Moderation + wordpress guru hunt

Charlie Stross and John Scalzi have been explaining their moderation policies. So I thought I ought to tell you mine.¹ Especially in the wake of the recent “shown” wars. The link does not actually lead to a flame war because I deleted it.

Which is my basic policy: all flamewars will be erased. Anyone who’s cranky or flamey gets nuked.

I really enjoy blogging. It’s my favourite kind of writing. I find it relaxing and fun. I adore all the smart, witty comments youse mob make here. I’m loving seeing a wee community emerge.

People yelling at each other, being narky and mean, getting into fights, none of that is relaxing or fun, so I don’t tolerate it. This is a troll-free zone.

I have occasionally let deliberately provocative drop-in comments stand because the responses from you lot were so excellent. But the general policy is to hit the delete button. The minute this blog stops being fun is the minute I walk away.

One of the things I like most about this blog is that other than the dread “shown” incident I’ve pretty much never had to resort to deleting.

Thank you all so much for that. You make me want to blog several times every day just to see what you’ll say.

On the wordpress guru hunt: Thanks so much for all the responses. There’s way more than I anticipated so it will take me a bit longer to get back to you than I’d anticipated. But I’m working on it! And, yes, I’m still happy to look at more portfolios if you still want to send. Best to look at all the prospects, right?

Even though it is much like theirs. [↩]

Posted by Justine at 18:42, 9 June 2008 under Bloggery | 8 Comments »

Comments

Patrick Says:

Instead of deleting comments you should just change them to things like

-I’ve been sent to my room
-I misbehaved and cannot comment until I apologize
-I have a big butt, this is the source of my anger. I apologize. I won’t talk out my butt again.

June 9th, 2008 at 6:58 PM
2. Justine Says:

Hey, watch it, Patrick. I has big arse. I like my big arse! Nothing wrong with big arses. (Even if you call them “butt”s.)

June 9th, 2008 at 7:07 PM
Patrick Says:

There’s nothing wrong with(and there are plenty of things RIGHT with) a big ‘arse’.

But, if it is a source of anger that causes inappropriate blog comments, it needs to be discussed.

It’s definitely not a 1:1 correlation.

June 9th, 2008 at 7:22 PM
cuileann Says:

Oh good! I don’t deal with flames very well. I come from a peaceable Shannon Hale forum where I can moderate away any trollishness, and I get distressed when I find myself in troll-infested regions of the internets without an edit/delete button…;)

June 9th, 2008 at 7:43 PM
5. Justine Says:

cuileann: It will never happen to you here. Not on my watch!

June 9th, 2008 at 7:45 PM
cuileann Says:

To moderation!

June 9th, 2008 at 7:52 PM
7. Justine Says:

In all things except mangosteens!

June 9th, 2008 at 7:55 PM
Ariel Zeitlin Cooke Says:

Hi Justine, how funny that you should be talking about mangosteens right now. I just logged on specifically to tell you that I tried one for the first time yesterday! It was in an “ethnic” market in NJ and they were totally price-gouging me–$2 per mangosteen–but I just couldn’t pass it up after all the raves on this web site from you and others. Well, it really lived up to the reviews. In fact in addition to the mango-y, creamy qualities it’s been much praised for, it also has a refreshing, thirst-quenching quality a bit like an orange. I was expecting something more cloying and lichee-like. I’m hooked! Now if only the price will come down.

June 10th, 2008 at 12:14 AM