Desirable Roasted Coffee Comments Policy (the Dreaded Day Came)

I've always thought I would not need a comments "policy" since the topics I address at Desirable Roasted Coffee rarely excite ire and often excite no interest at all.

In the last couple of weeks, though, I've decided I might as well have one. I've capped a couple of comments since April 1, and in both cases the author has ranted in emails that I am "violating" my Code of Blogging Ethics and (get this) the First Amendment of the US Constitution by not giving him an outlet.

Herewith the Desirable Roasted Coffee Comments Policy:

1. I invite comments and trackbacks at Desirable Roasted Coffee.
2. I decide which comments and trackbacks remain. Relevance counts mightily, as does grammar.
3. Opinion ("I hate the XYZ agency's campaign for ACME-CORP") is fine. Libel/potential libel ("XYZ agency overbilled ACME-CORP") gets dumped (If you want to break a corruption story, use your own blog or local newspaper).

I'd hope Desirable Roasted Coffee's Comments Policy would not become more detailed than this... but then I never thought I would have to have one.

Posted by Allan Jenkins on April 14, 2005 at 02:56 PM in Desirable Roasted Coffee | Permalink

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Comments

Came upon this post after a weekend of wrestling with comments on my own Blog.

Before I'd always pick comments I thought interesting and feature them in a special Blog post. I would boast proudly that comments are always allowed and I've never deleted any.

I was wrong.

Finally I went in and took out a bunch of comments that used filthy and uncalled for language. And the ad hominum attacks upon me, well for a while I left them up to show how silly such a commenter looks. Eventually it got real, real old.

So I'm going to do the same thing done here. I will have a comment policy and post it publicly and profoundly.

Being able to comment on a Blog does not give someone carte blanche to act like a total nincompoop or worse. There is no nobility in being a Blog author and allowing such worthless, useless and bad-taste comments to litter the web log.

Finally, a reader sent me an email stating how much they liked my Blog but the awful comments were a complete turnoff.

Then I began to see it from the reader's point of view.

What's probably amazing is that most people DO act right and don't post dumb comments. I get plenty of comments that are thoughtful and well-presented. There are crazies everywhere and given the anonmity of the Internet there's probably more online than would act that way in real life.

So was I out of my mind with pride that I never delete?

Yes. Yes I was.

Posted by: Pat Fish | Apr 18, 2005 2:47:12 PM

Hey Allan,

It is your blog and if someone else is trying to drop bad beans in your brew ... toss 'em. Nothing wrong with that, at all. Keep it up!

By the way, thanks for the link. I told a friend that I was very proud to have made it into the "Allan's After Peeing from 5 Cups of Coffee" category. (grin)

Thanks again.

Robert

Posted by: Robert | Apr 19, 2005 8:58:07 AM

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