I abhor censorship. That is why I let 99 percent of the comments go through on this site. The only comments I won't let through include threats, a few obscenities, racial slurs and/or comments that could bring legal action. Again, the posts that are not approved are few and far between.But now I am getting complaints about the comments, especially some of the silly name calling, detracting from the integrity and meaning of the site.
I tend to agree that something should be done, but, again, I cannot tolerate censorship.
So I am leaning towards banning anonymous comments from the site. I have checked with both Google and Blogger and they say there is no reported problems with the registration process (as has been used as an excuse by some anonymous commenters.)
I do want to get your input on this before I do it because this is your site as much as mine.
Please leave comments and I have set up a poll.
Thank you.
30 comments:
Sorry, that was me that was having trouble with Google. I hate to post Anonymous, but I have registered a few times and even though I wrote down my password to make sure I would not forget, everytime I would sign up it would tell me my password was invalid, so I would try again and re-register and then, of course, they already had my email address on file. Anyway, I will try one more time.
I am sorry if this has caused you some concerns. I have always tried to be civil and only state facts not insults or the like. The only times there have been any kind of insults have been when my name at the bottom of the posts has been used by others.
I appreciate your blog and will try to sing up again with Google.
I can understand your concerns and will try to comply.
JJ
I have had the same experience. I have created a few google accounts, and they work the first time, but then I can't sign in again.
Bill
It seems to me that the name calling isn't any worse with those of us who are anonymous than it is with those who have pseudonyms for their google accounts. My suggestion is to censor the name calling.
It would be definitely be less confusing if each post was identified by a specific name or identification, positioned and accented differently from the rest of the text. I personally think this change will hamper or subdue a lot of the ‘off-subject’ chatter on the blog.
Censorship is not a good idea.
A delicate balance is tough to acheive but you must try. Too much
gratuitous name calling and bashing make posting a coherient thought near impossible and as you say overmoderating damps the spirit of free expression. Newspapers have long had this obligation and Internet sites are no different. Taint easy for sure.
I read this blog a lot, but usually don't read the comments. And I've never posted before.
But I do think anyone who posts something should have the guts to put their name to it.
Just my two cents. Keep the change.
Hi Sarah
I love your blog. I have a conservative blog on www.donottreadonus.wordpress.com and try to educate people as to what this government is doing. Some read and understand, others just accept everything as the truth which it is not. Please take the time to look at it and comment. I voted for YOU and mccain(purposely in lower case)
DK
If it reduces the number of anti-Sarah people, I'm for it. They don't seem to come here for discussion, but to disrupt our discussions. There are plenty of neutral political sites, and even anti-Sarah sites they could go to.
This had gotten rather tedious and annoying. Much like Gresham's law
about bad money driving out good; all this astroturfed garbage and plain slander was disrupting this site
But I do think anyone who posts something should have the guts to put their name to it.
Maybe so, Susan, but I think you are about the only one who does. The rest of the posts come from people like "Handsome," "Michael April," "Bill589". How is that different than an Anonymous post?
all this astroturfed garbage and plain slander was disrupting this site
NABISCO,
ASTROTURF REFERS TO "GRASS ROOTS" ACTIVITY MANUFACTURED WITH CORPORATE CASH. ARE YOU SAYING MAJOR CORPORATIONS ARE TRYING TO DO IN SARAH PALIN?
RUSH
Thanks a lot for keeping us up to date about PalinNews!
I have a blogsite, and I definitely review each blog. I figure there are about 400 things worse than censorship -- but I'm not sure that not permitting certain comments to post is censorship.
If someone wrote "XXXX you" on your car, you'd clean it off, wouldn't you? If they wrote "Shoot Sarah" you'd clean it off. I don't see that as censorship at all.
I permit about 90% of the incoming comments to post on my blog, but I never think of the other 10% as censorship. It's my blog, and I can post what I want to! And likewise, so can you!
It is a good idea for contributors to each have their own identifiable name. If they are interested in meaningful dialoge and not diatribe, they should be willing to sign off on it.
It is a good idea for contributors to each have their own identifiable name. If they are interested in meaningful dialoge and not diatribe, they should be willing to sign off on it.
I'm fine with this, except that I can't get the google thing to work. Once created, it won't let me sign on.
Yes, Please identify the writers, it will be for the good of all.
Who cares about censorship? We are the party of Reagan. He killed the Fairness Doctrine, remember? Why give whiney liberals a chance to express their views? Rush doesn't. Hannity doesn't. Levine, O'rielly and Coulter don't. We own the media, and we can shut the liberals out. We sure own this web site, so let's do it. And I;ll sign my name.
Jonathan Chapman
“The rest of the posts come from people like "Handsome," "Michael April," "Bill589". How is that different than an Anonymous post?”
