Comments

As the traffic has gone up a bit lately and we've got a few new people commenting, I would like to revisit my comments policy. I laid it all out on the old blogspot home, but failed to bring it along with me when I moved. My bad.

Since the archives are goofed up on the old blog, and there are numerous entries about this, I'm going to cut and paste, ok? That work for everyone? Ok, good. Here we go.

First:

Anyway, let me just outline the Comments Policy quickly so you can get back to surfing pr0n.

1. Abusive comments will be deleted---just as soon as I figure out how to do that. What qualifies as abusive? Well, if you tell another commenter (or me) that they should go and do certain things with a donkey, your post will be deleted. It's really quite simple. See #2 for guidelines on how not to have your comments deleted.

2. My mother reads my blog and the woman has no shortage of opinions, so you might be hearing from her. Like mother, like daughter. However, since my mom is reading this thing, and knowing that she believes in the "it's takes a village" concept, know that she will smack you down if you get out of line. And I'll let her. She's my mother---she owns me. I have no choice in this regard. So, it would seem that the best rule of thumb for commenting here would be---ahem---if you wouldn't want your mother reading what you wrote, don't post it for my mom to read.

And second:

While we're on the subject of comments, it seems Blogger wants you to log in if you leave one. Which we all know is so conducive to cooperation. (I wouldn't log in to leave a comment---are you kidding? Way too much work.) But it does give you the handy-dandy option of posting anonymously! (Note to the Blogger People: WOW! Way to invite the trolls in, kids!) If you choose the option to post anonymously to save yourself the time and hassle of logging in, that's fine with me...AS LONG AS YOU LEAVE A HANDLE IN THE TEXT SECTION. That's all I ask. I'm not asking for an email address or a weblink. Just leave a name to go with the opinion. That's not a whole hell of a lot in the scheme of things, so please do it.

So, as you might be able to deduce, I first had Haloscan comments, then switched over to Blogger's variant. But now I have the primo commenting system: Movable Type's commenting system rocks. It's non-intrusive and while I realize our benevolent dictator has had some issues in recent days with DOS attacks on trackbacks and comments, it's still the best thing around. It's the most user-friendly system out there. While these posts don't cover everything, they should give you a clear understanding of what I do and do not like when it comes to what gets posted on my space. No to anonymity (unless I say it's ok on certain posts.) and respect for the sensibilities of others. That's not too much to ask, really.

Sooooo, I can understand about spoofing your email address to prevent spam because nasty bots do spider this site occasionally. No issues with that. Yet, I don't really see why anyone would have issues coming up with some sort of unique, recognizable handle to use when they post a comment. For the edification of someone who posted a comment this morning: a pronoun is not a handle. While I love the fact that people come here and want to discuss things and would never do anything to prevent that, I would simply ask that if you're going to comment, leave a handle by which I---and my readers---will be able to identify you. That's it. Again, I don't think that's too much to ask.

Any ?'s--email me and I'll try and explain it. I'm just trying to be fair. I don't want to delete comments, but I have a serious thing about anonymous comments. Accountability in words is a big thing for me. If you're afraid to post your name---or even a handle you've come up with that, you believe, serves the purpose of anonymity---the general rule of thumb is that you shouldn't be posting. While I like to respect privacy, your anonymity is not fair to my readers or to me, and in the future, now that the policy is laid out, I WILL start hitting the delete button. Even if they're worthwhile, respectful comments, they will go. I've been reading other people's blogs long enough to know this is where the road to Troll Town starts, and quite frankly, I just don't want to go there. I haven't had to delete anyone's comments so far, and I want it to stay that way.

I thank you all in advance for your consideration.

Posted by Kathy at February 10, 2005 01:29 PM