Friends, most of you know that the reason I instituted moderation of all comments on this blog was because spammers were becoming a bigger and bigger problem. I couldn't rely on Blogger to catch them all, so I have to do it myself. I'd rather not - it takes effort to do so, and time I'd rather devote to other things - but it was the only way I could stay on top of the problem. (I've moderated 28 spam comments in the last five days alone.)
However, it looks like it was a worthwhile policy even without the spam problem, thanks to the increasing polarization of our society and the weirdness that's being reinforced by online echo chambers. Too many commenters appear to be listening only to their own thoughts and those of people who see the world as they do, whether or not that perspective has anything to do with reality. Trouble is, they insist on exporting those thoughts and that weirdness to everybody else, including forums such as the Comment sections on this blog. This morning, when I woke up and sat down at the computer to moderate overnight comments, I had to discard several proclaiming that all the problems of the world are caused by the Jews, or the whites, or the blacks, or Democrats, or Communists, or women who refuse to be "traditional wives", or . . . you get the idea.
Folks, I try to allow most people to comment freely on what they think. They, as we, have the right to speak their minds. However, they do not have the right to use my blog as a propaganda outlet to beat me (and the rest of us) over the head with their particular schtick. Therefore, I deleted all such comments, and I'll continue to do so. The same applies to disjointed comments that make no logical sense, or have nothing to do with the topic under discussion. Why inflict them on my readers? We have better things to do with our time.
(Some comments don't make it to my inbox at all. Every now and again I get complaints from people who allege that I've deleted their comment, only for me to check the files and find it didn't arrive at all. Blogger does that sometimes - it's been a known problem for years. I have no idea how to fix it.)
Rational, reasonable comments and discussion from people who've clearly thought about the subject under discussion are more than welcome, even if their viewpoint or perspective is the opposite of my own. I can be wrong too, you know! However, I won't allow this blog to become a forum for extremism in any form, or an echo chamber for way-out-there muck and murk that might stick to our metaphorical walls. We don't need that here - and as the online janitor, I flush it away whenever I come across it.
That may offend some readers, particularly those with a particular ideological axe to grind: but that's the way it is here. If you want to do things differently, please start your own blog and have at it.
Peter
We really need to get you on your own hosted website with a proper spam filter and blacklists for ip's that you control. It will save you so much time, and you can spend that on writing!
ReplyDeleteHi Peter,
ReplyDeleteI stop here every day, sometimes 2 or 3 times for updates. (Been living vicariously with your house repairs). I love your work and really appreciate the effort you put into your site. Sorry about the headaches.
Jen
Well said Good Sir!
ReplyDeleteHi Peter, I appreciate and applaud your comments.
ReplyDeleteThey are those of a reasonable man.
Your most telling point, for me, was "I can be wrong too".
We can all be wrong, definitely including me.
So it seems reasonable to me, to question ones own beliefs every so often can't hurt.
I am prepared to listen to reasoned argument but not propaganda or diatribes.
Life is too short to listen to that.
Thanks for your blog.
Charles
"...all the problems of the world are caused by the Jews, or the whites, or the blacks, or Democrats, or Communists, or women..."
ReplyDeleteYeah, that about covers it.
Aesop's Five Rules Of Blogging
ReplyDelete1) If you're getting flak, it means you're over the target.
2) Into every blog, a few trolls must fall.
3) Delete is your friend.
4) A blog neither picks anyone's pocket nor breaks anyone's leg, and if mere thoughts are so troubling to some people, it's obvious they never had any of their own.
5) Remember that the best part of the audience comes for the original content, not the peanut gallery commentary on it. (To this day, no one remembers what any reviewers anywhere said about Hamlet, A Christmas Carol, or The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.)
Carry on as you see fit, with our continued best wishes.
It appears that comment sections are a cross-section of a certain population. Somewhat like slicing a dodgey fruitcake.
ReplyDeleteBRM, always enjoy stopping by and reading your thoughts. Thanks for all you do.
