Anonymous blog comments
I noticed that a couple of letters in this month's Miami Monthly refer to this blog and refer to anonymous comments about Marc Sarnoff. By the way, Marc responded to the comments in this blog on Feb. 5, 2007.
I have gone back and forth considering what to do about anonymous comments. I know that most newspapers and magazine will not publish anonymous comments and they require the person's full name, address and phone number, but I think blogs are different.
I allow the anonymous comments because I feel that people have a right to speak up and by the very nature of the blog, it is "live" and anything that is commented on can easily receive a follow-up comment defending another point of view. I don't think we would have such lively conversations if anonymous comments were not allowed because, honestly, 99% of the people who comment, whether signed or not, make valid points and it would be a shame to not see the points of view from those who wish to remain anonymous.
I have removed nasty and vicious comments and I have tried moderating the comments by not allowing them to be published until I review them, but I don't want to censor anything since anyone stating questionable information can easily be corrected and usually is corrected instantly by the next people who comment.
One thing that does disturb me is that people have said to me that they post their comments anonymously because they would be verbally attacked on the streets if their identity was known.
I have gone back and forth considering what to do about anonymous comments. I know that most newspapers and magazine will not publish anonymous comments and they require the person's full name, address and phone number, but I think blogs are different.
I allow the anonymous comments because I feel that people have a right to speak up and by the very nature of the blog, it is "live" and anything that is commented on can easily receive a follow-up comment defending another point of view. I don't think we would have such lively conversations if anonymous comments were not allowed because, honestly, 99% of the people who comment, whether signed or not, make valid points and it would be a shame to not see the points of view from those who wish to remain anonymous.
I have removed nasty and vicious comments and I have tried moderating the comments by not allowing them to be published until I review them, but I don't want to censor anything since anyone stating questionable information can easily be corrected and usually is corrected instantly by the next people who comment.
One thing that does disturb me is that people have said to me that they post their comments anonymously because they would be verbally attacked on the streets if their identity was known.
posted by Tom Falco at 11:01 AM
YOU MAY NOT LIFT THE PHOTOS & TEXT. IT'S COPYRIGHTED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. YOU CAN HOWEVER SHARE A STORY ON SOCIAL MEDIA BY USING THE LINKS HERE.
For linking to this one story, just click on the time it was posted & just this story will open for sharing - only through social media. Not copying and pasting.
3 Comments:
I don't post anonymously, and Lord knows I'm as much of a turd in the punchbowl around here as anybody. But so far no one has threatened me on the street. I've even met a couple of the folks with whom I've had respectful disagreements on this blog, and we liked each other enormously.
I generally agree that sunshine is the best disinfectant. The best answer to reprehensible speech is more speech. But if somebody starts making physical threats against others, I would suggest looking into banning particular commenters. I don't know if Blogger allows you to do this, but my Typepad program allows me to ban commenters by their source IP.
Case in point.
I wrote to MM to voice my opinion that a publication should not print anonymous letters. I also stated that anonymous letters should be limited to blogs. The instant format of a blog, and the fact that it does not have limited space lends itself to anonymous comments, although it it hoped that these are interpersed by identified people once in a while. On the other hand, if everyone wrtote anonymous letters to a magazine it would be boring. Keep up the good blog!
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