Monthly Archives: February 2020

A "Zuck Buck" is displayed on a monitor as David Marcus, the executive leading Facebook's blockchain initiative, is questioned by U.S. lawmakers in Washington, D.C., on July 17, 2019.

Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Facebook's Libra Association added a new member after shedding several partners in its ambition to create a new cryptocurrency.

E-commerce company Shopify announced Friday it will join the independent collective created by Facebook. Shopify said in a press release that its decision is part of its effort "to make commerce better in parts of the world where money and banking could be far better."

Libra Association leaders have touted the project as a way to make a reliable form of currency available and transferable around the world, particularly in underdeveloped and underbanked communities a claim lawmakers poked holes in during an October hearing with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Shopify's new membership follows a slew of defections from the Libra Association in the months since its unveiling in 2019. Payments companies were among the first to drop their membership after U.S. lawmakers called on executives from Visa, MasterCard and Stripe to assess the risks that could come with the project, citing Facebook's spotty history in protecting consumer's data. All three companies stepped back from the Libra Association and would be joined by PayPal, eBay, Booking Holdings, Mercado Pago and Vodafone.

The project still faces skepticism from regulators around the world. Over a series of congressional hearings last year, lawmakers grilled Facebook executives on their willingness to comply with relevant U.S. agencies and asked for assurances that the libra cryptocurrency would not weaken the U.S. dollar.

Zuckerberg told the House Financial Services Committee in October that Facebook would leave the Libra Association if it decided to launch the payments system before obtaining U.S. regulatory approval. But he stopped short of agreeing to a moratorium on the project while Congress determines the appropriate steps forward.

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Facebook's Libra Association adds Shopify as a member after a slew of defections - CNBC

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Care and Feeding is Slates parenting advice column. Have a question for Care and Feeding? Submit it here or post it in the Slate Parenting Facebook group.

Dear Care and Feeding,

My husband and I recently had our son, who is in first grade, tested for the gifted program at his school. I will admit that it was mostly motivated partially by my vanity and peer-pressure from friends who urged us to give it a go. (I also find gifted to be a problematic term and a relic of a narrow perspective on learning and talent that should be retired.) And, to be frank, I honestly dont think he is gifted. Funny, smart, cutely irreverent? Yes! But not talented academically per se.

Well, he did not get in. Its fine. We barely mentioned it to him, and he just thought he was pulled out for testing that other kids got as well. If my son asks why he doesnt get to go on the bus to the gifted school each Monday, what should I say? I should also say that his 10-year-old brother has been in the program since he was in first grade, and I worry about him feeling less than and left out.

Not Gifted, but OK, OK?

Dear NGbOO,

I agree with you: The term gifted sucks, and it creates any number of unnecessary emotions for both the children who dont gain acceptance into such a program, as well as those who do.

Tell your son that kids have different learning styles and that both he and his brother attend institutions that were determined to be the best fit for each of them by the folks who are in charge of the local schools. If he pushes further or seems to feel disappointed or insecure in any way about not being included, add that gifted is a poor word choice for the program that his sibling, and perhaps some of his former classmates, attend and that he is gifted in his own ways (with humor, kindness, creativity, etc.) Emphasize how he is special and capableif theres something he can do well or with ease that his brother couldnt at that age, highlight itand that he is in no way deficient or inadequate by comparison to any other child.

Dear Care and Feeding,

My cousin and I are both 33, and weve lived together for the past 10 years. Shes my best friend as well as family, and were both committed to continuing to share a home. She has wanted to be a parent for a long time, and now after much discussion and planning, its finally happening. Ive never wanted to be a parent myself, but I do fully support my cousin, and Im super excited about being a part of her childs life.

That said, I wish I had some sort of model for how this is going to go. Weve talked about it a lot, but I still feel like I dont know what kind of boundaries and expectations are reasonable. I want to help my cousin make our house a loving, caring home for the baby, but ultimately its not my child. I also know basically nothing about babies. Is there a parenting book out there for nonparents?

Cousin of the Baby-to-Be

Dear Cousin,

Congratulations to you! This is certainly an exciting development, albeit a somewhat complicated one.

As far as setting boundaries and expectations, ask your cousin pointedly what she has envisioned for your role in this childs life. If she hasnt yet developed a clear picture of what shed like that to be, ask her to do so. Take some time yourself to figure out what youd like to be able to offer, in terms of support, and what sort of things you may need to plan around (such as your work schedule and your other relationships). Then sit down with your cousin and devise a strategy for how your household of three will function.

