Comments on The Burd Report: Get back on topic folks

I too will do my best to keep on topic and not get...

2009-10-16T15:22:27.248-04:00

I too will do my best to keep on topic and not get personal with my comments.

Ben, I can't imagine how difficult it is to manage a blog site such as this. I am just glad that you do it and hope that you will keep doing it.

Ben, The wall you crashed into is a wall that h...

2009-10-15T10:35:08.441-04:00

Ben,

The wall you crashed into is a wall that has jumped up to collide with many others who have bulletin boards, chat rooms, blogs, etc.

The problem boils down to this:

There is the discussion on the topic, whatevr the topic of the day happens to be. That topic or those topics we'll call the sheep and let's call you the shepherd.

Then there is a completely separate discussion that is a wolf in sheep's clothing. This would be the discussion of the discussion. This always involves questions like: Should this person be allowed into the discussion? Should this person we allowed into the discussion be banned from continued participation in it? Should this discussion be taking place at all? Wouldn't another discussion be better? Is the way that person chose to discuss the topic an acceptable way to discuss? Aren't there some written or unwritten guidelines about how a person should act when participating here? Is anyone in charge? Are there limits to the discussion? Is the person in charge willing to make tough decision when they need to be made? Wasn't that comment too personal? Hey, why are ad-hominem attacks allowed here? Etc.

All of these types of questions always seem to lead way off down tangents, to "hi-jack" the discussion by having a discussion about the discussion instead of about the actual topic.

Most blogs, chat rooms, bulletin boards, etc fail to resolve this successfully and so their readership / participants just dwindle away and start frequenting other places.

The ones I have seen take care of the problem accept that the person approving / disapproving comments exercises consistent guidelines, that are openly available and made known to all AND that these guidelines always edit out "discussion of the discussion" but allow discussion of the topic.

The most popular solution combines that approach with a separate but always open thread where the topic is "discussion of the discussion." All of that exchange can take place there and anyone who dislikes it can simply avoid ever opening that thread. My guess is you will find that would be most people.

Here is a link to some information you might find valuable about others finding they have to deal with the same problem:

http://www.fitz-claridge.com/node/18/

I read the BR for Ben's unique " take &qu...

2009-10-15T08:14:25.068-04:00

I read the BR for Ben's unique " take " on things, local and otherwise. The comments section adds another layer or two to a provocative mix. This is all good. It's Ben's world here, so he gets to push the delete button , - now that's power. Great site, Wally and all.

I will happily join in making that pledge. Just...

2009-10-14T15:31:36.720-04:00

I will happily join in making that pledge.

Just for the sake of clarity: I assume that the insult that cause the "close off" never appeared. That is, it is not one I was ever able to read. So, like Deb it is self-monitoring rather than certain knowledge about what Ben saw as "going too far" Like Deb, I see some of what Ben allows as "going too far" but I am not quibbling because it is his blog, not mine.

Well, what a Thanksgiving, lots of tolerance on di...

2009-10-14T15:25:07.254-04:00

Well, what a Thanksgiving, lots of tolerance on display. For my part, I can see very clearly that there is virtual unanimous hostility towards me. I get the hint.

Some times it is difficult to distinguish between ...

2009-10-14T15:08:15.510-04:00

Some times it is difficult to distinguish between insult, sarcasm or critizism. Some wordsmiths are able to do all three with a single phrase. Whether it is critizism (good) sarcasm (better) or insult (not always so good) content is up to the the owner of the blog.
If the blog is interesting people will read if not, they will not! I read the BR more for the news than the comments. And some comments I don't read at all.

Now that William Hayes and myself have both seen o...

2009-10-14T13:31:19.082-04:00

Now that William Hayes and myself have both seen our items hijacked by bickering and various personal insults, then closed off by the BR, how do we prevent this from happening in the future?

Personally I don't care whether a comment is anonymous or not, but I agree personal insults should not be tolerated. I would suggest any comment that stoops to insults should be blocked, signed or not.

I don't think just because the insulter signs their name that makes it ok. It isn't, and it isn't what this blog was intended to be, I'm sure.

As for me, I will be monitoring my posts to ensure I am not guilty of either rudeness or taking the discussion off topic. At least I will try not to allow myself to be provoked into responding inappropriately.

Will anyone join me in making that pledge?

I agree that you should have this executive power....

2009-10-14T13:11:11.536-04:00

I agree that you should have this executive power. I also agree with you exercising it in a case like this.

I feel a little torn because Deb's post and discussion on that topic was worthwhile. As you say, the discussion off the topic was less so.