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August 24, 2010 3:09 AM

Have you ever found yourself frustrated while reading some stupid comments written on a website? We've all been there. This addon, CommentBlocker, is the perfect solution for us who get annoyed daily on comment posts. Firefox only. (via)
posted by twoleftfeet (38 comments total)

Works pretty well on Metafilter, by the way.
posted by twoleftfeet at 3:13 AM on August 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

posted by Duke999R at 3:19 AM on August 24, 2010 [4 favorites]

.
posted by crossoverman at 3:31 AM on August 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

Is there an add-on that blocks the website and shows only the comments? Maybe a "click to see article/post" button in the event the comments make reading the source material seem attractive or obligatory?

(I mean, isn't that how everyone uses Metafilter?)
posted by chavenet at 3:35 AM on August 24, 2010 [3 favorites]

I love this plugin! I can't believe that no one's commented on this post.
posted by snofoam at 3:39 AM on August 24, 2010 [3 favorites]

Goodbye forever, YouTube comments.
posted by atrazine at 3:57 AM on August 24, 2010

It's only a matter of time before someone refines this with a Bayesian algorithm that figures out which posters are idiots. You'd probably be able to read all the comments on YouTube in just one afternoon.
posted by crapmatic at 4:03 AM on August 24, 2010

Brought to you by someone who doesn't understand the absolute vitality of the inverse of Sturgeon's Law.
posted by DU at 4:07 AM on August 24, 2010

All kidding aside, how the hell does this thing work?

I haven't un-gzipped and read the install file yet. But I can tell that somehow it recognizes the comment portion of many sites, which seems mysterious.
posted by twoleftfeet at 4:08 AM on August 24, 2010

But I can tell that somehow it recognizes the comment portion of many sites, which seems mysterious.

A human examined the code for those sites and wrote parsers to ID the comments?
posted by DU at 4:10 AM on August 24, 2010

Here's a hilarious twist, Safari only: Daring Fireball WITH comments. It allows one to comment on the daringfireball.net site, which doesn't normally have comments.
posted by nomadicink at 4:15 AM on August 24, 2010

A human examined the code for those sites and wrote parsers to ID the comments?

Yeah, probably. Somebody out there likes Metafilter!
posted by twoleftfeet at 4:19 AM on August 24, 2010

Hmm. I'm not sure if I'd find that useful unless I can single out commenters to block, like hatemongering or illiterate Anonymouses. I like reading comments if they're funny or informative, otherwise, I simply refrain from scrolling down to the comments section on nearly all the websites I visit these days.

I would, however, like a plugin for Twitter where I can unfollow somebody without being noticed... I've tried a Greasemonkey shushing script but that immediately became obsolete with the next Firefox update.
posted by peripathetic at 4:21 AM on August 24, 2010

I use a Greasemonkey script for this on the CBC site which still lets you know how many idiots were suppressed.
posted by gman at 4:25 AM on August 24, 2010 [4 favorites]

Isn't unfollow notification done by the server? Oh you mean you would still be subscribed but it wouldn't show you the tweets. My wife uses a site called, I think, brizzly for that. There are probably other twitter "portals" out there that do the same.
posted by DU at 4:47 AM on August 24, 2010

You will pry the comments from my cold, dead heart. I need the GRRRAR to get the blood pumping through my veins: a few dozen Palin supporters, eight or ten Libertarians, and a couple of birthers are as good as half an hour on the treadmill.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 5:06 AM on August 24, 2010 [2 favorites]

Oh my God, gman. I had no idea a comments filter had been built just for the CBC. I may now be able to read the site without having the overwhelming urge to burn my passport.
posted by maudlin at 5:11 AM on August 24, 2010

Maybe I can burn my sphygmomanometer now.
posted by blucevalo at 5:13 AM on August 24, 2010

gman, you are my saviour.
posted by Lemurrhea at 5:19 AM on August 24, 2010

I'm all for cutting down the signal to noise ration on the web, but this strikes me as the digital equivalent of sticking one's fingers in one's ears and yelling "NA NA NA NA NA NA" at the screen.

We learn by experience. We relate to each other and learn empathy and understanding by listening. Sometimes that means opening one's self up to opposing viewpoints, even if they're distasteful or hard to swallow. For me, the comments here are a feature, not a bug. I've often learned more from them than the links we post. And I also read the comments on articles on sites like Salon and The New York Times because I know I'll find decent content and commentary.

