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Over the past weeks and months, I have grown less and less comfortable with and tolerant of the hyper-opinionated anonymous posts. My suggestions that posters sign their name has not been widely adopted (perhaps in part because when people have provided their names, anonymous posters have then blasted them). Nonetheless, allowing anonymous comments has no doubt increased the number of posts and I have been reluctant to cut them off.
We have now entered what the pundits call 'the silly season' that the rest of us know as campaign time. A number of anonymous comments have been posted naming the candidates and offering the poster's anonymous opinion of the candidates and asserting facts about them. Not surprisingly, people will write things anonymously that they would never say if their name was attached to it.
I have concluded that these anonymous posts are not healthy for our local political scene. Local campaigns can get heated enough without the added goad of anonymous venom. It is not hard to envision the nastiness increasing as the election draws nearer.
At least for the time being, anonymous comments will no longer be posted. You will need to register with Google in order to post comments. Registration is free and easy and a plus is that you won't need type in those goofy letters. Registering does not require that you use your real name, so I am also asking that people identify themselves at least the first time they post.
I am not particularly happy about this change, especially because I am fairly certain most of the nastier comments are coming from a small number of people (in fact, possibly a very small number). But these new requirements seem like the responsible thing to do.
Google Blogger also gives me the option reviews comments before they get posted instead of or in addition to requiring registration. This option could be a substitute for the ban on anonymous comments, but for now a ban it is..
I will evaluate this policy as we go along and reserve the right to change my mind.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
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completely understandable. you should dig around on poster's IP addresses to see where the "objectionable material" is coming from. :)
ReplyDeleteOoops, sorry, missed the "introduce yourself" comment.
ReplyDeleteMy name is Travis, and I just recently moved into Monona with my wife. Up until June we'd been living on Long Island, NY.
oh yeah, any word on clearing the ice for ice skating? saw something in the budget for a snowblower (that weighs less than the 2000lb machine that the city has now), and the temps have definitely been cold enough.
ReplyDeleteWe did put money in the 2008 capital budget to buy a small snowblower. We'll see. I'm not all that confident that we have enough Public Works staff to do it on a timely basis. There was discussion about letting volunteers use the blower if they signa waiver.
ReplyDeleteWe also talked about putting shoevls out by the sheletr for anyone to use (and hopefully replace - maybe we paint them bright red or something).
Regarding "No More Anonymous Posts"...if even for a short time....YEAH!!!
ReplyDeleteI have very much enjoyed your site. Thanks for the effort.