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Hi to all. I was a big follower of this site back about 5+ years ago, and have just recently returned. I have to say that I really hate the facebook comments. One of the things I used to really like about this site was how long and detailed the comments sections were (with the authors often adding to the discussion). But with the facebook comments, it’s mostly just verbal “high fives.” And if you are reading an older article (even just by a few days), you usually can’t even find the comment section on facebook.

So please, bring back the comments.

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I miss these too. There were most often a lot of good coaching in the comments from the authors.

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I agree with all of the above.

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They are gone. A few of us tried to get them to keep them around, making the same points made here, but the powers that be were set on separating the comments from the articles… And in fact deleting the comments all together as far as I can tell.

Lots of info lost to the ages unfortunately. We are now left with witty repartee and people tagging their friends on the Facebook comments as a substitute

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Is there an alternative way to respond instead of Facebook (which I will never use)?

The latest Deadlifting article from coach Rippetoe is amazing.
It seems almost unfair that no good discussion will bloom in the forae.

How about adding a seperate article discussion subforum while maintaining the default FB link (which Biotest obviously placed out of some sensible economic reasons)?
Maybe the ball is already rolling and countless FB drones will continue to comment in their own way, generating traffic and attention, while the hardcore crowd might discuss details in here?

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You could just start a new thread in one of the sub-forums here.

People have asked for a dedicated discussion sub-forum, but there doesn’t seem to be enough interest overall to do it. Many of the forums are pretty dormant most of the time.

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I recall seeing a few times in past years where someone would start a thread specifically to discuss an article that they felt was particularly worth talking about.

S

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Ya, I remember that as well and, if I’m remembering correctly, I believe one of the Mods even suggested that very thing when the Facebook conversion occurred.

It makes sense, people aren’t interested in discussing every article.

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Yep. There’s nothing stopping anyone from starting a thread in a topic-appropriate forum to discuss any article.

This, to me, would be the most sensible and obvious solution in the current situation. I don’t believe an article discussion forum is foreseeable again in the future, but it’s simply not necessary because there’s already a very viable way to discuss any article on the forum.

We’re also working on getting more coaches active on both the FB page and the forum.

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Now this, I think is very cool. I do miss Amit’s sub-forum.

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Attempting to get the authors more involved is addressing the very issue that killing the comments after the article created in the first place

99% of the appeal and reason we liked the article discussions was discussing it with the author, asking them questions, expanding on the ideas. This was one of the things that made the articles here better than those around the web

That very likely won’t happen with a random thread in the forums, and I don’t necessarily want SwoleDadd69’s input. It definitely doesn’t happen on Facebook

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“I don’t believe an article discussion forum is foreseeable again in the future”

Hi Chris,

Why not? I see you are listed as a “Forum Director,” does that mean you are employed by T-Nation? If so, hopefully you can give some insight into why they killed the comments.

As an example of why I miss the comments section, I point you to this article: Destroying Fat

It had a great comments section in which the author, CT, contributed significantly. And one of his contributions was to point out some mistakes in the article itself. Those comments by CT are now gone, and the article still has the mistakes. He also responded to a number of posters who wanted to know about possible modifications. Again, all of that knowledge is gone.

Would any of this ever happen on facebook? Ridiculously, there is actually a facebook comments link on the article. Should I post a question now? Will it get any response?

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When this first started happening the reason(s) given were that it was getting harder and harder to get authors to comment on the articles for a variety of reasons

  • date of publication might not be known to the author, so they might miss the article in the crucial first days when the majority of comments come in

  • authors are busy tending to their own websites and social media pages now, as opposed to 10 years ago when you would publish at T-Nation as the sole means of getting your info out on the internet

  • Many authors have a facebook account, and you can ask them directly. Or if they publish the article on facebook they can answer there and thus increase their social presence by adding you as a friend

We already had this discussion a while back and it hasnt changed. So, like it or not they seem to be sticking to their guns about this issue.

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[quote=“theotherjt, post:12, topic:215987”]
I see you are listed as a “Forum Director,” does that mean you are employed by T-Nation?[/quote]

Yep. I was a plain old forum member for years first, but I’m a rung or two higher on the totem pole now.

[quote=“theotherjt, post:12, topic:215987”]
Would any of this ever happen on facebook?[/quote]
Discussion with an author about their article? Yes, it would, can, and does.

As I mentioned earlier, there’s nothing stopping anyone from starting a thread to discuss any article they’d like on the forum.

And, really, it kinda seems like some guys are glossing right over that simple solution, they still aren’t starting those threads, and they’re still complaining that “there’s nowhere to discuss the articles.” You don’t need an “article discussion forum” to discuss articles.