ReplyDeleteAs a reminder to those who do not blog, most of us make precisely zero doing this. We write because, at some level, we have to.
I do find it remarkably humorous (in a dark sort of way) that people who could not be bothered to start a blog of their own find it perfect justifiable to have no self control on the blogs of others, and then seem offended when their comments are deleted.
Hey, it's YOUR blog, and not all comments are created equal. Moderate as you see fit. The people you speak of have zero Freedom of Speech when it comes to a blog run by someone with lofty intentions. A blog is not a "public square" or forum, it's for folks you deem fit to invite into your sphere.
ReplyDeleteWould a Christian blog have to allow Satanic messages? Or a classical music blog have to publish someone's rubbish lyrics to a rap "song"?
You do you, friend, I enjoy this blog just as it is. Keep the riff-raff out.
Drat, I'm doomed...."Therefore, I deleted all such comments, and I'll continue to do so. The same applies to disjointed comments that make no logical sense, or have nothing to do with the topic under discussion."
ReplyDeleteJust to add to Aesop's Rules:
ReplyDelete6. Nobody ever leaves an IT'S-ALL-THE-JOOOOS!!1! comment to a Dad Joke.
;-)
I've struck a number of quasi-interesting blogs from my reading list because the authors will not discourage those of extremely low-intelligence, the anti-whatevers, the bible-thumpers, the ad hominers; IOW, those unfortunates who are able to see the world only through the distorted spectacles sitting on their noses.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your time and effort to keep the comments reasonable and
on-target.
Your house, your rules, Peter. I rarely comment, but I do stop by every day. Thanks for your thoughtful/funny/informative blog. Your work is appreciated.
ReplyDeleteThe drawback to moderated comments is the loss of the feedback/correction loop. Not getting told what is wrong with a comment is very frustrating. This situation seems to have gone into overdrive with the Covid appearance, with people getting cranky in a general fashion. Couple that with the sudden onset of public banning of info by the various powers attempting to control everything and some of us end up floundering in a sea of misinformation mixed with people trying to be careful of getting crosswise with those who own/control the blogging media.
ReplyDeleteIn a few cases, after re-writing a comment a couple times, and still not meeting some sort of rule that a blogger is using, I have reluctantly removed their bookmark to avoid forgetting they don't really want comments from some of their readers. Prior to that, I had mostly felt that was necessary for a very few bloggers who had really gone overboard with the "orange man bad" routine. I didn't do that sort of thing for the previous office tenant, and it just made them seem to be a sudden loonytune.
Thank you, Sir Your effort is appreciated.
ReplyDeleteHey Peter,
ReplyDeleteI rarely comment, but i do stop by everyday and read on what is going on because you have a lot of good stuff, like Jim does, This is "Your home " and we are guest and you don't need to tolerate "poo" coming into your house so you keep doing what you do, we regulars will keep hanging around.
I applaud your decision about spam and the echoers. Wile I'm a casual visitor and infrequent commenter, I enjoy my time here. I also enjoy not reading about employment from home or other such nonsense!
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work, sir!
its hard
ReplyDeleteI have maintained loosely a website with a forum for a specific companies sailboat that went out of production in 1984. I owned one for a few years. Spam was my worst enemy. It didn't matter what filters or blocklists I used.
I finally solved it at the expense of new users. The site is always available to view no matter what but to comment on the forum or on the website articles you have to be a registered user and to register you had to go through two filtering packages and fill out a form asking to be added. I specified that you had to write a reason you wanted to be a member and like sailing or wanted to learn sailing or about the boats in such a what that it made me believe you were a real person or I wouldn't approve the membership. It slowed the site down a lot but did cure the spam.
the registration filters got it down to only one or two spam applications a week, however the annoyance of having to got through that bad of a registration process turned a lot of people off from even bothering. However it was that or the site becoming unusable due to the volume of spam. I had been spending 4 or 5 hours a week just deleting users and comments prior.