Are bloggers supposed to open their souls to people who leave anonymous comments which heave onto the blogger the responsibility of disclosing things they don’t want to? What responsibilities do we bloggers have to people who read our blogs? For that matter, what is due to the blogger from their readers, if anything? And if we owe nameless people who demand facts and explanations these things, where the hell does that come from? Or do they owe it to us to not insult us publicly and anonymously because we give them something to read, something which must be at least a little…enticing if they bother to read it and think about it and respond to it?
How…democratic should a blogger be? Should he or she publish asshole comments from people who know them but won’t leave their name, who don’t know them at all, or even comments from friends? Is a person’s blog a free speech forum, or their own space to censor as they choose? Are we obligated to publish comments which are belligerent, pointless, annoying, etc. just because someone took the time to write them? Or are people obligated to not do that in the first place, out of some sort of respect for the blogger whose blog they read?
I’m not saying that there is some blogger code or that there should be. But how does one respond to these sorts of things, and what goes through a commenter’s head when he or she hits “submit”?
When I used to run that high-traffic non-personal blog, people frequently acted like I owed them something for reading it, and I think this is common, from bloggers I’ve talked to. The way I thought of it, if someone owed anyone anything, they owed me for spending three hours a day on that thing. Not that I necessarily saw an obligation on either end.
(Yeah, and don’t bother responding anonymously.)
I run two message boards and I disabled guest posting. There needs to be accountability.
I guess it’s a little different with blogs, but I’d much prefer it to be set up similarly.
You’re right about accountability.
Comment moderation is the best blogging tool ever:) I was thinking of making this blog such that comments can only come from registered people (though registration would be open to anyone with a valid email address), but I was afraid it would too cumbersome and…controlling. However, days like today tempt me in that direction. Too many people treat blogs and forums like free speech platforms, as if they have the “right” to put whatever they want on a website that other people put work and money into.
I had a huge problem with nasty anonymous comments last summer… so much so that I stopped posting for a good while. Love the lovely comment moderation. I used to be very idealistic about it, thinking that I’d inhibit free speech by disallowing certain commentors… not so much anymore.
It is especially annoying, you’re right, when readers act like you owe them… or when they criticize your posting? argue that you shouldn’t say things you do?
I’ve handled such comments in various ways over the years that I’ve been blogging. I go through phases where I moderate comments (if only to keep out the spam), but usually go back to open comments because of my committment to free speech. I figure it’s like anything else in life– you don’t *have* to respond to it. If someone says something nasty, why not just pretend it didn’t happen? Or, if you are feeling a bit bored, respond in a fun and amusing way.
As far as a “responsibility” to our readers…I suppose I see that I have some sort of responsibility to my loyal readers (as far as making sure I’m posting frequently enough and keeping my content interesting). I don’t see why we would have any responsibility to people who randomly stop by… Then again, I’m not sure I take blogging all that seriously anymore (if only for a lack of time).
I think you definitely hit on something, in distinguishing between regular readers and stoppers-by. Unless whoever GF is was only there for a visit, they have not come back before or after that, so I don’t owe her or him a thing.
However, someone who reads regularly, I don’t know. Perhaps in private, but I don’t like people who get free entertainment (possibly useful info, lol) from my blog dictating to me what I should write about and explain. If that were the case, I think it would be entirely reasonable for me to demand their identity first, especially since I think GF is one of those people who knows me in real life and expects me to “engage” them as such all the while not knowing why they are.
In the summer, someone who knew me from school but who still kept their identity even from me urged and verged on demanding a complete story about my leaving academia, and that struck me as something very unreasonable — to demand some truth from someone you actually know in “real life” and then refuse to say who you are, even in private.
I think it’s just damned creepy to leave anonymous comments on a blog of someone you actually know. And by anonymous I mean even so to the author of the blog. Some people I know leave semi-anonymous comments, but leave hints in their email address, etc. — which is fine with me when they let me know somehow who they are — like Ron and J from the Dale.
Dear person calling her or himself Carbondale:
Since your last comment professed “hate” and since I’m getting really tired of you coming on here and bitching about me not liking you (the town Carbondale) — and since you ignore the fact that this blog has had more nice things to say about the place than complaints — you get to be the first to experience my new no more anonymous comments policy.
“Free speech” (if there has to be such a thing on another person’s blog) needs, as another blogger has put it, accountability. If I know you and you won’t email me, you’re just acting in a creepy way. If you don’t know me, it seems like you are obsessed with my blog. Your IP address in Jasper, Michigan — 491.3 miles from Carbondale by road — comes up at least half a dozen times a day lately. That’s not necessarily creepy — but fielding your anonymous comments has passed from amusing to annoying, especially when you get nasty, not that you were ever much above being unnecessarily critical. And if you were joking, well, you might want to joke in a way that let’s the other party in on the joke. And if you were joking, I’m still not changing my comment policy.
I know: an ACLU member restricting someone’s free speech? Oh, no! Well, for all I know, you’re a computer with a program set on “cute” that just responds to me. I don’t publish the comments from SPAM computers that come on every few minutes, either. And besides, without any accountability or responsibility taken for what you say, I don’t think it follows that I should publish it on my blog just because you took the time to write it with a fake email address and an IP address that is not even in Carbondale or at SIU.
In closing, you and Granite Falls and my “Anonymous Colleague” and anyone else with a secret crush on me and/or too much affection for a blog you won’t reveal yourself to can save themselves a little time and trouble in leaving comments. They will not appear, and I doubt I’ll even read them. I’ll let the SPAM control in WordPress handle it for me. If you want to apologize or explain yourself, email me. If you don’t speak with a real identity, well, I don’t really care to read anything you have to say.
(And if I know you, and this offends you, sorry. But come on — how the hell was I supposed to know?)
http://www.lesliehawes.com/wordpress/?p=37
I am fairly new to blogging. I didn’t want to offend anyone, so I did a little ‘studying’ around to learn some manners. This was my post after I formed an opinion.
I think your metaphor is great for what blogging feels like — the couch. :)