Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Come On.....Get With The Program":
Ah but this blog is written by someone sitting on council and is titled, "Our Town and its Business".
It doesn't make sense to ignore those in our town with whom an elected politician disagrees and hope hope that those with a different viewpoint will "blow away".
If this blog were a personal blog written by someone not sitting on council, Anonymous 10:04AM might have a point.
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Comments containing a smidgen of argument are posted. Even if they are mostly hinged on personal invective.
Comments that are nothing but personal invective are posted occasionally as an example of nothing to contribute to the discussion.
Mostly they are blown away at the discretion of moi.
Anyone can write a blog. Councillor Ballard does.
Anyone can post a comment to a blog.
The only guarantee of publication, is to write a blog
In lieu of a continous and active online community forum here in Aurora I think Evelyn should be commended for embracing and engaging with comments on her personal blog. It requires a lot of dedication.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to setting comment policies I think Evelyn's has been more than fair, and given the thriving readership her blog has attracted there may be some additional tweaks she may want to implement in order to adopt the recomendations in an Economist article, summarised here:
Anil Dash, the first employee of blog-software firm Six Apart, and who is currently involved in not-for-profit efforts to help governments and citizens talk effectively to one another called on sites with communities and forums actively to police themselves, rather than allow the most egregious participants to set the tone. "If your website is full of assholes, it's your fault," he writes bluntly. "And if you have the power to fix it and don't do something about it, you're one of them."
(source : http://boingboing.net/2011/08/31/rob-interviewed-in-the-economist.html )
Marshall Kirkpatrick speaks to the value of comments as being "Comments are little tendrils of thought, structured and online." She offers 7 Ways to Love Blog Comments Again in this piece here:
http://m.readwriteweb.com/archives/7_ways_to_love_blog_comments_again.php
There would be increased value in iplementing a couple of these into her platform, which will perhaps be easier when Blogger grows up and is reborn into the Google+ sphere.
Of course Mr Watts is all for free speech as long as the owner of the blog has control of what is free and what is not.
ReplyDeleteProof of this, look at his blog and read the comments back..... oh there aren't any he refuses to publish them.
Sorry, Christopher. Not with you on this one. Evelyn is doing just fine with the tools with which she is familiar. So please butt out and go prune someone else's garden. Don't mess about here. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I didn't want to interrupt E's flow to comment that a number of us will have to miss you when you move on at the end of the month. Enjoyed the ride and always noted approval, but not ready for re-birth. Thanks for the offer, though.
Bye.
Oh, Christopher. Was that a 'meow' from you ? I hope not to have caught a condescending tone in your comment. Evelyn is simply unique and her readers reflect the entire community including the snarly, nasty ones. For us, this IS ' a continuous and active online '
ReplyDeleteactivity.
Your critique was poorly timed as, having already lost the Citizen, we are now parting company with you. Your choice but one that does not allow you to advise Evelyn on the way she runs her Blog.
That was a 'meow', wasn't it ? You are welcome to join in whenever you want. Not too many people are left out.
Good material on Christopher's Blog. A good example of why we will miss him if he leaves for FaceBook. He can't replace Evelyn but he can be Himself.
ReplyDeleteBallard writes a Blog ? Really ? Why have I heard nothing about it ? Does it cost more than I can afford ? Is there a dress code ? Do they take DNA samples ? Is it not-for-profit ? Do you suppose there is a secret hand-shake ?
ReplyDeleteMaybe this isn't such a good idea after all.
Christopher needs to spend more time on Evelyn's Blog.
ReplyDeleteHis response to a gentle rebuke was to loose both barrels at the poster over on his own site. Man can certainly dish it out. Requires work on the receiving end. Perhaps he hasn't discovered his 'ignore' button ?