The Comments Section (original) (raw)

Learn more about The New York Times comments section, including how to read, post, and flag comments for the website and news app, and comment moderation.

The New York Times is interested in articulate, well-informed remarks that are relevant to an article. We welcome your advice, criticism, and unique insights into the issues of the day and invite you to engage with our news content using the comments section, a feature available for select articles on the New York Times website and app.

The comments section allows readers to read, post, recommend, and flag comments on select articles, and is moderated by The New York Times Community team. Typically, comment threads on articles are open for 24 hours. After 24 hours, commenting is closed and our moderators are moved to newer articles. This ensures we are able to host a civil comments section on a wide range of articles.

To learn more about how to report a correction or share feedback, please visit Contact Us.

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Select an option below to learn more:

To read comments on nytimes.com, select the comment icon located in the navigation bar underneath the article title and summary:

To read comments on the news app, select the comment icon located in the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen: Note: If you do not see a comments icon, this means there is no comments section for that article.

To recommend, or upvote, comments you like or agree with, select the Recommend button underneath the comment: NYT Picks

NYT Picks are a selection of comments chosen by moderators that represent a range of views and may highlight a particular region, or readers with first-hand knowledge of an issue. Keep in mind that not every comments section will have a comment selected for NYT Picks.

Reader Picks

Reader Picks are a selection of comments with the highest amount of recommendations, or upvotes, by other readers.

To be approved for publication, comments should be civil and reflect The New York Times’s standards for taste present on NYTimes.com and in The New York Times newspaper.

For more information on how The New York Times moderates comments, refer to the “How We Moderate Comments” section of this article.

Register to Comment

The first time you write a comment, you will be asked to register for a New York Times account.

To post a comment, you will be asked to provide the following information:

• A display name
• A location

Both of these items will be displayed publicly on NYTimes.com. The registration process serves to facilitate the development of our online community, and ensures that all users take responsibility for their writings and are legitimate users (not bots).

If you would like to receive a notification after you submit your comment, select the email notification checkbox beneath the comment box on the submission form: If you do not receive a confirmation email after 24 hours, try reposting your comment.

Returning Commenters

If you have posted comments on articles before, keep in mind that you will need to register for and be logged in to a New York Times account each time you post a comment, as comments are linked to your registered account.

Post a Comment

To leave a comment, select the pen and paper icon at the top right or bottom right corner of the comments section:

If you read a comment that you feel does not meet the standards of The New York Times, feel free to flag the comment. While flagged comments are not automatically removed from the site, each flagged comment will be further reviewed by the Community team.

To flag an inappropriate comment:

1. Select the Flag icon at the bottom right of a comment.
2. Select the reasons you believe it should be removed.
3. Submit the report.

Report an Error or Suggest Feedback

We appreciate when readers and individuals quoted in our articles point out errors of fact or emphasis and will investigate all assertions. To avoid distracting other readers, please do not post a comment that suggests a correction. Instead, report a correction or share feedback.

While you can edit your display name and location, you cannot change or make edits to a comment once it’s been submitted. Therefore, we recommend that you check for grammatical, spelling or accuracy errors in your comment before submitting.

Due to the volume of reader comments, individual moderation decisions cannot be reviewed with readers and comments cannot be altered once they are posted. We recommend checking for grammatical, spelling or accuracy errors before submitting. You can change the display name and location associated with your comment at any time.

Comments are either approved or rejected, and are not edited by The New York Times. However, we reserve the right to edit a comment that is quoted or excerpted on NYTimes.com or on our affiliate blogs. In those cases, we may fix spelling, grammar or punctuation.

The New York Times Community team moderates and screens all comment submissions to provide a space where our readers can exchange intelligent and informed commentary that enhances the quality of our news and information. While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective, and carefully made by our Community team.

The New York Times welcomes strong opinions and criticism of our work, and does not hesitate to approve critical comments as long as the criticism relates to the article in question.

The following will not be permitted:

• Name-calling, personal attacks, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity (including expletives and letters followed by dashes), commercial promotion, impersonations, incoherence, and SHOUTING.
• Personal attacks against our staff.
• Excessive comments on the moderation policies of The New York Times. The New York Times will not allow comments to become bogged down with discussions of our moderation policies, and the Community team will moderate accordingly.

When and where will my comment be published?

Since comments are moderated, they do not appear on the site until they have been approved. Comments are typically posted faster during business hours, and less frequently in the evening and on weekends.

The New York Times reserves the right to display comments in a variety of ways, including within the text of articles or in advertisements. Once your comment is published, it can be found in search results on websites like Google and Yahoo.

A New York Times staffer may occasionally use the email address you have listed in your Account for a follow-up interview. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

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