When it comes to kids, be clear: The best laid plans can easily change. Youmay establish that youll be unavailable to help out with late feedings when you have an early morning the next day, only to find that you cant sleep during those times because just the thought of your bestie struggling alone keeps you upor that the baby typically sleeps peacefully through the night (its possible, mine did!).

Be flexible while also continuing to bear in mind that your role is not that of a co-parent; you shouldnt look the other way when your cousin is having a rough time, but you also mustnt take on 50 percent of the responsibility for caring for this child unless at some point the two of you decide that your role in their life should change.

I couldnt find any books for folks who are looking to be supportive of parents (there are a few on kinship carewhen other relatives and loved ones take on the responsibility of caring for a child that is not their own by birth, but they seem to focus more on trauma and doing the work of parenting oneself), but I do think it would be worth it to check out one or two that were written for parents so that you can learn more about infant development and the various mysteries of babyhood that you havent yet experienced up close. (Id love for our readers to suggest the ones they found helpful in the comments!) You should also take a trip to your local book retailer and look for one that feels right for you, i.e., the tried-and-tested classic What to Expect series versus 2004s The New Basics or The Wonder Weeks, an interesting look at infant life that contextualizes behavior based on developmental leaps. Wishing your family all the best on this special journey!

If you missed Tuesdays Care and Feeding column, read it here.

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Dear Care and Feeding,

I have a 1-year-old. Some acquaintances who are also parents are concerned about and attempting to limit mobile phone/Wi-Fi radiation around their kids. This is nonsense? I cant find anything remotely plausible out there about this, but at the same time, I havent seen an apparent debunking of these theories that I can easily refer to either. And further, how do I deal with this with people when it comes up (assuming Im right that this is not a thing)? I find it hard not to argue evidence, and I can come across arrogant.

Tin Foil Hat

Dear TFH,

Not every debate is worth having, and theres no shortage of other, more easily verifiable threats to your childs safety to worry about. Let your friends obsess over Wi-Fi signal dust if they choose to, but refuse to engage more deeply than offering a Wow, very interesting! before changing the subject. Worst-case scenario: If they belabor the issue, it probably wont be terribly hard to point to something they are exposing their kids to with abundance that is somehow dangerous or dangerous as well.

Dear Care and Feeding,

My husband and I have a beautiful, 1-year-old boy. My husband is a fantastic father who is beyond excited to share his world with our son. Were both fortunate to be in careers were passionate about. Still, theyre quite different: Im an academic in a field that involves travel to and fieldwork in remote areas of Africa while he is in the video gaming industry. We also had quite different upbringings: my husband spent a lot of time watching TV and playing video games, while I was mostly outside with my very active family. My husbands generally on board with raising our son more in line with my childhood than with his, but we diverge on one issue.

We both want to share our careers with our son as he gets older, and weve talked about him joining me on fieldwork trips and agree this would be a good thing. However, we have arrived at a stalemate on how my husband can share his career with our son: His idea of moderate exposure to video games is playing only on weekends, while my idea is borrowing hardware from his work and playing when a game Dad worked on is released. This very discussion makes my (already sensitive) husband feel bad about the work he does and takes pride in. His company makes high-quality, nonviolent games. Please help me find a balance that my husband can be excited about but wont harm my sons development.

No Gamer

Dear NG,

Are you saying that you do not even want to allow a video game console to take up permanent residence in a home that is, ostensibly, paid for and cared for with money that is earned in part by the creation of video games? Despite the fact that, by your own description, your husbands company makes high-quality, nonviolent games?

Considering that 1) your husband makes video games for a living, 2) his constant ability to play them as a child did not result in him growing up to be a perpetual adolescent or violent sociopath of some sort (in fact, he both managed to find a career in gaming and a wife who accepts him despite being completely convinced that her own childhood was so far superior to his own), and 3) he has only proposed allowing your son to play games on weekends, Id go so far as to say that your own proposition is completely unreasonable. Especially since you describe your husband as being sensitive about his work.

While I understand being concerned about an overabundance of screen time, your aversion to video games sounds to me more like snobbery than anything else. I hope that I am wrong, and that youre just deeply terrified of some of the bad things that can happen because of overexposure to that sort of content.

