I've recently noticed a rather alarming trend in the blogosphere -- Comment Moderation. It used to be something you'd run across now and again -- usually on conservative blogs in which the "moderator" preferred to showcase uniform comments (i.e., comments that agreed with the stated point of view).
Lately, however, scads of people from all sorts of political and philosophical bents seem to be employing this tool. What are you all so afraid of?
How can we ever expect people to better understand each other if we each try to control all sides of our conversations? In order to create genuine dialogue, it takes two to tango. While it's certainly true that another person might take issue with something you write, what's the big deal?
I know some people post a little comment about wanting to keep malicious comments off of their blogs. The problem here is that what's malicious to one person may not be malicious to the next. Why not let your readers judge for themselves if something is written maliciously?
If somebody wants to slander your name, leave it on your blog. If somebody chooses to threaten you, let all the world see it. If nothing else, their words might be used against them in a court of law.
Having trouble with spam comments or robo messages? If so, use the random word tool.
It simply blows my mind that we have millions of people in the world setting up blogs and posting their innermost thoughts for all to see. It's pure freedom to be able to write whatever you feel like. Yet, despite this one form of freedom, many of the same people want to deny others the right to express themselves freely in response.
Lately, however, scads of people from all sorts of political and philosophical bents seem to be employing this tool. What are you all so afraid of?
How can we ever expect people to better understand each other if we each try to control all sides of our conversations? In order to create genuine dialogue, it takes two to tango. While it's certainly true that another person might take issue with something you write, what's the big deal?
I know some people post a little comment about wanting to keep malicious comments off of their blogs. The problem here is that what's malicious to one person may not be malicious to the next. Why not let your readers judge for themselves if something is written maliciously?
If somebody wants to slander your name, leave it on your blog. If somebody chooses to threaten you, let all the world see it. If nothing else, their words might be used against them in a court of law.
Having trouble with spam comments or robo messages? If so, use the random word tool.
It simply blows my mind that we have millions of people in the world setting up blogs and posting their innermost thoughts for all to see. It's pure freedom to be able to write whatever you feel like. Yet, despite this one form of freedom, many of the same people want to deny others the right to express themselves freely in response.
We do comment moderation at Preemptive Karma because of comment spam. For awhile there, we were getting deluged with hundreds every day. We tried turning it off for a day or two and it came back immediately.
ReplyDeleteComment moderation on PK can be avoided by signing up with TypeKey, however.
I spend a lot of time reading blogs that have an overt feminist bent, and you would not believe the trolls that show up. What's worst is that they drag out the same old disproven bullshit all the time. You get into a few flamewars, but after a while, it gets very old and in the way of more productive discussion. When someone wants to make a post on their blog about rape, I don't want to slog through the same old made-up statistics about how women overwhelmingly falsely accuse men of rape or whatever.
ReplyDeleteCarla,
ReplyDeleteWhoa! That's a lot of spam. Doesn't your service provide you with the ability to use word verification (blogspot does)? As soon as I started getting a bit of spam, I opted for this tool and it went away. Thanks for the tip re TypeKey, though.
Sara,
I understand your point of view and I recognize you do make a valid point. That said, I've slowly learned 2 important lessons about blogging (and life in general). First, it's okay to ignore comments or statements that I believe are disingenuous. Second, I don't have to have the last word. Just because someone writes something, I don't have to counter it if I feel I made the points I wanted made initially.
Often, when someone posts a comment, I don't reply if a) I feel it's off point or b) If I have nothing new to add. When others choose to dish out the kind of crap you're referring to, it's probably best to let it go. All they're trying to do is bait you and others. The best way to frustrate them is to refuse to take the bait.
I do think there's something to be said for having an arena for conversation that's free from abusive and defamatory speech, though. Feeding the trolls only allows them to thrive, but if you ban them, it's not even tempting to feed them. Moderation can be judiciously used with a good moderation policy.
ReplyDeleteNot that I have too much experience with managing comments...
I don't use comment moderation but I can understand why some people choose to use it. Trolls can actually drive good visitors away. A lot of people will quit visiting a site where the comments are full of hateful remarks. Their problem? Maybe, but if you care about the few people who might be "moved to contemplate deeply your thoughts and analyses", as you said in another post, you'll want to make you blog a welcoming site for them.
ReplyDeleteLynn,
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of hateful remarks, it's a two-way street. Usually, on those sites that feature them, the vitriol comes not only from visitors by the blogger owner as well.
In my opinion, discourse shouldn't be pretty. We each have a different take on the world and different ways of expressing ourselves. The only way discourse can be made pretty is through censorship. And all censorship does is make things look pretty in an artificial way.
That's why anyone can write almost anything in the comments section for this blog. I may not like it. I may find it insulting. I may detest the sentiments expressed. But I want this to be a real experience, not an artificial one.
If, by doing this, some people may take advantage of it and start leaving ugly comments, I would hope that my regular readers would treat such comments as I try to do -- ignore them. There can be no fight, if we don't swing back.
Rae Lynn,
ReplyDeleteNice to know you're back (and frosted)! Thanks so much for this heads up. It's something I never would have thought of on my own. It's also a consideration I need to think about.
Yep, it's totally a spam issue for us as well. I can't stand the moderation process, because no matter how we set up WordPress, more comments go to moderation than I'd like to deal with, and some spam still gets through. I don't mean to dis WordPress, I like it a lot in almost every other respect.
ReplyDeleteWhat does Taoism say about spammers? I need some guidance before I seek one out and kill to set an example. ;-)
Howard,
ReplyDeleteI don't remember Lao Tzu or Chuang Tzu ever mentioning spammers in their writings, though I'm sure the latter would have had he encountered any. From the various points brought up by many of you, I know have a far better understanding of the problem than I did previously. I can see there are no easy answers.
Trey, I've helped moderate web message boards before...
ReplyDeleteI am not afraid to tell someone off and kill their thread, but I opt to be very very loose with my leash on the discussion (even with the people who bring up old gripes and want to rehash them by the numbers).