Shut Up
Ah, internet comments… They never cease to amaze me, but rarely in a positive way. From comments about Naziism, blatant spam, or people happy that something failed (and these examples are just from one Taylor Swift video I’ve taken a look at for this post). Wouldn’t it be nice to not have to see these comments? Thankfully, two people have done the work to make it simple for you!
Steven Frank1 has compiled a CSS file that blocks comment sections on plenty of major websites. He calls it shutup.css.
It does what you’d expect, completely obliterating the comments section from websites that you visit.
Left: Before enabling Shut Up plugin. Right: After enabling Shut Up plugin.
But maybe sometimes you might want to view the comments section. Enter the Shut Up plugin.
Ricky Romero has made plugins for Google Chrome, Safari, and an iOS app that makes use of iOS 9’s content blockers. The desktop plugins allow you to toggle comments with a toolbar button, while the iOS app allows you to whitelist sites in the app’s settings2.
I’ve been using the plugin and apps for quite a while now, and I can’t say that I miss the comments. Occasionally I’ll toggle it just to see, but I’m happy mostly living away from all the vitriol.