( CNN ) -- People are interesting , so if you talk to enough people , you 're bound to learn interesting things . That 's the fortune-cookie version of CNN.com 's philosophy when it comes to comments . CNN.com gets thousands of comments on its stories every day . They can be thought-provoking , vulgar , inspiring , offensive or hilarious , but they 're rarely boring . Our audience makes valuable contributions to CNN 's coverage by giving us a broader view of the day 's events . Our Health unit recently published a story about phobias that referenced actress Salma Hayek 's fear of snakes and quoted a San Diego woman with a fear of vomit . It 's an interesting story and dozens of people jumped in to discuss their fears of sharks , heights , crowds , blood and even wet paper . That conversation gave an even better understanding of a problem that affects more than 19 million American adults . We also read through the comments to see which stories are generating buzz and deserve follow-ups , and to look for new story ideas and fresh angles . It 's not all rainbows and unicorns and people can be mean , but we have moderators and other mechanisms in place to help keep things civil . You can check out our Community Guidelines to get the full list of what is and what is n't allowed on CNN.com , but the short version is that we encourage lively discussions and spirited debate . We do n't want comments that are abusive , vulgar , defamatory or obscene . Our moderators can remove comments that violate our guidelines and block users who have a pattern of bad behavior . We 've also given you the power to report abuse when you see comments you think are inappropriate . It 's an evolving system and we spend a lot of time in the newsroom discussing the right approach for delicate stories . Are racial slurs OK in a story about racist language ? Is it appropriate to allow comments calling for terrorists , rapists and serial killers to be killed in the most violent way possible ? Or how explicit is too explicit in a story about sex ? A recent health story about the female G-spot sparked a particularly frank debate . We 're always looking for new ways to highlight user comments on CNN and to make participating in the discussion more rewarding . If you 've got a suggestion , please let us know in the comments .
CNN.com gets thousands of comments on its stories every day . Our audience makes valuable contributions to coverage by giving us a broader view . We have moderators and other mechanisms in place to help keep things civil .