Maybe that's just me.
posted by zarq at 5:34 AM on August 24, 2010 [3 favorites]

It is true, I often forget the depths of intellect and provoking viewpoints embodied in constant screaming. Cogent, well-considered, and generally worth contemplation.

For example: who can argue with "FUCKKING OBAMACARE!!11! WE SHOULD JUST NUKE THE RAGHEADS AND MAKE THE MUD PEOPEL GO LIVE IN THE RAIADIATION DESERT LEFT BEHBIND!!"

Indeed. Words for our times my friends, words for our times. If we don't pause to consider how Jayboy36 wants to rape Lady Gaga with a broomstick, what do we pause to consider?

Nothing worthwhile, that's what. So, let us pause to consider it.

Hmm.
posted by aramaic at 5:50 AM on August 24, 2010 [7 favorites]

Eh. Letting comments, or specifically bad comments, muck up your website should be the call of the person running the site. If you have no self-control over reading comments a plugin isn't your biggest problem here. I don't need a killfile or app to realize that in no way will anything remotely close to intelligence ever result from the comments sections Yahoo puts at the bottom of every article.

The best blogs/sites with comments are ones where at least a modicum of supervision is provided, not an unattended back alley where people can choose whether or not they feel safe to walk through. If there are good comments on your site, a blanket blocking of all of them is unfair to the people who aren't trolling.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 6:00 AM on August 24, 2010 [3 favorites]

We learn by experience. We relate to each other and learn empathy and understanding by listening.

Have you ever learned anything by reading the comments of a news website, though?
CNN, FoxNews, Globe And Mail, CBC, good riddance to yee reader comments!
posted by Theta States at 6:14 AM on August 24, 2010

It is true, I often forget the depths of intellect and provoking viewpoints embodied in constant screaming. Cogent, well-considered, and generally worth contemplation

That doesn't happen on all websites. Sites where the comments are even *minimally* moderated rarely seem to tolerate noise and attacks in their comments sections.

We're talking about plugins that can screen sites where contentless rants from readers are not the norm.
posted by zarq at 6:15 AM on August 24, 2010

Have you ever learned anything by reading the comments of a news website, though?

Yes. I gave two examples of news sites in that comment you quoted.
posted by zarq at 6:19 AM on August 24, 2010

Thanks for the tip DU, I'll poke around on Google to see what I can find. Friend of mine is normal offline but a bit of an odious angerball online, and unfollowing her might cause too much drama.
posted by peripathetic at 6:21 AM on August 24, 2010

I think I must have stronger willpower than I thought, because this really wasn't a problem for me once I figured out comments On the Internet at large are largely idiotic and to be ignored.
posted by Artw at 6:37 AM on August 24, 2010

crapmatic: It's only a matter of time before someone refines this with a Bayesian algorithm that figures out which posters are idiots. You'd probably be able to read all the comments on YouTube in just one afternoon.

Done and done, my friend.
posted by thanotopsis at 6:57 AM on August 24, 2010

I don't even see most comment sections on online newspapers and other sites, thanks to my precious, precious NoScript. Based on what I've seen in the past, I don't think I'm missing much. As for sites like YouTube, I just don't bother scrolling down. I thought the comment from the developer was a little odd: "I couldn't avoid reading comments here and there while browsing through the main content." Comments are pretty much always at the bottom, right? Are they really that hard to avoid?
posted by Gator at 7:04 AM on August 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

I get annoyed daily by Firefox
posted by KokuRyu at 7:10 AM on August 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

I don't know if it's working, but FIRST POST!
posted by Eideteker at 8:37 AM on August 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

You can find extensions that do this for both Safari and Chrome here.
posted by crosbyh at 9:22 AM on August 24, 2010

[CONTENT BLOCKED: profanity, spelling mistakes, abuse of lower-case]
posted by clvrmnky at 9:27 AM on August 24, 2010

La la la la, I can't hear you or read you...
posted by Alexandra Kitty at 10:48 AM on August 24, 2010

On the quality of news website comments: "It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."
posted by virago at 11:04 AM on August 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

Does anyone block the comments down here?
posted by davejay at 11:15 AM on August 24, 2010

Sirloin steak...sure. More like "I would have ordered that hamburger, but it's probably mass produced from the worst quality fillers, it's probably stale and warmed over from sitting under the heat lamp, and oh...there is also the possibility somebody jerked off all over it. No Thanks."
posted by FireballForever at 7:04 PM on August 24, 2010

I'd prefer if I didn't have to see the comments but could still favorite them. Because I need friends and favorites.
posted by srboisvert at 4:27 AM on August 25, 2010