moment of dickitude:how to manage blog comments

Check this out over at Tacitus. This is why that blog consistently produces high-quality, substantive exchanges that don't degenerate into a frenzy of directionless prick-waving. As the above-linked post makes clear, Tacitus's commenter culture isn't perfect. The point is that it's closely managed, and people who whine about free speech on blogs-- essentially trying to justify why they act like assholes in the comment threads-- do not win the day with their histrionics on Tacitus. That's a relief. As Dr. Vallicella has noted repeatedly while managing his own blog, a refusal of sponsorship is not censorship. An asshole is free to be an asshole elsewhere. Censorship, properly speaking, is not what a single blogger does: it's systematic and pervasive.

My blog is my personal dictatorship. Comments on my blog exist only because I allow them to. Such an attitude makes me sound like a dick, but I don't give a rat's ass.

On a gentler note: it's been good here at the Hairy Chasms, ever since I turned the comments feature on. I was expecting Many Bad Things from the outset, but they never materialized. Many thanks to the commenters who've left their thoughtful, provocative, and/or witty remarks.


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