The Atlantic - Latest Comments in Yet another note on comments

Re: Yet another note on comments

the puzzled one — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:49:11 -0000

This comment has been sent by The Puzzled One using his mailinator disposable e-mail address, which is technically not fake. Test test.

Re: Yet another note on comments

Brautigan — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:28:53 -0000

Until the very last vestiges of the current Stasi-like apparatus are swept out of Washington, I will continue to use a fake email and Pseudonym when posting on political sites.

Re: Yet another note on comments

scott — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:00:25 -0000

I think ignoring the trolls is best advice. I do respect people who disagree but with logic not name calling. As one commenter noted though reading an echo chamber is boring - one of reasons I've tired of Kos despite being mostly sympathetic. I'd rather risk the trolls.

TNC has some great views which really make me think and Atlaantic is privileged to have him on board.

Re: Yet another note on comments

scott — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:59:36 -0000

TNC has some great views which really make me think and Atlaantic is privileged to have him on board.

Re: Yet another note on comments

scott — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:59:35 -0000

TNC has some great views which really make me think and Atlaantic is privileged to have him on board.

Re: Yet another note on comments

Michael O'Neill — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:31:16 -0000

I'm not so sure if it is the Atlantic-style of blogging where quantity gets preference over quality that has also changed the nature of the comments.

When there were fewer posts, that seemed to me more thoughtful and prepared, there was a reflection of that in the comments - fewer and more thoughtful.

Since the move, the blogging and the commenting appear to both be ever-increasingly more frequent and more shallow. I hope the trend reverses.

Re: Yet another note on comments

P6 — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:07:30 -0000

I have a deeply evil suggestion you might be able to get your support techies to implement. On my site I can move comments between threads. If I get a real stupid one, I move it to an open thread. No censorship, yet no distractions.

Mind you, I DO censor...I have a devowelling filter for the real idiots. Moving them out of the trolled thread into, say, a daily thread name "Village Idiot" is more housekeeping than censorship, and between them it keeps discussion pretty rational.

Re: Yet another note on comments

TW Andrews — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:33:18 -0000

Frankly, I don't think you should articulate a specific policy. People here are adults and most likely know when they're not acting like it. Setting down specific rules just encourages people to try and get around their spirit while adhering to their letter.

Put the onus on the commenters to police our own behavior. I think your "if you were at a party I was hosting a behaving like that, I'd ask you to leave" provides sufficient guidance.

Re: Yet another note on comments

Sybil — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:32:26 -0000

"for if Barack Obama Ivy League grad, brilliant orator, and most importantly unencumbered by racial paranoia is a black man--and seemingly quite comfortable with it--who am I? What is "whiteness" in that context?"

I for one would like to see comments about the original post not the "Nanny" comment....

I think many of us would be happy to be seen as ourselves and have race be more like hair color or presence of dimples etc. Do you really think people care about their "whiteness"? Perhaps we take it for granted, being in the majority, but I don't think I would miss it. I think it is the kind of barrier that this blog and Obama's candidacy is dissolving--I hope!

Re: Yet another note on comments

Warren Terra — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:19:21 -0000

I used a fake email for years despite consistently using the same pseudonym and trying to adhere to some reasonable standards of decorum, because at least in the early days some blogs posted the commenters' email addresses, and I didn't need that.

I since wised up and got an extra gmail account that I very rarely check, and I have never noticed email resulting from blog comments there. But you might want to change the form so that it clearly states that email addresses will not be published.

Re: Yet another note on comments

Deborah — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:09:12 -0000

Echoing Ralph, if people find the site moderation childish and petty they can go elsewhere. If it's truly petty, the comments section will degenerate to a bunch of people agreeing with each other about how right they are, but if it's petty in the "to disagree with my comments is to be petty" sense, then pruning out the more aggressive and annoying weeds will help encourage the nasturtiums of commenting to put down roots. (A gardening metaphor; I'm sure there's an apt sports metaphor too.)

Pity there's no way to have Matt pack up his trolls and take them away, perhaps accidentally dropping them in Goldfarb's blog.

Re: Yet another note on comments

Fred — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:38:02 -0000

Seems like a reasonable approach to comments, Ta-Nehesi. The one thing I'd be careful about is that you don't discourage dissenting opinions. When comment threads become echo chambers, they are less interesting.

Maintaining standards of civility is important too. Some think that, because they disagree with another commenter's views, they have license to call that commenter whatever names they chose.

Re: Yet another note on comments

Raphael — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:16:20 -0000

"One last thing--I'm not ignoring the request for a specific comment policy. The truth is, I just don't have one yet. I'm learning on the job here--at my old site it was basically just me and a few internet friends. This is, as I've said before, a house party. I'm not exactly sure what, specifically, should be allowed and what shouldn't. I know it when I see it, but not really before. As the weeks go on, I'll get a better handle and then post some guidelines."

Perhaps you should be careful with that. Some people have convincingly argued that posting clear, specific rules about what is or isn't allowed in a comments section or forum or whatever is an invitation to trolls to game the system and try to be as obnoxious and disruptive as possible without technically breaking the rules.

Perhaps it's better if you say up front that you have guidelines but reserve the right to follow your own judgment and common sense rather than these guidelines in individual cases.

(Yes, that system can theorethically lead to pretty childish and petty decisions, but you don't seem childish or petty.)

Re: Yet another note on comments

Persia — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:35:54 -0000

If you get a significant number of migrants from Matt's blog, there's one or two people in particular who tend to derail discussions. Most everyone is fairly well-behaved, even when I want to punch them through the Internet.

Re: Yet another note on comments

Sorn — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:28:14 -0000

Apologies if I have been less than civil to anyone.

Will try to do better in the future.

Cheers

Re: Yet another note on comments

crack — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:21:47 -0000

For the record this email address is a real email address. I use it as my commenting email. I've dialogued with the aforementioned Barry Ritholtz with it when it got marked as spam on his site.

Also, I think you'd enjoy Barry's site.

Re: Yet another note on comments

carsick — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:01:20 -0000

Sorry about reposting sometimes. Apparently, when my browser reloads a page it also reposts my last comment. Doesn't seem to happen at other sites but I've noticed it here. From now on I'll post then browse away and then come back.

Re: Yet another note on comments

James — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:29:15 -0000

Deleted. Please don't start.

Re: Yet another note on comments

Dave — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:25:07 -0000

If your really going to replace Yglesias, you need a heck of a lot more speling errors.

(And for the irony impaired, those are intentional.)

Re: Yet another note on comments

marc h. — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:19:20 -0000

Barry Ritholtz has some good thoughts on comments policies over at his economics/markets blog The Big Picture: http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2008/05/comments-trolls.html