Blogging!
There is a blog I frequent these days laurendo.com that gets a fair amount of traffic. However from the experience of her blog I have found some things that are unsettling to me! First, etiquette and second is the confusion of the web in general.
One of the amazingly great things about the web is the anonymity of the whole thing. Being able to move around and say what is on your mind without having to say who you really are is huge! It is like the old masquerade balls where people could be more free. I think it really lets us exercise our freedom of speech. Anyway, some people take things seriously and want to know who you are. Does it really matter? I find these same type of readers often use Gestapo intimidation tactics. This I find horrid since it stifles the very openness and anonymity of the whole thing. This gives me a particular distaste in my mouth, often times the one who shouts the loudest is heard, even though they have dreck to say. These type of name callers and intimidators just make me sick. You can get your point across without berating or belittling someone.
Another etiquette taboo is that when a Blogger Blogs, they state what they have to say in the Blog. Why would they comment on comments?
Blogs are not message boards and are not meant to be ones.
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I agree that name callers are the worst when it comes to comments in blogs or even on message boards. I don’t necessarily think that people are intimidated (although some might be), but more that it is not worth it to get involved in a pissing contest with some random person on the internet.
Also, there is a fine line between moderating comments and outright censorship, I know I find that line tough to walk and have erred on the side of leaving some really obnoxious comments up on my blog so that I don’t get accused of censorship or being biased.
I think if we’re not afraid of ideas, no matter how odious or annoying they are expressed that it gives the reader of the blog a better understanding of the person who runs the blog in question. Some people can handle this balance of anonymity and/or free speech vs. censorship, and some can’t.
It’s the whole 1st Amendment argument. There are points at which some folks will say “You shouldn’t shout fire in a crowded theater”, but where folks actually draw that line says a lot about them.
That said, it’s quite easy to discourage such folks that would be intimidating — simply by NOT acknowledging them. It’s what’s commonly known as “trolling” in the net world. Without the recognition, these folks often move on to other less greener pastures where their vitrol will be either strangely welcomed or even better for them, refuted … such folks are often interesting psychological studies.