meta k/o: comments

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This blog welcomes comments.

However, I'm not looking to pick fights. Or to be abused. I'm not looking for readers who are into that either. This isn't a public square. The comments here, ideally, are like a "letters page" in a magazine. Simply put, I don't publish this blog to take on all comers. I publish this blog to give its readers good content, and, perhaps, as a byproduct of that, if we're lucky, we get constructive discussions.

I am familiar with the macho, hair-trigger attitudes of a lot of bloggers and blog participants. That's not me. That's not this blog. If a macho vituperativeness is your thing, then I must say...k/o is not the droid you're looking for. There's a difference between being critical and being abusive. My guess is that the readers here know that and appreciate it.

So, regarding comments here that are disruptive, macho, assinine or abusive: they will be deleted when I get around to it.

That's the policy. I'm not a big fan of comment moderation, but there's no good alternative in weighing the balance of concerns that go into this....not least of which is building a blog community that is sustainable for all its participants, including myself.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Bravo.

The macho blogger crap has got to stop (everywhere). Deleting the comments will help with that.

It's easy to forget that there is a person on the other end. Not just a block of text. I'm guilty of that at times on various sites.

As Glen O'Brien once said (paraphrasing): I'm pro anarchy; if people treated each other with civility and manners we would't need laws.
12:12 PM
Matt said…
What about blog whoring? Is that allowed?
Cause if not, I'll have to find some other way to get people to my blog, which is called Say No to Pombo
12:49 PM
Anonymous said…
K/o -

Just a note to say thanks for your diary about the Kaine ad situation at dKos.

I have lived in Virginia for 5 years (weblogging for 6) and when I saw the nonsense Kos and Armando were posting, I was infuriated. I sent an IM to my husband (also a VA voter and one of the first webloggers, as noted in Rebecca Blood's book) that I didn't know how many times Markos could put himself onto my sh**list, but he'd just done it again. (I mention the longevities just to note that there are some of us watching who've been thinking about the meaning of weblogging and internet community since before Markos knew the word 'blog'; I've long shared galiel's frustration that he and his lieutenant's act as though they've invented everything anew...)

Anyway, they will drive themselves into irrelevance if they continue the behavior they've been exhibiting the last many months; I just don't know how long it will take, how many people they'll hurt along the way, and how much damage they'll do to the medium as they go, but they are being neither serious nor thoughtful.

Kudos for having the energy and temperament to engage - I don't, but I deeply appreciate it.
5:02 AM
Anonymous said…
Matt,

No worries: you are merely a blog slut. Blog whores have ads or are otherwise compensated.

Cheers,
DD
3:26 AM
Anonymous said…
Also, k/o: I was thinking about this post yesterday as I was driving and it occurred to me that this type of behavior is akin to road rage: disruptive, macho, assinine and abusive.
But I suppose pugalism sells, so it’ll be a long time before civil discourse is the norm.
3:32 AM
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