tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3576716365575919550.post7320457721706690905..comments2023-10-03T18:30:42.773-05:00Comments on Meta Watershed: NOTES ON MODERATING A BLOGMaggie Jochildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07577090500862823864noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3576716365575919550.post-13199423100399021932010-03-11T20:15:28.551-06:002010-03-11T20:15:28.551-06:00And look, didn't we all, that is Liza, Blue, A...And look, didn't we all, that is Liza, Blue, Acilliua and Little Gator all find each other on blogs, and more or less comment on each other's blogs. That's pretty cool. Maggie and Acillius are regular commenters on my blog, maggie and I both comment at Acillius's blog, etc. etc. and we met at another bog as commenters. Now that's community building.Liza Cowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07012197411969153523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3576716365575919550.post-76640182093608054092010-03-11T11:52:11.680-06:002010-03-11T11:52:11.680-06:00@Little Gator: I should have known you were serio...@Little Gator: I should have known you were seriously involved with dogs!<br /><br />@Liza: I don't get many comments either, and am lucky that most of the occasional commenters I do have are quite nice. <br /><br />@Maggie: There are some right-wing blogs I read because the proprietors have interesting things to say in some areas, but I agree about their comment sections. If the author writes a carefully reasoned piece defending the gold standard as a way of restraining the military-industrial complex (to give an example more or less at random,) you can be sure that at some point in the comment thread discussion will turn to the iniquity of the Jews. Or if the post argues that an economy in which all work is intellectual would tend to have a more unequal distribution of income than one in which large muscles are in demand, all you have to is wait for the "racialists" to bring up their simplistic interpretations of IQ data. Etc, etc.Aciliushttp://losthunderlads.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3576716365575919550.post-69143883022944936252010-03-10T14:03:00.401-06:002010-03-10T14:03:00.401-06:00Liza, I do consider J&JP progressive. I'd...Liza, I do consider J&JP progressive. I'd go there more often but for reasons I can't figure out, every time I do my onlice connection instantly disconnects and keeps being interrupted. This happens with a few websites, only one of which I'd call "political", and must be related either to my wifi setup or my security suite. Annoying as hell.<br /><br />LG, "attack dog" will work. (Though I bet a lot of folks will think pit bull, doberman, german shepherd when they hear it. No need to reinforce the image, though.)Maggie Jochildhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07577090500862823864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3576716365575919550.post-88832205228831297022010-03-10T13:36:51.261-06:002010-03-10T13:36:51.261-06:00"vicious attack dog" works for me.
word..."vicious attack dog" works for me.<br /><br />word confirmation : "rurga"-the s ound of a dog vomiting.little gatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12359345204074482888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3576716365575919550.post-86658568413108631712010-03-10T10:35:36.036-06:002010-03-10T10:35:36.036-06:00OK, point taken about prog bloggers.(although I do...OK, point taken about prog bloggers.(although I don't consider my blog REgressive, either. It's just not about politics.) I mostly read art, culture and business blogs so I have a different perspective.) I only read a couple of prog bloggers. You and jack and jill which I think, but am not sure you'd classify as a prog blog, but does have a wonderfully active and supportive community of commenters and I learn a whole lot from them.<br /><br />I know better than to confuse reader v. commenter stats. I depend on sitemeter and lijit for my stats. I check them obsessively. Google Analytics doesn't work so well for me. If I get around 180 hits per day, I may get one comment per week. I don't take it personally. At this point, I get most of my comments via facebook.Liza Cowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07012197411969153523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3576716365575919550.post-21509396099366711362010-03-10T10:18:43.420-06:002010-03-10T10:18:43.420-06:00All right, little gator, I hear you.
