Comment Rules

In light of some less than savoury comments on my blog I have decided that it’s sadly time to institute rules regarding commenting on my blog.

  1. No personal attacks – It is quite frustrating when someone makes a good point but follows it up with a personal attack. For someone to say “I disagree with your points because of x, y and z” opens up discussion and I welcome that, but I cannot allow it when it’s followed with “you utter moron”
  2. No offensive words/swearwords – Fairly simple one this. Swearwords aren’t allowed. If I adjudicate a word to be offensive on my blog, then it is, no ifs, no buts.
  3. No tediocrities – When someone makes an argument over spelling or somesuch tedious matter, it undermines the argument and the nature of discussion. If your sole point is “you spelt such and such wrong” that’s not an argument.
  4. No unsubstantiated arguments – If you simply say “You are wrong” without backing up why, I’m not going to allow it because it’s a point without any worth. If you want to make a point it must having meaning or context, otherwise it’s not a comment.
  5. No trolling – If you are arguing frustratingly with the sole intention of getting a rise, look elsewhere. I’ve got an “unapprove” and a “trash” button and they both work just fine.
  6. No Discrimination – Don’t make makes comments that discriminate against someone’s gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, etc.
  7. No waffling – Try and keep to the point. People have come here to read my blog, and some of the follow up comments. As a rule, I will generally trash anything that is more than 50% as long as the blog itself.
  8. Don’t Spam – As with the above I don’t give specific figues but if I feel you are commenting more than you should then I will have to trash it for you.
  9. No anonymous comments – If your e-mail address looks fake, I will block it immediately. If you have something to say, you should stand by your comments and not behind a veil of anonymity.
  10. I retain the right to not approve or delete any comments I feel cross a certain line.

Now that I’ve dispense with the “what not to do” it’s time for some do’s.

DO:-

  • Express yourself – I want to hear your opinion
  • Try to be original – Little is achieved by making a point already made fifty times previously.
  • Inlink the blog and send trackbacks – If you write a blog post about one of my blog posts, I will normally accept relevant trackbacks and pingbacks.
  • Quote me – If you think there are people that could contribute, either for or against my views, I would love to hear them.

(These rules are reproduced and adapted from http://benjaminbartonformp.wordpress.com/comment-rules/ with permission from Ben. Yes, I’m too lazy to write my own when these perfectly good rules exist elsewhere).