June 10, 2005
Comments on comments
I have just made a rather harsh cull of the comments attached to the last post. It was a horrible thing to have to do, especially as I know people have a lot to get off their chests at the moment. Also, I really appreciate the time people take to read this blog and add to its content. There are now three times as many comments on Meskel Square as there are postings which I think is a very healthy mix.
However, I felt I just couldn't leave "Day three" as it was. Unlike other blogs, I haven't got anything like a "comments policy". But here it what I have been doing up to now.
I have always deleted racist comments (generally directed against ferengis or a particular Ethiopian ethnic group) and postings from trolls (people who say outrageous things just to wind us all up). Recently I have also deleted comments when they start to descend into tit-for-tat abuse sessions - generally because they are very boring for everyone else.
In the current climate, I am also wondering whether I should delete any party political postings (EPRDF vs CUD) or comments which take their criticism of particular politicians to extreme levels.
My real problem at the moment is that I just don't have the time to police the site. The worst case scenario for me would be to turn comments off. (I have already had to do this to anyone who isn't a 'contact' on Flickr where the comments were particularly extreme).
What do you all think?
UPDATE: I have just turned comments off temporarily, until this situation cools down a little bit. The decision was made for me by someone who left a particularly vicious comment to the above post (now deleted and blocked). If anyone is desperate to contact me in the meantime, my email is in the top right hand column.
Posted by aheavens at June 10, 2005 3:45 AM