Allowed Replies to News Comments Then 'Invalidated'
Naver recently allowed replies to replies on news comments but abruptly canceled the policy amid concerns about a 'comment war' ahead of the general election.
According to the ICT industry, Naver News added a feature on the 16th that enables users to write replies to replies on news comments. Previously, users could only post replies to comments, but with the new feature, they could specify a particular reply to respond to.
Replies to replies display the original reply text alongside, and clicking the original text navigates to the corresponding reply. The original reply is distinguished by a gray background, making it easy for the reply author to see if their reply has received a response.
However, as concerns arose that disputes between authors of replies and replies to replies could frequently occur, the policy was completely revoked. This decision considered the possibility of intensified comment wars on political articles as the general election in April next year approaches.
On the 20th, Naver announced, "Regarding the 'quoted reply (reply to a reply) writing feature in news comments' introduced on the 16th, we have decided to exclude this feature due to concerns about potential side effects."
They added, "We apologize for causing confusion among users by ending the feature prematurely before sufficient user experience was gathered. We ask for your interest and cooperation so that a healthy communication culture can be established through comments."
Earlier, a Naver representative stated, "Naver News updated the service with the intention of fostering healthy communication by sharing opinions through replies to specific replies (replies to replies). Since this feature is implemented in various community services, it was an improvement focused on user convenience."
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