Because surely you are aware that there are gamers at every level of our society, including many high-performing children and, most likely, the man with whom you chose to start a family. Furthermore, there are not only risks involved with allowing your child to travel with you to remote locales for your work, there are also those who might find whatever it is you are doing to be distasteful, of questionable merit and/or some other strain of problematic even if you are a native of this particular locale and especially if not.

Im not trying to beat you up, but I want you to consider that the message that you are sending to your husband, in my humble opinion, is that his work sets a poor example for your son and that yours is not only superior in that regard, but so much so that youd take him to the ends of the Earth to ensure that he sees it up close. That may not be what you mean, but that is what you seem to be communicating.

You can still raise your son to be the Gen Z Ross Geller you dream of, even if hes allowed a bit more video game time than youd prefer. He may not even take to them. Not all kids have the screen bug, and hes your child, which means hes likely got a better chance than the average kid at being naturally inclined toward serious academic work that takes him across the globe. But hes his fathers child as well, and he may follow in his footsteps instead. You have to make peace with both that and the fact that those arent bad footsteps to follow. Video games bring a lot of joy into the lives of people in an often cold, cruel world. Hes found a way to work in a field that so many others dream of breaking into. These are admirable things.

Let the kiddo play a reasonable amount of video games on the weekend. As far as making a special exception to the usual rules when his dad has a new piece out? That needs to be in addition to the weekend time. Celebrate those moments as a family, they matter and they wont ruin your boy. Good luck, Mama.

Jamilah

My 14-year-old daughter spent the night with her best friend and I just saw photos of her vaping in the girls room. It is the second infractionshe was caught doing this about six months ago. Im crushed and hate to see her thinking this type of behavior is cool and wanting to experiment. Do I let the other parents know?

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I Had My Kid Tested for the Gifted Program, and He Didnt Make the Cut - Slate

Welcome toTNW Basics, a collection of tips, guides, and advice on how to easily get the most out of your gadgets, apps, and other stuff.

Ill bet money that youre logged into your social media platforms on multiple devices. Phones, tablets, computers its convenient to be able to have your multi-hour social browsing sessions from anywhere. But you should always know what devices your apps are logged into, as a matter of basic digital security. And every now and then, it helps do the technical version of a welfare check, just to see which devices have access to your accounts.

So heres where you can find your logged-in sessions on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and how you can log out of them.

Lets start with the big one: Facebook. You can find the specific option under Security and Login, and the Where Youve Logged In list should be near the top of the options. Each session should ideally tell you what type of device youre logged in, and the location. The latter is useful, as often when someone else logs into your device, they arent in your same geographic location. Its very easy to know to log out of something if you can look at it and say Hey, Ive never been in Chicago, so why is someone there logged into my Facebook account?

You can log out of each of these sessions individually by clicking on the ellipsis next to the device in question. This is good if youve, say, forgotten to log out of an old device you no longer own. But if you see that youre logged into multiple devices you dont own in other words, if youre in full crisis, you can choose to log out of all sessions using the option on the bottom of the list.

Despite being in many ways similar to Facebook, Instagram keeps its login information in a separate menu option. Its called Login Activity, which is admittedly much more straightforward. Once youre in this menu, you can confirm whether the most recent login is or isnt you, and underneath you can see each of your other logins.

This menu also offers you the advantage of being able to see exactly where each device was when you (or whomever logged in) accessed the account. As with Facebook, you can log out of each device remotely from this menu (with the exception of the one youre using to access the menu) by clicking the drop-down button next to each devices name. Unlike Facebook, you cant log out of all sessions from here if you must, you can log out of each device individually.

Yet again, the menu for Twitter is in a different location than either of the previous two platforms. Itd sure be nice if these companies could come together and give us standardized menus, but thats a pipe dream. In Twitters case, the option is a submenu nested under the Account setting. Under Data and permissions, youll see an option called Apps and sessions, which is what youre looking for. In addition to your devices or sessions, as theyre called here youll also see what apps youve connected your Twitter to, which is convenient.

Your inactive sessions, meaning the ones on devices youre not actively using, are under the Log out of everything option, which can seem somewhat confusing. But if you click on the device individually, youll be taken to yet another menu where youll see details about when you logged in and where, if such info is attached to the session. From here you can log out of that session individually.

There you go. Now you know how to log out of your devices on the three big social media platforms. Good luck, and may you find no mystery devices logged into your account from Chicago.