Obviously; you can distinguish between Handsome, Michael April and Bill589 but with Anonymous; you can’t tell who is who.
The problem with registration is, if these Anonymous posts can’t or don’t know how to register on Blogger or FaceBook, how are they going to figure out how to register with this site.
PLEASE CENSOR THIS SITE! THEN, I WON'T WASTE MY TIME COMING HERE.
RUSH LIMBURGER
Obviously; you can distinguish between Handsome, Michael April and Bill589 but with Anonymous; you can’t tell who is who.
AND THAT IS A PROBLEM BECAUSE??
The problem with registration is, if these Anonymous posts can’t or don’t know how to register on Blogger or FaceBook, how are they going to figure out how to register with this site.
MICHAEL, NOT EVERYONE CAN BE AS SMART AS YOU.
"PLEASE CENSOR THIS SITE! THEN, I WON'T WASTE MY TIME COMING HERE."
RUSH LIMBURGER
?
According to Pajamas Media, last month the DNC asked supporters to disrupt Sarah’s online sites. “Calling All Trolls” they labeled the article. (Or something like that.) I’ve read about this other places too.
Besides that point, I find the comments and discussions are different on Sarah sites (without the trolls). There are still disagreements, but they’re on a different level; I’d say deeper and more forward looking.
On the neutral “news” sites, where Sarah’s name still comes up, the liberals most often bring up the same insults over and over, while Sarah’s supporters argue with them over and over. Sometimes a liberal talks about something recent without name calling, but this is more the exception.
Personally, I do pretty well ignoring the trolls’ divisive questions and comments, but if they weren’t there, I sure wouldn’t miss them.
I enjoy your site and will visit it either way.
Personally, I do pretty well ignoring the trolls’ divisive questions and comments, but if they weren’t there, I sure wouldn’t miss them.
Bill,
As we've established, you are the troll here, getting people all riled up.
I'm sorry to hear that the DNC told people to be trolls (assuming that is true--Ms. Palin has been known to tell quite a few whoppers and to be quite the victim). Actually, I was coming to see if I could educate a few of the Joe Sixpacks about what a pile of horses**t they are being fed. Sorry to be perceived as a member of a DNC disruptive mob.
Marcia Brady
Who cares about censorship? We are the party of Reagan. He killed the Fairness Doctrine, remember? Why give whiney liberals a chance to express their views? Rush doesn't. Hannity doesn't. Levine, O'rielly and Coulter don't. We own the media, and we can shut the liberals out. We sure own this web site, so let's do it. And I;ll sign my name.
Jonathan Chapman
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Amen, Jonathan! Let's stop pretending that we believe in fair play and democracy. We stole two Presidential elections, a few dems (Wellstone, JFK Jr., among them) have died suspiciously in plane crashes, and there's lots more where that came from! It's all about money and power, baby!
Something is bothering me... I keep hearing that Sarah Palin endorses Gov. Rick Perry of Texas. We here know Perry to be an opportunist and a shyster. Everything that comes out of his mouth is BS. He keeps getting elected, not because he gets anything close to a majority, but because the Dems are so disorganized that they give him the election. As a Farm Bureau rep. said "No one ever votes for this guy (Perry) but he keeps getting elected." I respect Sarah Palin and am concerned that she too is being fooled by this joker. How can I convey this message to her "campaign"?
Requiring a user name with comments isn't necessarily "censorship". The comments are already moderated, which, whether people want to admit it or not, is already censorship.
I say go for registration -- could mean less headache for Editor. Thx for wanting our input.
The most interesting thing about the comments on this post is that the conservatives are -- wait for it -- pro-censorship, if they think it will eliminate a viewpoint they don't agree with.
Don't the commenters on this site actually READ THE SITE? Seems as if they don't.
Then again, Sarah's own minions don't pay any attention to what she does or says and just want to use her to bat at their imagined opponents.
No wonder you all lost.
DNC told people to be trolls? I guess I must have missed that meeting. I also missed the zionist takeover of the world ones too. Not to mention the alien abduction ones as well. (Michael April, I am being sarcastic)
Elle Leet
DNC told people to be trolls? I guess I must have missed that meeting.
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It's kind of like Al Franken's book talking about the Wellstone funeral. After the Bush people killed him, the Republicans had the gall to criticize the Dems for politicizing the funeral. As Franken said, it was like they were at a totally different event. Sarah and friends play fast and loose with the truth.
I don't allow anonymous comments on my blogs - and I moderate -
I took off the anonymous and had to clamp it down b'c of automated spam commenting that was going on - UGH!
I think it's UP TO YOU what you want to do with this blog. :)
Feel free and take the heat for taking a stand. Check out my smaller blog on Sarah at http://GoSarahGo-vp.blogspot.com
You are more active than mine lately though. God bless you.
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