It is that time of year again where a certain level of introspection is compulsory and people try and work out what they did well and what they did not so well this year. Here at the Standard for the past three years the most commented on and most popular posts have been listed. Often the list is quite different but these give an insight into what were the most burning issues of the year.
And here is the list.
Tenth was Anthony Robins post concerning Andrew Little declaring that Labour would oppose the TPPA. Matthew Hooton hopped into the debate early and asked if Labour would withdraw from the treaty if elected. Subsequent events and the election of Donald Trump as POTUS has made this debate academic. But 351 comments addressed the implications.
Ninth was a post by Anthony Robins on the July Roy Morgan poll results. Like most of them the result had bounced around from previous results. This did not stop 359 comments addressing possible causes and not the unreliability of the poll results.
The eighth most commented post was another by Anthony Robins on how Labour was considering the implementation of a Universal Basic Income. Posts on this issue always seem to be popular with readers and this post with 360 comments was no exception.
Seventh was a provocative post by Advantage defending the rights of the Muslim religion and other religions to exist in New Zealand in response to an equally provocative post by Te Reo Putake suggesting that religion should be ended. A total of 365 comments addressed Advantage’s post. Both posts showed that debate is alive and well on the Standard.
Sixth was a post by mickysavage questioning what had got into the collective mind of America after the election of Donald Trump as POTUS. Like many other posts on this subject the debate was vigorous between those who thought that Trump was a narcissistic fool and a danger to the world and those who thought that Hillary Clinton was no better and potentially worse. The 376 comments were just a drop in the bucket of the total number of comments on the subject posted in the Standard this year.
Fifth was another post about a Roy Morgan poll, this one by Colonial Viper. These posts fell into something of a pattern. Those that were bad for the left were an opportunity for the right to taunt and attack, those that were good for the left were a chance for the right to criticise the accuracy of the poll and vice versa. 391 comments provided a classic example of this sort of debate.
Fourth was the Te Reo Putake post advocating for the end of religion and caused 461 comments to be made. This is the post that caused the response by Advantage mentioned above. Freedom of debate is clearly alive and well at the Standard as shown by the 461 comments made.
Third was the post noting the announcement by John Key that he was standing down, posted about 15 minutes after the announcement was made. The accompanying graphic was shared multiple times. 468 comments were appropriate given the significance of the announcement.
Second was the election day discussion point concerning the US elections. And what a day that was … 500 comments is clear evidence of this. And still there is no consensus on the left on what Trump’s election will mean. Nor is there any sign that there will be.
And the winner is …
Te Reo Putake’s post at the beginning of the year confirming that Labour would oppose the TPPA. 715 comments made this the most commented on post ever in the Standard’s history.
And tomorrow will be the list of the most popular posts of this year and interestingly only one of these posts appears on that list.
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