Tasmanian Times Traffic Report (2)

In February 2010 there were 24,688 unique visitors to Tasmanian Times, a 45% increase over the number of visitors in February 2009. (The February 2010 tally was a marginal decrease over the January 2010 figure, but there are three days less in the month).

Unique visitors is one thing, the number of comments another. In the last week of February, more than 820 comments were received and published on a wide range of Tasmanian Times articles. The sheer volume of comments threatens to soak up all of the time available to keep the site going. While comments are invaluable contribution to debate on important issues, the sheer volume diminishes the time left over for editing and posting new articles.

TT aims to publish comments as promptly and with as little editing as possible. Some contributors always submit comments that require only cursory review. The notable features of their comments are that they indicate where they agree with the article or other comments, where they disagree and why and provide links to supporting information. They are also notable for having mastered the art of respectfully disagreeing with other contributors but without resorting to taunts or abuse or skate close to making defamatory comments. If all comments were of this standard, ensuring their prompt publication would be a breeze.

In the near future TT will release a proposed revised comments policy and guidelines on how TT will aim to implement the policy. The aim is to reduce the amount of time allocated to reviewing comments and correspondence related to them. In the meantime, it would be greatly appreciated if contributors submitting comments would familiarise themselves with, and abide by, the existing code of conduct (HERE).