Read next: Researchers found a cure for diabetes (in lab mice)

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How to see where you're logged in on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram - The Next Web

The outbreak of the Covid-19 coronavirus disease has taken the lives of more than 2,770 people with a vast majority of those deaths in China plus a growing number in countries like South Korea, Iran, and Italy and infected more than 80,000 as of February 26. As the world scrambles to contain the public health crisis, global businesses are starting to take a hit, particularly in the technology sector.

China which is the second-largest economy in the world has all but halted its production of consumer goods such as phones, clothing, and automobiles for the past several weeks. The country has taken on unprecedented wartime measures to control the viruss spread, such as placing severe restrictions on some 780 million people and instituting mass quarantines in major cities.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the lockdown on Chinese manufacturing has caused global markets to shudder and is casting an ever-widening shadow on the economy at large. Thats particularly relevant in the tech industry, which depends on Chinese labor to build everything from computer chips to cellphone parts. In recent days, China has started reopening its factories (despite public health concerns) in an effort to restart its economy, but manufacturing sites are running at a far lower capacity than usual.

Its still too early to measure the full financial impact of the virus on the tech industry, but the early signs dont look good. Technology shares, which had been steadily increasing this year even during the beginning of the global outbreak recently took a dive, although they have recovered slightly nearing Wednesdays NYSE closing. The S&P 500 information technology sector, which analysts use to measure total shares in the tech industry, had fallen by over 9.3 percent from last Thursdays close compared to a drop of 7.3 percent across sectors, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

Stock markets fluctuate all the time based on a variety of factors, and the coronavirus is impacting stocks across industries, not just tech. But the tech sectors recent plunge is especially concerning given its recent track record of being resistant to any significant hits, and the fact that the top five major tech companies Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google parent Alphabet account for a large portion of the total stock market.

Apple the worlds most valuable tech company said it is reducing its revenue targets this quarter in a rare company advisory released on Monday. Tesla said last week that health epidemics are a risk to its business. Amazon, whose e-commerce business relies on the flow of goods between China, the US, and other countries, has not released any similar warnings but is stockpiling supplier items from China to protect against future disruptions due to the virus. And Chinese companies themselves are feeling the hit, with tech giant Alibaba calling the outbreak a black swan event (as in, unpredictable) on a recent earnings call.

Social media companies which are trying to keep up with a slew of misinformation about the viruss origins and spread are still financially less impacted than companies like Apple since their main line of business isnt selling physical goods. But even Facebook has been affected, setting reduced production goals for its Oculus Quest virtual reality headsets in part due to a slowdown in Chinese manufacturing because of the virus.

And virtually all the major tech companies Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft have restricted employee travel to China, either banning or limiting it only to matters of critical importance. Theyre also asking workers returning from China to work from home for up to two weeks.

In some cases, tech professionals in the US are so concerned about the virus that theyre taking other precautions, such as wearing breathing masks and eliminating handshakes in business meetings, as Recode previously reported. For now, there are only four confirmed cases in the San Francisco Bay Area, but some feel these preventative measures are important given the high volume of travel between China and Silicon Valley and concerns that the virus could quickly grow out of control given how it has spread in Asia.

Overall, the economic and social impact the coronavirus is having on the tech industry puts into stark relief the close connection between Silicon Valley and China, not just for manufacturing but for supplying a workforce of highly skilled engineers, investor funds, and academic collaboration.

Outside the workplace, tech companies are pulling out of major global conferences or canceling them altogether. As Recode reported last week, Facebook canceled a 5,000-person global marketing conference in San Francisco. And the worlds largest phone trade show, Mobile World Congress, was canceled after major tech companies like Amazon pulled out over coronavirus concerns.

Here are more specifics on some of the main ways we are seeing coronavirus impact the global economy, particularly in the tech industry.

Virtually every major US tech company that builds physical products like cellphones, computers, or video game consoles relies on a vast Chinese workforce to manufacture products for cheaper than could be done in the US.

In the past few weeks, though, that supply chain, which includes everything from raw parts to finished products, has been fundamentally disrupted.

Factories in China have been shut down. Hundreds of millions of migrant workers who were visiting family in cities outside the main manufacturing hubs for Chinese New Year were quarantined. Some are beginning to return to work, but reports indicate that as of earlier this week, over two-thirds remain stuck. Roads have been blocked, trains halted, and flights canceled.

In its advisory, Apple said Monday that worldwide iPhone supply will be temporarily constrained because its manufacturing sites in China are experiencing a slower return to normal conditions than anticipated as manufacturing sites in the region reopen.

