In your notice of the update you say " We've been heartened to find so little of the spam (so far!) that often plagues blog comment features" so I feel that everyone at Salon must surely be aware that what you have set up is in fact a system of blog comments with all the back and forth (and flaming and everything else) that comes with that sort of format.

This was posted in the "Tell Our Editor How We're Doing" thread in Salon Central on Table Talk on Januray 21st:

I criticize the fact that you call them letters, or worse, "letters to the editor" (which they aren't and can't be since no editor is required to review them and surely could not review them all and select a few worthy examples for publication) when what they really are is blog comments. Why not call them comments instead of letters?

Let me put it another way: Letters are fundamentally different in that a "letter" is a form of communication which is typically more formal and which one takes time (or should take time) to formulate, consider, compose and commit to paper (or electronic medium) before sending. Comments are more or less spontaneous reaction often given without any real amount of time put into formulation, consideration and composition.

I really (REALLY!) object to the labeling of de facto blog comments as "letters." Language means something. I'd expect editors and writers who make their living with words to consider that and apply labels which are more accurate.

Please, have a real "Letters to the Editor" section with letters that are read by actual editors before a representative selection is published. Call comments what they are.

You say that your blog comments have been a roaring success by any measure? On anything besides volume and number of clicks, I'm strongly inclined to disagree. The infantile response contained in many of these comments cum letters following the publication of Mary Elizabeth Williams article of Saturday, January 28th is a good example of that. Many of these comments, had they been actual LTE's, never would have seen the light of day in a respectable publication.

Short version: Stop calling blog comments anything other than blog comments. Letters to the editor they aren't.

A feature request, and an opinion.

If Salon features a "Show All" view, can it list them chronologically, from 1st article to most recent (makes it easier to follow the thread of a conversation, as the conversation unfolds).

I was one of the people that commented on the preponderance of anonymous postings (replies to a Broadsheet article concering sexual harrassment seemed to have many people signing "anonymous" who were expressing their inner neanderthal). I don't think that it's necessary to have people sign their real name, though. Merely having their online Salon name attached to their comments would, I'm sure, give posters pause before hitting the "publish" button. Psychologically, it's the same force at work: posters know that they'll be accountable for what they write, at least within this community.

I'm fairly leery of attaching my real name to much on anything in cyberspace for the myriad reasons familiar to us all. And I appreciate Salon leaving that option to each participant.

I was always very impressed with Salon's selection of letters to the editor, and sad to see the change to the new format. I don't want to see everybody's comments.

Perhaps the best approximation to the old system would be to have a cookie remember my selection of the "Show only Editor's Choices" radio button, and for the "Read all letters on this article" to have a star next to it in the case that some Editor has made Choices.

Count me in agreement with those who wish you'd return to a traditional Letters to the Editor format instead of this blog-comment mess. Even reading only the Editors' Choice "letters" isn't very useful, as they often refer to comments that aren't marked as Editors' Choice.

How can you continue to call these blog comments Letters to the Editor when you've abdicated the editorial function of reading them and pruning out the junk?

I don't wish to have my name published, so I you won't have to worry about my posts in future.

My initial response to the new letters feature was favorable... until I read a few too many of the letters one night, but it has been an interesting experience.

Still, I look forward to the effects of the slight changes, especially because it was impossible to keep track of an unknown number of anonymouses, while trying to keep up with a lengthy discussion. Nor will I miss the letters that won't be written because the writer didn't want to sign them.

And, I must take exception with the derogaory comments about blogs and their comments. [Yes, I have a blog.] Unfortunately, Salon's blogs are no longer very easy to find, but they are still here, in spite of complaints about the software. And a uniquely diverse bunch they are. Well-written, insightful, satirical, and often funny. Hardly a careless or self-absorbed post among them, and the comments are generally civilized, too.

Its ridiculous to penalise people who post under a pseudonym - as has been previously noted many people speak freely on views that they would *not* want their workmates or peers to know - this is not a bad thing.

Scott - I thought as a fairly sussed online person you'd be aware of this.

Well, I wrote an eloquent response and decided to change my name to my real name which deleted all the text I wrote. Thanks a lot.

My point was largely to agree that this new system -- despite drawing more reponses -- is hardly a success.

I'll go back in brief to what I had wrote and what was deleted. I'd have taken more time, but since this is just a shitty blog, who cares?

1. I miss the "Letters to the Editor" page which allows me to get a barometer on my own opinion relative to the spectrum of other readers.

2. With a consolidated, edited "Letters" section, I can return to articles that I had skipped or skimmed in response to hubbub about them.

3. To find out if there is any response to a past article, I have to go through the article page-by-page (I prefer the "Print" option to read articles so I don't have to stop-and-wait all the way through) just to get to the "Letters" link and then scour it page-by-page to find out if my opinion is represented. In popular articles, there can be hundreds of comments to peruse.

4. By hiding the comments on the last page, the new system tends to place the ego of the author over the opinion of the reader. Opinions on the quality of writing are no longer prominently displayed on a "Letters to the Editor" page.