Opinion: Top of the Ticket switches to Facebook comments later today

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Top of the Ticket today is switching to a new commenting system -- Facebook comments.

The system requires commenters to sign in through their Facebook accounts. If you don’t have a Facebook account, they’re easy to set up, and free. Unfortunately, people without Facebook accounts will not be able to leave comments.

Readers will have the option of posting their Top of the Ticket comments on their Facebook walls, but that’s not required.

The change is part of an experiment on The Ticket and several other Times entertainment and news blogs.

There are several benefits to this type of commenting. First of all, your comments will get posted immediately without the lag of moderation.

Second, we have seen an increase in intelligent discussion once people’s names are tied to their messages.

And third, if you do make a great comment and wish to share it on your Facebook wall, you can do so with just a click of a button.

Readers are welcome to express their opinions about the news -- and about how the new Facebook comments system is working.

Jimmy Orr, the Los Angeles Times managing editor in charge of latimes.com, discusses the Facebook system in greater depth.

-- Tony Pierce
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