Half the comments submitted lately appear to be twerps swinging by and leaving a comment on the Open Suggestions or Ask A Question thread that have already been addressed in the FAQs. No, I will not publish a question that’s already been asked and answered on those threads, you lazyboned please-do-my-homework-for-me types.
However, I’ve also had several really good comments submitted that are just way too long. Well over 500 words, addressing multiple ramifications of the topic under discussion and introducing multiple new aspects for consideration. How can such a comment be substantively addressed without the responding comment being at least 800 or 1000 words long, and how long will the next response be? You can’t have a discussion thread where people just deliver long lectures at each other - that’s not a conversation, that’s a correspondence, and a blog comments thread is not the place for it.
Generally, I won’t publish comments that are longer than 300 words. Make a few key points, then wait for a response before developing your argument further. Don’t try and get it all done in one comment. If you really must write the perfect essay addressing every point that you can think of, post it on your own blog, then post a summary here with a link back to your blog-post.
Anyway, I’ve been deleting so many comments lately that I decided that the blog needed a new information page - Why Didn’t You Publish My Comment?, which is included in the links in the right-hand sidebar immediately below the Comments Policy link. It’s moderately blunt in tone, because it’s obvious to me that many of the deleted comments are from people who simply have not bothered to read the Comments Policy, which I find frustrating, as the post-title indicates. Is the tone too blunt, dear regulars?
Filed under: FF101-admin, announcements | Tagged: comments moderation
Looks reasonable to me, tigtog.
Man, that sucks. Sorry to hear it.
Thanks, L.
Noir, on one level it’s trivial - hostile twerps on the internet not researching the site on which they’re leaving a disingenuous comment , or provocatively leaving a rape joke on a feminist blog - goodness me, who knew such things could happen, eh?
On the other, it’s a clear answer to the assumption that dissenting views are banned here outright. They’re not, but if the dissenter can’t be bothered to show sufficient respect for the others here to find the appropriate thread for their dissenting comment, then it’s obvious that they won’t be civil and substantive in any actual discussion. (Hm, maybe that bit needs to go in the info page.)
The folks who drop essays in comments are the most frustrating. They often make so many good points, but turning it into a correspondence throttles the conversation. Then if they’re not using a valid email address I can’t email them to directly suggest chopping it up into smaller chunks.
Looks perfectly straightforward and reasonable to me as well.
Sigh again. Earlier today I deleted two more excessively long comments from moderation.
To whom it may concern, I have copies of the lengthy comments that I delete on file if you wish to try and redraft them down to a more conversational length. Just send me an email and I will forward you your text.