The New York Times reports that even though some factories are starting up again, they are still operating well below capacity. And there are serious public health concerns about whether reopening the factories is the right decision at all, considering the virus continues to spread in China and elsewhere.

Companies are increasingly talking about the threat of the virus in public business announcements. A MarketWatch report found that out of the S&P 500 companies recent earnings calls between January 1 and February 13, 38 percent of transcripts included the term coronavirus at least once.

Another major tech company with its supply chain impacted by the virus is Amazon. Its estimated that more than 40 percent of Amazon sellers are based in China, which means that a large chunk of the products people buy comes from the country. In addition to that, a large portion of US-based sellers source their products from China.

According to a recent Business Insider report, Amazon reached out last week to a number of suppliers for products sold in the US but made in China and encouraged them to stockpile on certain products shipped from China, in anticipation of potential supply chain slowdowns caused by the coronavirus outbreak in the region, according to the outlet.

In response to a question about this practice, Amazon sent Recode the following statement: Out of an abundance of caution, we are working with suppliers to secure additional inventory to ensure we maintain our selection for customers.

Facebook also said the manufacturing of its Oculus Quest headsets is impacted by the outbreak.

Oculus Quest has been selling out in some regions due to high demand, Facebook spokesperson Anthony Harrison wrote in a statement to Recode. That said, like other companies, were expecting some additional impact to our hardware production due to the coronavirus. Were taking precautions to ensure the safety of our employees, manufacturing partners and customers, and are monitoring the situation closely. We are working to restore availability as soon as possible.

Another way the coronavirus outbreak is impacting business is by reducing Chinese consumers demand for consumer electronics.

China is the United States third-largest and fastest-growing market for exports, which means that US companies are increasingly setting revenue goals that rely on Chinese residents buying their products.

Apple in particular made a whopping $52 billion in sales in the last fiscal year by selling its products (mostly iPhones) in the country. With the recent easing of tensions in the US-China trade war, analysts were anticipating that number to grow at a faster rate than it had in previous months.

But now, because of the coronavirus, that could all change. Apple temporarily closed some of its more than 40 stores in the country and is currently still operating some under limited hours.

The company said on an earnings call that there has been very low customer traffic in its stores.

Some business analysts are hoping this will be only a temporary disruption that will slow down in the coming weeks but so far, the virus has proven to be difficult to contain and hard to predict.

The last health crisis to impact trade between China and the rest of the world was SARS in 2003. But at that time, the country wasnt as important a player in the global economy as it is today.

The extent to which US-based tech companies are being impacted by the coronavirus demonstrates how reliant the tech industry is on China.

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Coronavirus is starting to impact the business of Apple, Facebook, and other companies - Vox.com

US citizens living in China and South Korea have been told they wont be able to cast their vote in person for the Democratic primary next month and will instead need to vote online, according to Democrats Abroad, the group in charge of overseeing voting overseas.

And as the coronavirus outbreak has spread to 38 countries, triggering concerns about a global pandemic, CDC officials warned on Tuesday that they expect the virus to spread to the US and told US businesses and schools to prepare.

The news raises questions about whether the coronavirus outbreak could interrupt the lead-up to the biggest national event of the year: the 2020 election.

So far, only three states Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada have weighed in on who should be the Democratic presidential nominee. But a flood of Americans will soon follow, first with voting in South Carolina on Saturday, then a massive blitz of voting and caucusing next week on Super Tuesday involving 14 states and Americans living abroad. All primary voting ends by June 7.

When asked about what discussions or preparations were underway to address potential interruptions to primary voting or caucuses, the Democratic National Committee said that decisions about state elections were made by state parties, and decisions about primary voting were made by state officials. When asked about whether it had any contingency plans for this years Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee in July, which is run by the DNC and typically features thousands of delegates and party members, it declined to comment. (The Republican National Committee did not respond to similar questions about planning for its August convention in Charlotte.)

The closing of the two voting centers in China, one in Shanghai and another in Beijing, was announced on February 18 in response to local ordinances restricting travel and public events, as well as a State Department recommendation to US citizens in the country to stay indoors, according to Maya Hixson, a Democratic National Committee spokesperson. Democrats Abroad announced on February 26 in-person voting was cancelled in South Korea, too.

"Our number one concern is to ensure all eligible voters are able to make their voices heard without jeopardizing anyone's health and safety, Hixson told BuzzFeed News. Democrats Abroad has robust systems in place so that members can still exercise their right to vote, and we are working with them as the situation develops."