Want to discuss Rippetoe’s deadlift article? Start a thread in Powerlifting or BSL. Want to discuss Thib’s Destroying Fat article? Start a thread in Thib’s forum. Want to discuss today’s back thickness article? Start a thread in BSL or bodybuilding. I get that things aren’t the way they used to be, but things aren’t all that complicated, either.

Also, Lonnie did just bring up some good points about some issues with keeping the article comments active. Facebook is largely becoming the go-to for discussing written pieces with most magazines and news/information outlets. The quality of those discussions, just like the quality of discussions here on the forum, will reflect its participants.

Like I said, we’re working on getting coaches even more interactive all over, but many if not all coaches today have a page on Facebook that you should be able to tag for questions/follow-ups anyhow.

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Chris,

I understand where you guys are coming from, I really do, but the fact is that the Facebook comments pretty much suck, the author (almost) never shows up, and the top comment is often someone who didnt read the article saying what bullshit it is based on the headline then Shugart making a snarky remark about it, and this it gets “liked” to the top because of the internets love of sick burns.

The “simple solution” doesn’t solve the issue of getting the articles authors response, which “simply” will not happen if you start a new thread in a random forum at a random date on T-Nation. You all have to know this.

The after article discussion was fine when it was taken away. The authors were still showing up and commenting, even if only for a day to answer the top few comments or questions.

The “Comment of Facebook” link at the bottom of the articles is useless because it links you to the generic T-Nation Facebook page, and not the article discussion

I’m not trying to hammer you guys, its just a long time member offering feedback on what used to make this a really exciting and engaging place, which seems to evaporating with every passing year. I understand you all have to evolve and adapt to the changing times on the net, but this is one users feedback on the current system.

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In truth, reading a lot of the comments on Facebook lowered my opinion of t-nation readers. For a site that advertised itself as the intelligent pursuit of muscle (or something to that extent) a LOT of really stupid people comment on the articles.

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Old fart of almost 54 here…RIP to the good old days when Dan John and Jim Wendler would actually pop in and answer questions in the livespill discussion, thereby dispensing further nuggets of wisdom. I can’t see Dan John trying to respond to the one intelligent question amidst the 50 inane FB posts, and I would bet money that Wendler would never do it. Lonnie123’s post nailed it.

edit to add: thank goodness Wendler has his own forum here, and yes some gold nuggets of wisdom being dispensed there in response to questions

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I don’t think I’ve posted here in at least three years, but the number may be higher/lower than that.

Anyhow, I always came here for the articles. Referring me to facebook isn’t going to get me clicking into the forums to traffic my way to the biotest store eventually. (But it may get on user’s newsfeeds to direct back to t-nation for a new set of eyes, so I get that.)

I know that you’re hoping that the crossfit/fitness fad expands your clientile, and I hope it does too. Everyone has worked hard to develop products, share great information, and innovate for approaching 20 years at this point. I realize that the article comments may have bloated certain parts of your servers, so I get you refer to facebook because you can get new people clicking on your stuff via likes and comments.

I’m with Lonnie, where I’m SUPER bummed about the old comment sections dying though. Few works in a coaching context like here are going to apply to 100% of people. I always appreciated questions from other trainers or similar asking things akin to “Is X applicable to population Y?..” complete with full logic of their question. I think what disappoints me more is I’m looking at posts I made in 2006 that are showing in my forum history again (I imagine for SEO purposes).

Also, because the website and article URL’s have changed over time, it makes it hard if not impossible to find those comment sections in the internet wayback machine.

If there is that much worry about comment sections, why don’t you have people tweet in questions and/or comments, and have someone moderate those? I know I got tweeted by thibs a few months ago when I asked him a programming question about a recent article.

140 Characters is a bitch, but I guess it is better than nothing if we’re getting legitimate engagement from the authors.

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I would have to agree with the posters in this thread. As a long time reader and having had the privilege to be invited to Biotest headquarters, the very things that made the site so great have been slipping away.
I can get used to the forum changes, though a blend of old and new like maybe a way to have a view like the old forum where you saw thread starter and latest response user listed by account name would be helpful.
Removing the article comments in my opinion has taken alot away from the articles. Especially for newbies, was always great to post a comment in the article and get a response from the actual author or see another user had the same question and the author responded.
Creating a separate thread or facebook post will never have the same feel.

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I agree with everyone here. Bring back the Livespill! The whole Facebook detour is devoid of valuable info as well as being cumbersome, counterintuitive and extra work to achieve the same result. T-Nation was better before…