A Note on Commenting

by Latoya Peterson

Dear readers, I have been on an informal banning hiatus. At this time, I am trying to come up with a Writer’s Guide for the site and a Guide to Good Conversation.

However, incidents pop up all the time. And the time to write is short.

Now, Carmen and I have been going around and around about what to do about the comments section. We’re growing in readership, and that’s good. But we are also not exactly pleased with some of the conversations as of late. Public banning tends to make people jittery, but what you all don’t see are all the conversations that take place offline.

There conversations are generally between Carmen and myself, but also occassionally include Wendi, Fatemeh, Nadra, and Thea. And we plot strategy. What should we do about this comment? Is this person a raging misogynist or a person advocating a different point of view? Is this person just being bigoted toward certain groups? Can we reach them? Or are they determined to force their viewpoint on everyone else? Is this person a troll, or just looking for understanding?

There things are hard to discern from behind screens. We can only (literally) take you at your word and this isn’t an exact science. But, when the comments become a place neither Carmen or I want to engage in or visit, something has gone horribly wrong.

We’ve batted solutions back and forth. Carmen thought about imposing Kai’s informal “No Assholes Rule” which is basically “if you consistently annoy us and disrupt the spirit of this

blog, you’re gone at our discretion.”

I was leaning toward Ragnell’s policy:

Notice to Commenters:

My comment section is not your blog. You want to take a tangent, be abusive, or write a book on how you agree/disagree with me?

Get your own blog. They’re free.

But we are quite fond of writing books around here, and I like to read some of them, so that was out.

I was going to say something to the effect of “I support free speech – get your own fucking blog” but that’s a bit too simplistic and hostile.

But, luckily for me, on June 2nd, Kate Harding came to the rescue.

In a post titled “Meta:Why I’m Such a Bitch,” Kate captures our feelings exactly.

Kate writes (All emphasis mine):

You know, comments are simultaneously the best and the worst thing about blogging. The immediate feedback is gratifying, often educational, and (at least around here) usually fun. I love getting to “know” the regular readers of the blog who participate (though I don’t forget about you lurkers, either), and I’ve even developed a few real-life friendships out of comments and the Fatosphere community. Hell, when Sweet Machine and Fillyjonk started writing here, I’d never met either of them in person — I just assumed from their comments here, at Fatshionista, and at other blogs that I’d like them if I did, and I’d be proud to have them contributing to a blog with my name up top. Both hunches turned out to be very true.

But there’s a reason for the bitchy comments policy I wrote before they ever got here: Unmoderated or even lightly moderated comments can turn sour very fucking quickly. [...]

it’s the same at most online versions of major newspapers and many blogs that don’t make comment moderation a top priority — I don’t even bother looking at the comments, because I know they’ll be full of argumentative assholes spoiling for a fight, better known as trolls. When those comments aren’t dispatched swiftly, they take over a thread like weeds.

And that sucks, because there are always some good comments in among the bullshit, but when a thread is overgrown with jerks, it’s not even worth trying to find those comments. Skimming through the troll comments to get to the good ones raises my blood pressure and makes me sputtery, so I just don’t do it. And that’s the number one reason why anyone who pisses me off here gets shown the door right quick (see rules 5 and 7). [...]

The problem with this policy, insofar as there is one (and I don’t actually think there is), is twofold. 1) The definition of “troll” is open to interpretation. 2) People who get on my tits aren’t always trolls, per se, and I don’t necessarily care about the distinction anyway. If somebody’s comments are consistently giving me a stabbing pain behind the right eye, I feel no obligation to be patient with that person, regardless of whether he or she falls under the rubric of “troll” in most people’s estimation.

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