As of Tuesday, the coronavirus outbreak had spread to more than 80,000 cases and 2,700 deaths worldwide, with the vast majority occurring in China. South Korea, the biggest pocket of cases outside of China, has reported 977 cases, but in contrast to the Chinese response in Hubei province, it has chosen not to put the epicenter of the outbreak on lockdown. In Italy, which at 270 cases has the biggest outbreak outside of Asia, public events like the Venice Carnival have been canceled.

In the US, there have been a total of 14 reported cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, as well as 43 cases of US citizens with the illness brought back to the US from Chinas Hubei province and the Diamond Princess cruise ship. Although the disease is currently contained in the US, the CDC warned on Tuesday that community spread is likely inevitable.

In-person primary voting is still planned for early March in Italy, but things could change at the last minute, according to Democrats Abroad.

People can absolutely vote from home! With this recent outbreak, we are encouraging people to do this more than ever, Angela Sittaro, a Democrats Abroad Italy organizer, told BuzzFeed News in a Facebook message.

Public gatherings, such as voting, caucusing, and rallies, provide opportunities to spread diseases because large numbers of people are packed closely together, possibly touching the same surfaces. Its unknown exactly how many hours the coronavirus can survive on surfaces or how exactly it's spread, although theres some indication people can spread the virus even if they arent displaying severe symptoms.

There are ways of handling the risk, according to Irwin Redlener, director of Columbia Universitys National Center for Disaster Preparedness. You can separate people more, such as extending voting over several days to thin out the crowds, regularly wiping down voting surfaces, or using disposal covers. I dont see us having to cancel the normal political process, but we may have to make changes, Redlener told BuzzFeed News.

President Donald Trump tweeted on Monday that The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA, and later that day the White House sent Congress a $2.5 billion request for emergency funds to help respond to the threat. Some Democratic presidential candidates, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former vice president Joe Biden, have since criticized the Trump administrations handling of the outbreak.

BuzzFeed News asked all the leading Democratic campaigns about their candidates plans in the event of a nationwide coronavirus spread. The Warren and Biden campaigns declined to comment; the Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, and Bernie Sanders campaigns did not respond.

Galia Slayen, a campaign spokesperson for former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, said, "Mike is developing a plan for how to best tackle this emerging pandemic and consulted with former CDC officials in developing that strategy. Slayden did not elaborate on the strategy.

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The Coronavirus Outbreak And The 2020 Presidential Primaries Could Be On A Collision Course - BuzzFeed News

Twenty-four years ago, we launched New Jersey Online in the middle of a crippling snowstorm. Today, were known as NJ.com and we are the largest news and information site in New Jersey, averaging more than 1 million unique visitors each day.

Back in 1996, public forums aka message boards were a big part of our appeal. People had things to say and our site was a place for all comers, whether the topic was gardening secrets, high school sports or town gossip.

Over time, message boards gave way to site comments that traveled directly with stories. Our commenting platform also has evolved, from heavily moderated by our experts to rarely moderated to machine moderated. At the same time, the often positive spirit of commenting steadily declined and we moved our resources elsewhere as the commenting audience continued to shrink.

Today, only about 2% of NJ.coms total audience reads our comments and only 0.03% posts comments.

At their best, the NJ.com comments were a place to learn more about a story, add or correct information that we missed and engage in a meaningful, respectful debate. At their worst, our comments were a place none of us would want to spend time. They were a place for racism, misogyny and hatred a place to perpetuate the worst stereotypes about our state, our neighborhoods and our people. It was never our intent, but we ultimately gave a small number of people a license to say things they would never say in their workplace or at their dinner table without the cloak of anonymity.

In short, New Jersey deserves better.

On Thursday morning, NJ.com will remove comments from the site. Archived stories also will have comments eliminated. We understand this will be upsetting to some of the people who read and post comments, but our editors will continue working to find the best ways to engage and hear your voice.

You can find more details here in our FAQ, and the How to Reach Us link is a great resource when you have something to share with one of our journalists.

We continue to look for ways to grow our reader engagement and welcome your input. If youd like to help us, please take this brief survey.

Of course, were also still engaging with our millions of followers on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Well see you there.

Kevin Whitmer is NJ Advance Medias Senior VP for Content, Expansion and Development. He may be reached at kwhitmer@njadvancemedia.com.

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NJ.com removing comments from site on Thursday - NJ.com