of-many-popular-websites/463752/11 "2008-09-16T11:27:26Z")
Never mind the order they’re in; it’s the **quality** of comments on other websites that makes me thankful for the SDMB. The other day I was making fun of the half-wit illiterate children on [imdb.com](http://imdb.com); then I read some comments on YouTube. Okay, God, just wipe us out and start over with the monkeys. ---
**Author:** ![Subway\_Prophet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Subway\_Prophet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subway_Prophet)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-comment-sections-of-many-popular-websites/463752/12 "2008-09-16T13:14:59Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > [Obligatory.](http://xkcd.com/202/) See also [Penny Arcade](http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/)’s take on this. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-comment-sections-of-many-popular-websites/463752/13 "2008-09-16T14:14:12Z")
> [@Merkwurdigliebe](#): > > Personally I’m getting sick of Yahoo Answers. > > Every time I google something these days I get a page from Yahoo Answers. > > Seriously it sounds like the majority of answers come from teenagers. There is such little useful info there it’s sad. The fact that all of their users have avatars that appear to be drawings of 12-year-old girls doesn’t help that impression, either. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-comment-sections-of-many-popular-websites/463752/14 "2008-09-16T16:27:08Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > But I thought you would be commenting about YouTube comments, otherwise known as the rock bottom of moronic, offensive crap. [YouTube (xkcd)](http://xkcd.com/202/) ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-comment-sections-of-many-popular-websites/463752/15 "2008-09-16T16:41:15Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > This thread makes a lot of sense. When Obama is elected, he will make sure that all comments sections are listed in reverse chronological order. \*“Come the revolution, we will all have strawberries and cream!” “But I don’t like strawberries and cream!” “Come the revolution, you will like strawberries and cream!”\* ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-comment-sections-of-many-popular-websites/463752/16 "2008-09-16T16:42:45Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > [YouTube (xkcd)](http://xkcd.com/202/) Good job on reading the thread and everything. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-comment-sections-of-many-popular-websites/463752/17 "2008-09-17T05:04:32Z")
> [@neutron\_star](#): > > Good job on reading the thread and everything. Maybe if it were displayed in reverse chronological order he would have noticed that one right at the top of the page. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-comment-sections-of-many-popular-websites/463752/18 "2008-09-17T05:10:15Z")
“Reading’s haaaa-ard.” Is there some reason that comments need to be nested and messed up the way they are? Is there some reason they can’t all just be in a row like the posts here? Cause I’d really like to read comments just in a row, instead of all linked and nested and crapped up. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-comment-sections-of-many-popular-websites/463752/19 "2008-09-17T06:18:47Z")
> [@Merkwurdigliebe](#): > > Personally I’m getting sick of Yahoo Answers. > > Every time I google something these days I get a page from Yahoo Answers. > > Seriously it sounds like the majority of answers come from teenagers. There is such little useful info there it’s sad. Me too. The scary thing is that they’re frequently so high up in Google rankings, implying that people frequently link to those useless blatherings. ---
**Author:** ![sinical\_brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@sinical\_brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinical_brit)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-comment-sections-of-many-popular-websites/463752/20 "2008-09-18T12:15:12Z")
Too right Dead Badger . That Guardian makover just pisses me right off. Upside down and out of context. What is the point ? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-comment-sections-of-many-popular-websites/463752.md?page=2)