Quote of the day, from Teresa Nielsen Hayden of Making Light, a blog known for having some of the most civil conversations on the web.
Anonymous nastiness is easy to write, and will always find an appreciative audience. I don’t care. It’s not a manifestation of the free and open discourse of the internet; it’s a thing that destroys that discourse. To be specific, it’s the same old trashmouthed bullying we all know from junior high and high school. Putting it on the net doesn’t cause it to develop any novel complexities or interesting emergent behaviors. It’s just the same old sh*t.
If you have a weblog or live journal, or you administer a website that has comment threads, stand up for yourself and your readers. The jerks are never going to like you, or praise you, or admit that you’re doing the right thing. And if you’re waiting for someone to give you permission to suppress and thereafter ignore malfeasants, you have it right now. If you want, I’ll make up a certificate. Go forth and civilize.
READ ME: Disclaimer
8 Responses to "Along those same lines…"
Word.
I love having discussions on my page, and I’m really glad that most people don’t just shoot off their mouths but actually make thoughtful contributions. Most of the time.
Sure, we can move the discussion here. I’m not arguing with you on legal grounds, where you’re right. I’m arguing with you on principle. If we agree that free speech is a good thing, we should promote it in as many contexts as possible. I guess I just have a lot of faith in the ability of dialogue, and even if people are just trying to insult rather than engage me, that doesn’t mean I can’t engage them and try to start a discussion.
My point (and the point many others have been making) is that screaming one’s head off like a rabid dog is not free speech. And it sure as shit isn’t an attempt at dialogue. It disrupts and attempts to shut down free and open dialogue.
By your logic above, spam is “free speech.” We all moderate that out of existence, right? Is Akismet shutting down free speech?
If that’s the kind of shit people want to do, hey, there’s no shortage of space on the internet for them to do so. But they’re not going to do it here. And I’m not going to shed a tear over the lack of their oh-so-enlightening presence.
Well, spam is robots. Robots don’t get free speech. Not yet anyway. I guess I’m just more optimistic about the possibility of changing someone else’s mind, even if that person is an asshole.
To each their own - your blog, your rules. But for me, people who show up at my blog and go “LALALALA I CAN’T HEAR YOU!!!!!” are not worth my time.
-glances uneasily over shoulder for Cylons-
i *heart* the Nielsen-Haydens, p.s. i really need to hang out there more often, somehow i never seem to get around to it but i always mean to
anyway, yeah, what Amber said. or…well, it’s partly a subjective thing; it’s also, i believe, a skill, learning to discern those who might possibly bear a hope in hell of being reached, who at least are genuinely -interested-, and those who are there strictly to fuck with you.
the latter i have no patience for, unless it’s to sharpen my claws on for a while. but yeah, some people really are energy drains, and the thing is, I’m only human and have limited energy. if i spend x amount pouring it into someone who seems insatiable but repays it with nothing but more brickwalling and sheer awfulness, it’s that much less i have for the people who really -are- capable of genuine dialogue.
you know–people have the right to congregate, too, but that doesn’t mean they all get to do it -in my house.- personally i keep a “no shoes no social skills no service” (actually i don’t care about the shoes) policy, and though i’ve only had to enforce it a very few times, je ne regrette shit.
Leave a comment