Respectful discourse
The reason you have arived here is probably due to the fact that the owner of this web site has deemed some portion of a comment as flamebait.
While I am not sure of many things, here are a few things I do believe:
- Overall, the comments feature of my weblog is something that I find the most enjoyable and rewarding aspects of my site.
- I welcome thoughtful and respectful expressions of alternate points of view.
- There are some topics that I am interested in that others seem to find as irresistable temptations to bash one another.
- Nobody has an inalienable right to place information on my website. If you have something to say, I encourage you to get your own weblog. Feel free to use trackback to draw attention to your comments.
Given the above, I would like to find a solution less drastic than disabling comments, blocking of ip address, or wholesale removal of comments. That being said, I do reserve the right to selectively employ one or more of the above in situations I feel warrant it.
At the moment, the best solution I have come up with is to mark up the portions I find objectionable with links to this page. No words are addded, deleted, or rearranged in the process.
Suggestions are welcome.
What would really make this interesting is if other readers could mark bits of text in a given comment as flamebait, not just Sam.
Posted by James Snell at
There are third-party products that do that, Annotea, ThirdVoice, CritLink, and Yawas are a few that come up in a quick search.
Posted by Ken MacLeod at
This is a great idea, and I'm implementing it on my own weblog. It has the added benefit that, if people just read your site for the entertaining flames, they're now much easier to find. Kind of like those trashy romance novels that put all the sex scenes in italics.
Posted by Mark at
I've updated my HTML markup to match Mark's. This should make it easier for people who wish to apply their own stylesheets.
Posted by Sam Ruby at
I think making parts of a comment bright red only serves to draw attention to them, but maybe its just me that is reading only the 'deleted' parts.
Posted by Trevor at
Trevor: refresh. I reverted it back to a more muted blue (same as links, just not bold) last night.
Posted by Sam Ruby at
Bite that dog
Sam Ruby now has a policy by which he'll cross out (not delete) comments he considers flamebait. An interesting idea,...... [more]Trackback from Raw Blog at
Setting a few things straight
Help me find better choice, and I will gladly choose it. Until then, I plan to continue to respect the roadmaps. Both of them. Dave is providing feedback. Here's my responses: I have a policy. This weblog will follow this... [more]Trackback from Sam Ruby at
Comment policies
Sam Ruby has a policy for his blog's comment section. He edits comments he considers flames with strikethrough and coloring and makes them link to his policy page. Mark Pilgrim uses a similar policy at his weblog. Danny Ayers' policies sort of do... [more]Trackback from Radio Free Blogistan at
Atom discussions
Randy Charles Morin: I could not have said it better myself... [more]Trackback from Sam Ruby at
Guys i think im on a right place. you have knowledge when it comes on brain. I have a question, do you encounter a split minded person?. You see A person only has a 1 mind a combination of left and right (left and right brain). In my case I felt something strange, i felt that my head is been cut into two(at first i thought it was physical but i realize it was PSYCHOLOGICAL). now I have a two mind 1 is controlling my left side and the other one is on right. my right eye is always smiling and i cant control it. i thought i was split brain person but im not coz I still have my cerebrum on my brain.
Posted by Shen at
Bloggers on patrol
The web today is a-flutter with calls for new “standards” to fight back against the increasing problem of hostility in the world of blogging. This comes on the back of a spate of unpleasant, unprovoked attacks on various bloggers...Excerpt from Ross' PhD Blog at
Re: Writing with ease
Joanne: if you’re following this thread, I would appreciate a public apology and a complete retraction of your false accusation, as well as confirmation of the fact that these pictures were licensed under a Creative Commons Sharealike license when...Excerpt from Comments for dive into mark at
No hitting
Status update: I've adjusted the html tags I use to annotate weblog comments. Instead of merely a <del> tag, I now use a hypertext link: one with a title of flamebait, and a link to a page where further information and discussion... [more]Trackback from Sam Ruby at