Comments
This is not the first time I have had to deal with the matter of my approach to comments, and it probably wont be the last.
My comments policy is simple: play the ball and not the (wo)man.
I try not to delete comments — really I don’t. I do not to want to be the chief censor. I am not a great believer in the nanny state, and I don’t want to run blog that is bound up in the lexical contortions of political correctness.
That does not mean I am comfortable with a free for all slug feast, where anything goes. I will delete those comments I judge to be offensive, sexist, racist, slanderous, defamatory, lewd or otherwise inappropriate. I am much more inclined to delete comments that do not argue a particular policy perspective, but simply resort to name calling or personal abuse.
The decision to delete or sanitise a comment is always a difficult one. I try not to be too pure, as it would (a) take up too much of my time and (b) interrupt the flow of comments. I am inclined to leave common political nicknames that might be marginally offensive — for example rodent or Krudd — provided the rest of the post argues a substantive point. But if the post is little more than personal abuse, I may well consign it to the bit bucket. While I cope with friendly (if not a little barbed) nicknames for fellow readers, name calling, insults and general nastiness are not acceptable. If someone tells me they find something offensive I tend to take it seriously (provided it does not look like a tit-for-tat response to a my decision to delete an earlier comment).
Some will argue that I am capricious and inconsistent in my approach. All I can say is: guilty as charged. So there can be no mistake, I reserve the right to apply my comments policy in a completely capricious and inconsistent manner. I reserve the right to edit or delete comments from anyone. I reserve the right to turn off comments for any particular post, or to prevent individual readers (or everyone) from making comments.
If you don’t like my comments policy, don’t post any comments.
Some have accused me of favouring those from the left when I delete comments, and others have accused me of favouring those from the right. In this blog I strive to remain objective, balanced and very much middle of the road. If it is true that my deletions exhibit a political bias, please accept my assurances that it is not something I consciously set out to do. Also, consider the possibility that those whom I am supposed to be oppressing with my deletions may actually be responsible for the imbalance in deletions.
Of course, I would not need to reiterate these matters if everyone sought to respect others and exercised personal responsibility in the comments they post.
Well that is the end of the sermon.
May the deity or philosophy of your personal preference guide you always.