On Censorship and Human Nature

WARNING - The content of this post may disturb some readers.

The vagaries of censorship are mentioned throughout Hillary Clinton’s recent speech advocating Internet Freedom. Censorship is an action that often takes place behind the scenes. It is sometimes difficult to detect. You can be sure that someone somewhere will be confused, disturbed, annoyed, or even enraged when its occurrence is noticed.

Lately, printed news has come under threat. There is a belief that blogging might replace newspapers with a more up-to-date, less censored conduit. As well, the Web2.0 channel is purportedly a space for open debate and discussion.

Well, I wonder about all this. I believe that there is a place for censorship. Furthermore, my experience tells me that censorship is alive and well and is existing quite comfortably – in the blogosphere.

By the way, this post is not meant as a rant.

Moderation

During my first month of blogging I was introduced to some of the technologies that permit a blogger to choose whether or not a comment is published. Comment moderation is such a facility.

Some blog applications can even permit the content of a comment to be edited, before or after it is published. Comment moderation also gives bloggers relief from the increasing nuisance of spammed comments.

Hand in hand with all this is the idea that, through the provision of comment guidelines, commenters can sometimes be given the opportunity to learn what is likely to be accepted by a blogger on his or her blog. (Here’s a link to mine.)

Comment guidelines give the valid reasons for the culling of comments that may be in contravention of the blogger’s guidelines.

Biased opinion?

But comment guidelines are not the only criteria that may be used by a blogger who culls a comment. Am I not entitled to delete any comment that appears in my list of comments to be moderated, whether or not it meets all criteria in my comment guidelines?

How could I be accused of any discrimination even if I do cull comments containing valid opinions other than those that are aligned with my own? Who’s going to know?

You might say, “But isn’t this still a form of raw censorship?” Well of course it is. It also stymies healthy debate and discussion.

Okay, I’m being a tad hypothetical.

Or am I?

My quality comments

Over the years that I have been actively commenting on blogs, I‘ve witnessed this form of censorship. Of all the hundreds (perhaps thousands) of comments that I’ve entered against posts on other blogs, there have been a significant number, through the bloggers’ discretion in comment moderation, that have never appeared on the Internet.

You could say that this is a reflection on the quality and calibre of my comments. Well, there are enough of them still left out there. Take a look and judge the quality and calibre of my comments for yourself.

But I have always been careful to note, when my comment was removed or excluded, if the blog had any associated comment guidelines that I may have contravened. Most bloggers do not provide comment guidelines. I put it down to raw censorship.

So you may think that the blogosphere is entirely a place for freedom of expression. Just check when you leave comments on posts that have comment moderation. You could be surprised at the proportion of your comments that never appear on the blogs you post against.

Updated Comment Guidelines

I'm still new to blogging. Recently I’ve had a thing about comment guidelines. In my last post, I was lucky and grateful to receive some useful opinion from Britt Watwood and Sue Waters. So I’ve reviewed my set of guidelines again and given it a new look.

I’d be delighted if you’d check it out. My aim is to make the guidelines as inviting to commenters as possible. So your opinion is very valuable to me. Please let me know what you think. If there is anything that you feel I should change – pitch, use of words, issues listed etc – just put a comment beneath this post and let me know.

I really appreciate your opinion.

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What is it about comment policies?

When Michele Martin challenged bloggers to write a blog comment policy in May this year, I got the distinct impression I heard the squeals of a thousand mandrakes being wrenched from the ground. I had this virtual impression that in many parts of the blogosphere, little shelled creatures, that had popped out their soft and tender bloggling eyes, were retreating smartly into the protection of their hard dark shells - I swore I could hear the sound of a hundred vacuum cleaners all sucking at once. When it had passed, it was some time before my ears got used to the silence.

What is it about blog comment policy that people seem to detest? Is it a pomo reaction to something people feel should be relegated to the history books on the early 1900s?

Holocaustic emotion

I was reminded of these chilling, holocaustic emotions recently when I came across Peter Turney’s June post about a change he had made to his blog comment policy. As it happens, I didn’t totally agree with his point of view. That wasn’t entirely why I decided to leave a comment. His post had sat, without a comment, among his other popular posts, for two clear months. I just had to put it out of its misery!

But it was only on reflection that I recalled I’d left a comment, somewhere in the dim past, on another post on a related topic. I could only assume Alzheimer’s had set in, for I’d no idea where I’d left it.

