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How many point is it for comments that get lost in the ether?

Hey Politburo - should we develop the "sock in the wash" badge for comments that never emerge from our filters? :)

The possibility of virtual rewards leads to more traffic. More traffic means more ad revenues. More revenue could lead to a newspaper being :gasp: profitable. Hopefully that leads to better resources and the quality of journalism overall. FasterEddie, if the newspaper doesn't make money then there will be zilch journalism. Seems like a reasonable plan in the world of online news. It is certainly a better option than becoming a subscription based site.

Is there any way to opt out of this nonsense? I prefer not to be treated like a little child getting awarded little merit badges, little virtual 'gold stars' on my forehead. This is just another gimmick like the constant shuffling of articles on the home page. If you want to really IMPROVE "Reader Feedback", then begin with some consistency. When you designate an article as having "Reader Feedback", then actually accept Comments. Currently,even though the 'Post your comment' template appears, more times than not, you either accept none at all or else accept half a dozen then they no longer post. Once in a great while, you have the courtesy of actually marking it "Comments Closed". That is not often. Most times, I find myself having to post a "test" just to see if it works rather than wasting my time composing a comment only to have it fail to post. 2. Either have "Reader Feedback" for all or most articles or don't. It almost seems random the way some articles have it and others don't. If it has to do with the 'controversy' that might ensue, well if you can't handle controversy, maybe you don't belong in the Reader Feedback business. Leave censorship back in the third reich where it belongs. Bottom line- work on the substance of the site rather loading on a lot of bells and whistles. Seeing this latest development on top of the 'article shuffle' and 'slideshow', I'm concerned that some slick software salesman is taking you folks for a ride. Not good for a company struggling to emerge from bankruptcy.

This is sooo much better than the Inqui actually doing any insightful reporting or having editors to catch the numerous grammatical, spelling, and contextual errors that come through every day. Yes - Philadelphia and we as Philadelphians are much better served by your "badges." I'm sure these "badges" will help uncover government waste, corruption, and highlight how this city can become better by looking at other places. Thank you Philly.com!

Why do people dog newspapers as if the fact that the news is free on the internet wasn't 95% of the problem?

@Philly Resident 19146- Looks like you and me are "Noobs", pal. Guessing that unflattering designation means "newbie" and is supposed to embarass us into posting more. LOL. But you should be less embarassed than I am since you have 10 MORE POINTS!!!!!! Only way I'll actually post more is if they work on the substance of the Comment section as I outlined above. But it seems they're headed in the other direction. This merit badge behavior modification system isn't even original. Huffington Post pioneered it months ago. Inky see. Inky do.

Hey, phluphya19147 - as I mentioned above, we're working on some changes to the commenting policy now. Want to help?

I don't want my news to be fun. I want it to be informative.