Monday, January 19, 2009
Why Respond to Disrespectful, Non-Serious Comments?
When we receive posts obviously written by those who don't mean us well, why not just ignore them rather than respond? A blog isn’t an invitation for others to call the blog’s authors names or write flippant, disrespectful comments. Differences of opinion are fine, but it’s clear that somebody who posts a comment merely to call a poster names isn’t trying to advance an intelligent viewpoint. If you respond, you’re doing exactly what they want you to do. Please ignore them. I don't even bother reading comments written by people with trollish handles -- it saves me time and spares me annoyance.
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To me, troll comments are opportunities to lay the smackdown in semi-permanent electronic format.
ReplyDeleteThis is MY website. It expresses MY point of view. If someone wants to provide an opportunity for me to express it, then I welcome the opportunity.
If they get annoying, I just stop accepting their comments.
Just like the poor, the trolls will always be with us.
ReplyDeleteHow best to deal with them has always been the dilemma. While it might be fun to toy with them like a cat with a mouse, it seems to encourage them.
I tend to agree with our Jurrasic cohort that ignoring them, while not as fun for you, is less fun for them and they just go away after a while.
I share your concern, Bloggingdino, and am grateful for your taking the initiative here. Perhaps it is time to clear the air with respect to trolls.
ReplyDeleteFrom the various comments posted thus far, I read differing attitudes and viewpoints. Some of us tend to be aggressive towards trolls, some avoidant. Speaking for myself, I get no adrenaline rush engaging in combat, nor do I favor censorship. If trolls wish to make fools of them selves, my inclination is to let the public record stand. On occasion, I have quietly deleted troll comments without calling attention to them just to keep peace within our ranks.
Inasmuch as a group blog is greater than the sum of its parts, I hesitate to act as moderator or traffic cop. This blog belongs to all contributors, so maybe a consensus discussion is what we should have. What say you all?
Here are my questions for your consideration. About troll comments involving bigotry, shall we delete them? What circumstances justify censorship or deletion? Or should each contributor decide for herself/himself?
My resolution for the New Year is to set a higher standard for myself. Although I will continue to extol the benefits of reverse evolution (i.e. my transition from human to cephalopod), my future blog entries will be more informational or personal and less partisan. In any event, I support your initiative, Bloggingdino.
I don't mind those Rightwingnut Trolls at at. In fact I love to fuck with them. I was going to say fuck with their brains, but they are brainless
ReplyDeleteBring em on the more the better.
PS: Good Fucking Riddance to that fucken lying douchebag George Bush. And that asshole Dick Cheney.
You're too kind - especially to Cheney.
ReplyDeleteI guess my tendency is to confront. Sometimes it's irresistible and in particular when I'm called an idiot by someone who can't put together a sentence or someone who spells idiot wrong.
I've been stalked for a very long time by some of them though, even when I ignore them and it's hard to sit by the computer all day to delete each new excretion.
Lately I'm more sympathetic to the deletion thing.
Amen, Dino. AMEN!
ReplyDelete8pus, myself, I don't really care what ya'll do with the trolls. If you want to let them comment and others want to play with them a bit, I have no objection. Personally, I'll just ignore them. But I do think there should be a limit to what we endure here. When the raving and rhetoric gets too bigotted, too personal or too offensive, then I think we must be responsible for our blog and delete them as quickly as possible without further engagement.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it!
Rocky, the wording for a new comment policy was suggested by one of our contributors (whose ID I shall keep anonymous). Taking this lead, I posted it above the contributor list. Please have a look and let us know what you think.
ReplyDeleteAs I'm sure everyone who's read my stuff knows, I tend to engage those with whom I disagree, no matter how badly they behave... Also, when wrestling with whether to delete bigoted or filth-ridden commentary or leave it up as evidence of how far some folks can sink, I've chosen the latter a time or two, even though the policy I once wrote for my blog(s) gave me the right to drop any comment I wanted to, for any reason or none.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I'm good with the comment policy that's posted, which I take to mean that any of us can delete any trollicious comment that we find personally offensive. There's no reason that any one of us needs to put up with anything they find offensive and see no value in keeping... While I might be momentarily disappointed in losing my latest "toy," should one of you take out the mousie-mouse that I was battin' around with my paws and claws, I'm sure I'll find a new toy either here or elsewhere soon enough... (...and my favorite NeroCon blowhard is only a click or two away, should I ever get really restless...)
My vote is: Sounds cool to me...
To all -- I respect the impulse to let some trolls have it good, but on the whole I think we're better off in this SWASH space keeping the record sanitized of their nonsense.
ReplyDeleteProbably most readers silently following our posts will appreciate the absence of exchanges between learned bloggers and idiots who are incapable of any argument more sophisticated than shrieking "damn liberal commie pinko!" Nothing bespeaks utter contempt better than silence, and simply removing the "trollicious" (nice word, that) comments promptly also strips the culprits of their only solace, which is to see their handiwork become part of a more or less permanent record of commentary.
So, now that I've actually READ the new comment policy (I know, I should check the sidebars more!), I think is both fair and reasonable. Good job!
ReplyDeleteCensorship is always a delicate issue and I really hate to see it. I believe that if we engage in thoughtful and respectful dialogue, most responses will be similar. Conservative yet polite responses can potentially illuminate the intersection of multiple value/political beliefs. I would hope this blog encourages that.
ReplyDeleteThose short ascerbic obscenities, however, add nothing to open dialogue and understanding. I see no problem with any of us deleting them.
To maleeper -- exactly as you say. Nothing's wrong with disagreements, so long as they're sincere and civil. Probably what people who call themselves "conservative" most need to do is dig down and bethink themselves what that term really ought to mean -- their leaders have led them and all of us astray with a brand of radical "statism" that has made many Americans afraid of their own government and a brand of lawlessness that has made the world tremble. None of that is in any way conservative. I for one would welcome comments by thoughtful readers about what the term ought to mean.
ReplyDeleteTwo reasons I dropped my old site were boredom with the character I created and the army of idiots that never posted an opinion. Just liked calling me a "fag" or a "mother fuc#er."
ReplyDeleteI can't thank the bloggers of this community enough for showing me there is a world where we can read ten comments without seven of them being nothing but useless profanity. Please don't delete me but this even includes the Nutty Professor Douglas.
Truth 101, with 8 contributers riding shotgun on trollishness, law and order has come to the Zone.
ReplyDeleteThe Zone takes care of it's own.
ReplyDeleteLOL,Truth, although I'm not sure I agree with your assessment that the Nutty Ptofessor isn't full of useless blather. While my cohorts are making me feel like I joined the James Gang, I feel certain none of us will ever delete you - unless you turn into a profanity laden troll! :)
ReplyDelete