Until . . . yes . . . I realised that it must have been on one of Peter’s earlier posts on the same topic! I flicked swiftly back to my RSS Reader to check it out. Sure enough, there it sat, and almost completely forgotten about. A solitary comment, congratulating Peter on his common sense blog comment policy - almost hilarious in parts.

What is it about comment policy that drives people away? In their droves!

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Using Comments & Blog Comment Guidelines

I’ve been a Blogger in Middle-earth for just over a week now. Long enough to be touched by the friendliness and warm welcoming comments that came over the few posts I’ve had time to write. My very first commenter, Kevin blew my socks off, for no sooner had I saved my first post when he gave me this wonderful comment:

"Hi And welcome to the new blog (it looks so shiny!) I found you from a comment at another blog and so the circle continues. How do you envision using this blog? (Or have you gotten that far?)"

Well, of course I had to tell him that the main thing I saw ahead of me was a whole lot of new learning. So true, for the very next day I started writing my second post for this blog. And just the day after on the same humble post I got this from Andrea Hernandez:

"Hi Ken, where exactly is middle-earth? How wonderful that the comment challenge has inspired you to start blogging. I was reading the comment you left on my post about habits and change and thought, this is a blog post in itself! It is funny because when you commented the other day I tried to find your blog, but couldn't. Now I know why! I am a new blogger myself. I started my blog in January, and I believe that it has really propelled me forward as a learner/teacher/writer. Words are so powerful! I look forward to reading your thoughts on your shiny, brand-new blog. What is ka-kite?" from Florida USA

Ka kite is short for ka kite ano which is Māori for till we meet again.

Y’know, there’s something very exciting about comments coming out of the blue from cyberspace. It’s like going on a journey into the unknown and being greeted by fellow travellers who want to spend the time of day with you and share a bite to eat or tell a story. What a boost it was also to get real positive feedback in these first few days. This from Diane Hammond:

“Good conversation happening here. Ken, I like your style of responding to commenters. I've seen other bloggers state their preference is to stay out of the conversation and let the commenters have the floor. I tend to follow your approach; I think interaction with the poster keeps the conversation flowing.”

To watch a conversation happening between two commenters on my post was something else. Diane gave me some good tips in her comment and finished with a gem-piece of worthwhile advice about bloggin:

“I tell all my student bloggers that although language conventions still need to be followed, they should consider their posts and comments more as conversations than polished pieces of writing. Would you agree with that?”

On that same post my vulnerabilities were found wanting but were also confirmed as being common, if not normal, thank goodness in Michele Martin’s:

“Ken, you aren't alone in feeling vulnerable with commenting--that seems to be a pretty big theme that's emerging in the challenge, one that actually surprises me. Just about everyone involved is blogging, so they're accustomed to putting their thoughts online. I wonder why it feels different to post a comment vs. posting a blog post? Also makes you realize why kids are so reluctant to comment in class. . .”

These words of support were confirmed in Sue Waters’:

“Ken as Michele says majority of participants in the Challenge are reluctant commenters because of feeling vulnerable or feeling they have nothing to offer.”

And again from Kevin, who came back with words of encouragement:

“I hope you keep confident in your role as a commenter, and as a blogger. Your ideas are valuable for conversation and connection. Take care and thanks for being honest in your sharing.”

With these sort of flashes of bonne homme appearing on my shiny new blog, I decided yesterday to take up Michele’s Day 11 Challenge and put together my blog comment guidelines. After all, I had this wondeful friendly atmosphere on my blog and I realised I had to maintain it.

I started by reading Michele’s advice and perused all the useful sites she gave links to on her post. Then I drafted out my thoughts for guidelines – not without difficulty.

I wanted guidelines that were succinct, not too detailed, so that the gist was covered in a page or so. I also thought that it should reflect the issues for me as one who was ethically responsible for the material displayed on my blog. But I didn’t want to put a damper on the general atmosphere of what I want to be a friendly blog site - not after I'd had a taste of how wonderful it was to have all these friendly visitors to my posts!

I decided I needed a disclaimer, which released me from any dispute over who was ultimately the decision maker, namely me - Michele more or less said so in her brief. It also had to be couched in such a way that the reasons for the guidelines being there in the first place were transparent and understood.

Here’s what I’ve come up with so far. I'd love to learn what you think about My Blog Comment Guidelines.

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