On Comments

REVISED 10-4-09.

I don't recall it ever happening before, but apparently a reader had a strong negative reaction to my blog this evening and left comments to that effect on a couple of posts (the ones immediately following this one, if you're curious). Hey, to each his own and all that; nobody is universally loved, after all. I mean, Gandhi came pretty close -- and he got assassinated.

But the comments left give me cause to revisit my comments policy, which I now realize I haven't revised since I switched from the YACCS system to the Blogger one.

1. This is a blog, not a message board. I've never had a flamewar erupt in a comment thread here, but even though it's never happened (probably because my comment threads almost never reach more than seven or eight comments in their entirety), that doesn't mean I'll allow it to happen. So, no attacking other readers in comments here. None.

2. If you want to attack me and tell me that I'm fat and I'm stupid and only an idiot would wear overalls in public much less post photos of same on the Web, fine, but such comments will require a name and an e-mail address. Anonymous attack comments will be deleted as soon as I learn of their existence.

2a. I find attacks on my girth fairly pathetic. First of all, the photos don't convey accurately what my body shape really is (I recently had someone tell me that they thought, by my photos, that I was well over six feet tall, when I'm only five-ten). Second, I'm overweight but fairly strong and in good health. Third, the last time I can remember being made fun of for my weight was when I was in seventh grade, and that was twenty-two years ago. So, while I'm mildly intrigued by the possibility that I'm either being made fun of by an actual seventh grader or by an adult who's failed to mature at all since they were in seventh grade, I'm not that intrigued by those possibilities. Again, I shall click the "delete" button and move right on.

3. Every comment left here is also forwarded to my G-mail address, so don't think that leaving a nasty comment on a post that's buried deep in my archives will escape my notice.

4. As of this writing, Blogger's commenting system does not seem to currently allow for tracking and banning of ISPs, so all I can do to people whose comments are deemed by me to be unwelcome is delete the comments. But rest assured, if Blogger changes the comment system to allow for wholesale ISP banning, I'll use that option if I see fit.

5. If I delete a comment of yours, further attempts to shame me into letting comments stand by appealing to free speech will fail utterly and result in likewise deletion. If you feel that strongly about something I say, then get your own blog and write a post about it. That you have a right to speak does not imply that you have a right to an audience, nor does it imply a right to use any forum that exists as you see fit.

6. Please restrict comments to the topic of the post at hand. If there's something you really want to call to my attention, my e-mail addresses are posted in the sidebar. Off-topic comments stand a good chance of being deleted.

7. If you want me to take your comment seriously, then consider that tone matters. Any insulting or condescending tone taken with me, or any implication that something I've said is not to be taken seriously, will not help conversation along.

8. Occasionally I will close comments -- possibly on threads where dialog is becoming more heated than I care to entertain, or on other posts where I am simply not interested in debating the point of the post in the first place. If I close comments, that does NOT mean that one is free to respond to that post in comments on another thread. Any comments in this vein will be deleted as soon as I learn of their existence.

Basically, what it all boils down to is simply this: I will be the one to set the rules on my own blog, and if my rules aren't to someone's liking, then their main -- and only -- recourse is the "back" button on their browser.