tmcgee wrote on 06/07/2010 12:07:10 PM:
In accordance with, and in addition to The Olympian’s published guidelines for use of the comment threads, the following will be strictly enforced on all comment threads on TheOlympian.com: All off-topic comments will be deleted; when abuse reporting becomes a nuisance to our staff, comment capability will be closed down for the remainder of the day; users should understand that the comment threads are neither a personal blog, or a chat room, and should limit comments and discussions accordingly.
6 comments:
Tammy nails the sock puppets.
You're absolutely correct that only certain people abuse the comment threads. Unfortunately, at this time, we can only delete by screen name. When there is one person or even a couple people who carry several screen names, it makes the job of monitoring the comments, and keeping them on-topic even harder.
Tammy McGee
Now let's see if she does anything about that.
The fact is we Libs are far more interested in debate than playing sock puppet games. Although we have learned from Sondrak and her Minions how to game the system we refrain because that game is boring and stupid. When idiots like Boston and Sondrak change their avatar they are unable to change their writing styles and stick out like a pimple on a drama queen's mug.
In the end one has to wonder what is wrong with people who feel compelled to engage in futile efforts to deny their on-line identity.
I copy my post to Tammy before it disappears.
The_Great_Anon wrote on 06/07/2010 01:12:37 PM:
Ms. Mcgee, I say this gently but isn't talking about comment policy in a LTE comments section off topic? May I offer a constructive suggestion. The Olympian should set up a separate forum to discuss comments section policy. I think that would open up the conversation about the comments section policy without dragging others into a sometimes silly and contentious debate.
Pt. 1: From McGee to a friend:
(1) Actually, most times it takes two abuse reports to hide a comment, although sometimes it is three reports. Deletions always come from the moderator. When a comment is reported, it is dropped into a folder, that I look at. I decide if it is actually a violation of guidelines, and then either release it or delete it. To my knowledge, this system has never been hacked, and since we are corporate, there are many programs set up to prevent hacking. Not to mention, it is a felony. I have noticed an increase in abuse reports as many of the regular commenters are figuring out how many it takes to hide a comment. Those abusers of the abuse function will eventually be blocked, and although it is possible to come back under a new user name, The Olympian is working to deal with that issue as well.
(2) Yes, I can see who’s reporting the abuses, as well as every comment made on the site. But only by screen name. At this time, we can only block by email address. Not much help, as I’m sure you can guess. We are at the point where we will just be deleting comments and banning abusive users. We just don’t have the staff to babysit the comment threads. We are working to find a solution, but it really shouldn’t be too much to ask that grown-ups behave like grown-ups while using a public forum.
I have emailed some abusers to ask them to please comply with guidelines (as a warning), but since so many of these users have been banned before, they have email accounts set up just to get registered on our site, so they don’t check those emails. Those are the folks I’m preparing to block. Two have already been blocked, but it’s only a matter of time before they return using a new screen name. There has been talk of shutting off comment capability completely, but that’s not something we really want to do. We want readers to have discussions on the stories, and issues, but the name-calling, and general ‘chat-room’ type behavior is non-productive, and often offensive. Not to mention, it blocks others from being able to leave a comment.
Pt. 2: From McGee to a friend:
(3) [snipped] Some comments are deleted without being reported, yes. I do monitor the comments sometimes, and not just the abuse reports. When I start getting abuse reports from both/either side that are just meant to hide the others comments, that’s when I tend to get annoyed, and if it doesn’t stop with a warning, I shut down the comments.
I get very annoyed when I post a warning, meant to give everyone a chance to tone it down, and either side reports the warning as abuse to hide it. That’s when I usually stop warning, and close the thread. Today however, I didn’t close the thread, I blocked the user. [snipped]
(4) We aren’t deleting comments for being “merely disagreeable.” As always, comments are mostly being deleted because name-calling begins. When that happens, the ‘report abuse’ link starts getting clicked. When I go through the abuse reports, if I see any name-calling or foul language at all, I don’t care what comments preceded it, or came after, I have to delete them. Some comments, while they may not contain foul language, if they are mean-spirited and/or directed at someone else in a mean/spirited manner, they are being deleted, as well. Personal attacks are not needed. Other than that, I’m not sure which comments are being deleted that shouldn’t be. I’ve been receiving abuse reports all day – some have been knocked off, while others have remained.
(5) I realize it's frustrating to have one comment out of 10, on a subject, deleted. It's frustrating to me as well. I get an abuse report, and without having read the comments that lead up to the one reported, it's hard to know in what context some things are said. On those occassions, I have to look for whatever seems to have offended, and just delete it. Other times, if I don't think it's offensive, but rather that one person just didn't like another's opinion, I leave it. I do my best to be fair, and admittedly, sometimes things probably get deleted that maybe shouldn't have. I'm only one person doing the jobs of about 5 other people.
(6) [snipped] At this time, if a person chooses to remain anonymous when they report, they can. You don’t have to be registered under a screen name to report abuse. That’s ludicrous in my opinion. But many other companies are having this issue, as well, so they are looking into modifying that part of the program. I had a certain commenter get angry the other day because I banned him/her, and they went through and reported all the comments on letters to the editor, with “f**k you” in every abuse report - Immature to say the least.
Great analogy, Anon!
It's the lazy person's way out.
As to McGee's "explanation" of the abuse, as one that tested the theory, I can guarantee you that you can also lodge a complain without a screen name - not logged in.
When I have had to take matters into my own hands to block the post of someone that has posted negative personal comments about me (Long has said "we can't be here all the time", as has McGee), I can tell you what works.
As to "can't be hacked", I have to laugh. Time/Warner/AOL got hacked big time. I think McGee is painfully misinformed.
"We just don’t have the staff to babysit the comment threads. We are working to find a solution, but it really shouldn’t be too much to ask that grown-ups behave like grown-ups while using a public forum." - says McGee.
I wonder why she seemed to think that I had the time to monitor every post on ThurstonBlog when the Great Death Threat was issued?
Of course, she also said to me...
"And I’m quite sure by now, most people know that just because something is posted to a comment thread/ or anywhere on the Internet, for that matter, doesn’t necessarily make it the truth."
Tammy McGee
The Olympian Newspaper
tmcgee@theolympian.com
360-754-5447
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