Comments

Wonderful response Cathy - well said!

'There's a limit—that we will decide on—to the extent of personal insults that will be tolerated in our comments.'

There should be no tolerance whatsoever of personal insults. That is just school playground behaviour. Zero tolerance would be my suggestion - delete anything that remotely resembles personal insults. Good hearty constructive debate and friendly respectful disagreements are 'grist to the mill' (good Engllish saying)- personal insults? - delete them all Cathy - life is too short.

Posted by Trevor Gay at October 20, 2005 10:10 AM

What's sad is that you even have to TALK about these rules, Cathy. There should just be some unspoken decorum when it comes to commenting. Some folks just don't get it... or don't WANT to get it.

Well done, Cathy!

Posted by Michele Miller at October 20, 2005 10:25 AM

Michele and Trevor,
We appreciate the support. We want to say again that we don't make these decisions lightly--we always have a long discussion beforehand. The final word is that we want everybody to feel comfortable in our blog discussions:
--Those who write comments should feel they won't be unnecessarily edited. We'll stick to our own rules and let you know if we cut anything. These rules have evolved, and we apologize if we've stepped on anybody's toes before this.
--Those who write the blog and the comments should feel they won't be personally insulted and the objects of name-calling.
--People who visit this website expecting first-class discourse should feel they won't find (the most) offensive language or low-level mud-slinging.

Posted by cathy at October 20, 2005 10:59 AM

My parents always taught me that when someone stoops to personal attacks, they obviously have no real argument. And that you should feel sorry for someone who has no logical reason to back up their words that fly out of their mouth without the blessing of forethought.

Posted by Thom Singer at October 20, 2005 11:35 AM

The interesting thing about this post is its significance in a social context. Models of transparency, inclusion and tolerance that modern, complex societies have embraced have widened the lines of acceptable behavior within those same societies. As a result, many people today claim that every voice and opinion should be accepted; wheras others claim that traditional, conservative structures should remain protected. This becomes complicated in multicultural societies where beliefs of some people contradict those of others within the same society. The fact of the matter is that in any community, behavior has always and must always be discriminated and either accepted or rejected.

The fact is, it's ok to discriminate against behavior. Don't feel bad about it.

Rock on!

Posted by Tom O'Leary at October 20, 2005 11:47 AM

Free enterprise/freedom endeavors and nations and states rely on rule of law to survive and thrive - and that includes [in my mind] detail down to BlogSphere mores.

Posted by Sean at October 20, 2005 12:41 PM

Anonymity may be a refuge for cowards, but it is a porous shelter for a guilty conscience.

Posted by DUST!N at October 20, 2005 12:43 PM

When grace and good behavior are lacking, enter rules and law. It really is a shame that some of us have to be reminded of this. The day that I agree with everything anybody says is the day I'll be checked into Bedlam, and, like intelligent people everywhere, I expect to respectfully disagree. Note the word respectfully. Keep up the good work, guys, and don't let the B*st*rds grind you down!

Posted by A Thomas Dillard at October 20, 2005 1:38 PM

Thomas Dillard, this is a "keeper": "The day that I agree with everything anybody says is the day I'll be checked into Bedlam." Nice!

Posted by tom peters at October 20, 2005 4:31 PM

Great! The psychotic (usually Republican) comments were always the worst part of your blog, though they were luckily quite rare.

Its your blog after all... the rest of us, including Anonymous, can easily start our own blogs and be as obnoxious as we like :) Good decision.

Posted by AJ Hoge at October 20, 2005 8:00 PM

How easy it is for you to "hide" behind the word anonymous!

Posted by Caig Jones at October 21, 2005 11:36 AM

Well said Craig - my first ever boss 36 years ago told me to throw letters into the bin that came in unsigned - great advice.

Posted by Trevor Gay at October 21, 2005 11:51 AM

AJ, no problem, actually, with "psychotic Republican" comments. (Or psychotic Democrat comments, of which there have been a handful.) (Or labeling a smelly pile of feces as "shit.") But when an "anonymous" de facto insults my wife, that's a horse of a different color. It is in the end our blog, and we will bend waaaaay over backwards not to cut stuff (and we will, flatly, never edit), but there are modest limits, and a smidgeon of civility is called for in what I like to think of as "our community."

Posted by tom peters at October 25, 2005 8:14 AM