I do know th...All right, little gator, I hear you.<br /><br />I do know that dogs who are perceived to be vicious as a breed are the result of breeding and conditioning by humans, not inherently so. <br /><br />The problem is coming up with another metaphor which will instantly convey an entity living among us (in our "homes") but which has likewise been encouraged/conditioned to attack without thought and whose presence makes everyone silently uneasy. <br /><br />Because that is precisely the impact of these kinds of commenters, whom many of us instantly recognize and who often travel in packs, setting their google searches to alert them about a specific topic so they can attack en mass and with identical rhetoric. I can't come up with another metaphor which conveys that description in a word or a few words -- without invoking a breed of dog, who have been disastrously manipulated by human tinkering.<br /><br />Any suggestions from out there will be welcomed.Maggie Jochildhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07577090500862823864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3576716365575919550.post-34664273233440035702010-03-10T10:05:37.454-06:002010-03-10T10:05:37.454-06:00Thx to you both. Liza, yeah. I have a few though...Thx to you both. Liza, yeah. I have a few thoughts, though.<br /><br />One is that I should make it clear I'm talking about progressive bloggers. I have no knowledge or understanding of right wing blogs except that many of them don't allow comments because what their followers routinely have to say is so violent and hateful that the blog owner might be subject to legal action -- not to mention, for those who want to pretend at respectability, the mindset of those who flock to you woukd rob you of credibility. <br /><br />I've heard small progressive bloggers express a complete disinterest in what their commenters might have to say, and again this goes back to your intent as a blogger in the first place. If you don't want to community build or engage in conversation, you likely won't want to expend energy on moderation, either. <br /><br />Further, the number and range of comments is not a reliable guide to readership or impact of a post, I've found and others have told me. Tracking is best attained through other methods.<br /><br />Lots of small bloggers do it on top of 50+ hour a week jobs and family commitments, and it's all they can manage to get the posts out in the first place. For them, moderation is not a priority, either. And I understand it. My essay was intended for bloggers who are choosing to maintain an ethos of moderation.<br /><br />Lastly, most bloggers have an email contact when a comment is made at their blog, enabling those of so inclined to keep instant track of comments made/awaiting moderation. However, for group blogs this isn't functional, as you cannot have more than one poster getting notofication emails. If you're part of a group posting, you must manually go to the blog and check on comments -- or make an initial comment yourself to enroll in a "follow this thread" program. Which can create a delay of up to a day, by which time other posts have come in at the top and "your" thread is no longer active anyhow. <br /><br />Lastly, responding to comments takes time and energy, often of a creative or social nature. Some bloggers really don't have social skills and it is arduous for them -- they are not blogging to interact. And if the choice comes down to writing a decent reply or writing something else, like part of a post, many bloggers will vote for the latter if they are more driven to write than to build community. Many writers are antisocial, a solid subset, in fact. And readers/commenters feel a connection that is not, in fact, reciprocated.<br /><br />I know you know all this, Liza, and are simply expressing your ethos re blogging. I'm taking the time and energy here to explain some of the variables others might not know. Tnanks for the spark.Maggie Jochildhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07577090500862823864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3576716365575919550.post-28026090952393403972010-03-10T09:46:38.163-06:002010-03-10T09:46:38.163-06:00As a dog person i ask you not to use dogbreed prej...As a dog person i ask you not to use dogbreed prejudice to describe certain humans. This may sound like a joke but it isn't. Any dog is a good dog if trained right and i have presonally known darling dogs os most of the "scary" breeds. Including Teddy,a beloved Pit Bull who was a therapy dog at a nursing home. It broke his heart when he had to stop workign because his arthritis made it too hard for him to get aroumd.<br /><br />BUt especially Dobermints, as a friend calls them because of the sweetness of the one she loved. a few decades ago they were the scary breed of choice for idiots. Any dog will be mean if it's keot tied up and alone, or if encouraged to be human-aggresive. I've known ppl who thought it was hilarious to teach their Pugs and toy Poodles to bte people.<br /><br /><br />The Dobies I know now are all pets. Loving, playful pets with great senses of humor. IN the past few decades most Doberman breeders have bred away from aggressive potential and towards a dog I'd love to live with. When i think of them i think of Derek across the street who ripped my brother's jacket off 35 years ago, yes. And the rotten people who neglected him. BUt firts I thikn of Matty playing with her teddy bear, grabbing it by its slobber stained waist and seeign how high she coudl fling it, all the while lookign at the humans to see if they were watchging the show. And so would the teddy. I swear if dogs could giggle she'd have giggled every time she did the high teddyfling. And Ben, who was rehomed because Cocker Spaniels in the same house were terrorizing him and he was too gentle and submissive defend himself. And Dracula, who couldnt have had a less appropriate name.<br /><br />So please find another metaphor.<br /><br /><br />trust gator to be silent on the main topic and comment on a detail.little gatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12359345204074482888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3576716365575919550.post-60440389467267331622010-03-10T09:30:04.578-06:002010-03-10T09:30:04.578-06:00That's great Maggie. Good points. I concur. Of...That's great Maggie. Good points. I concur. Of course on my art driven blog, tempers never flair. Oh, okay, I barely get comments.<br /><br />What I also think is important, polite, necessary, is for bloggers to respond to the readers who comment. Oh, maybe not on those sites that generate hundreds of comments per post, but I often am left feeling unfulfilled and unappreciated when smaller scale bloggers just leave the comments unanswered. With those, I will no longer join the conversation. It's just rude, in my opinion.<br /><br />With rare exceptions, I answer every reply, and do so in a timely fashion. How else will people know they are welcome? It's all about reciprocity. When an invited guest walks into your party, the only couth thing to do is say hello, glad you are here.<br /><br />When, on the rare occasion, I get a response that is icky, I just detete it. It's my party.Liza Cowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07012197411969153523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3576716365575919550.post-34083044263106071472010-03-09T23:10:56.498-06:002010-03-09T23:10:56.498-06:00Thank you for this.Thank you for this.Bluehttp://www.blueox.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com