Comments policy
Uncategorized - - Posted on March, 15 at 4:44 pm by Tim
Having watched a million blogs tie themselves in knots with ‘comments policies’ I’ve decided to reduce mine to one simple rule: I decide. I reserve the right to allow through or delete comments entirely at my own discretion.
Over the last few years I have edited comments very lightly, rarely deleting them and even less rarely banning commenters. This approach can mean that sometimes things get a litte, um, vigorous, but I would rather that than use faux concern about manners and language to stifle legitimate differences of opinion.
Besides, some of the most obnoxious comments come couched in the most polite language and I’m more likely to ban the person who merely agitates through understatement and a refusal to engage than someone who swears occasionally. In other words, good faith participation–hearing what others are saying, staying on topic, acknowledging relevant counter-arguments–is the most important thing.
Drawing such lines is always difficult, but that’s were paragraph one comes into play.
If you have questions about that, then email me, but there will no dicussion about it on the blog itself. So some comments will be deleted, some may be disemvowelled, but the vast majority will be let through. The vast majority.
If I deem you to be a serial offender, a spam bot, or in some other way undesireable, I will block you from commenting altogether. If you reckon that is an infringement of your free speech then you nuture that thought and grow warm from it but understand that nobody sane agrees with you.
Actually, the most important thing is that you are all grown-ups and a comments thread doesn’t need me intervening endlessly.
It follows from all this that comments threads will sometimes see vigorous and heated discussions. This is the line we are all trying to walk and what the above is attempting to address. But this is one of the things blogging does, provides a space for discussion of all sorts.
Some will say, in objecting to the comments in some threads, how dare you even provide such a space. I disagree. Still others will attempt to suggests that in providing such a space the blog-owner is necessarily endorsing every comment made at his or her blog. Such a suggestion is nonsense, but you can bet some dishonest someone somewhere will make it. I suggest you recognise this for the the self-serving point-scorering it is and move on.
The triple bottom line is:
- Join in
- Stay on topic
- Comment in good faith
Posted in Uncategorized |
