[cwperkins]

I think NYT has set a decent example with how to deal with internet comments sections. I like the idea of a US House of Representatives type approach to comments where every person in the house is given an equal amount of time to address the house so you can hear all perspectives.

The way NYT has done this is by introducing "Featured Comments". A team at NYT, presumably ideologically diverse, picks insightful features to highlight out of all comments. You can still view comments sorted by number of recommendations, but they default to the Featured Comments.

The web forum I think needs this more than any else is the r/politics subreddit of Reddit. Someone please let me know their experience, but I don't think the comments on highly upvoted content are insightful at all. A lot seek to exacerbate and misrepresent which IMO adds fuel to the flames of the flame wars.