Film review site Rotten Tomatoes has removed the option for users to leave comments on a movie’s page before it’s released.
It made the decision after seeing “an uptick in non-constructive input, sometimes bordering on trolling”, which they believed was a disservice to their general readership.
The site has also taken away the ‘Want To See’ feature which was measured by poll users who could participate in to express their views before a movie’s release date.
? #CaptainMarvel is expected to open with a spectacular $100 million next month, but it only has a 28% on @RottenTomatoes.
So in a MAJOR change, Rotten Tomatoes will no longer allow users to post audience reviews before a film hits theaters.
— LAT Entertainment (@latimesent) February 26, 2019
Rotten Tomatoes has put up these countermeasures especially after people dissed Captain Marvel before it even released. The audience made misogynistic remarks directed towards the actress Brie Larson for her off-screen comments on feminism and being an ardent activist on issues like women empowerment and equal pay.
Rotten Tomatoes killed the pre-score metric yesterday! Now if they could kill the audience scores, too, or verify having seen the movie, that would be an even better step!
— Bryan Young (@swankmotron) February 26, 2019
Online forums like Rotten Tomatoes are easily susceptible to hate and non-constructive comments with random rants that lead to, well– more hate. It’s good to see online communities stepping forward to moderate its public views and opinions.