We hate being the comment police. Unfortunately, we are forced into that role from time to time.
Here is the problem. Let's say I post a story about 9 Marks and the keys to the kingdom. The conversation perks along complete with some short rabbit trails which are bound to happen and are just fine with me. If it is a few short comments, no problem.
Some folks like to write lengthy comments on topics which are of interest to them and a few others. That is wonderful. The time, thought and passion that go into their thoughts is evident and appreciated. However, sometimes those comments get so far off topic that it holds little relevance to the post. Suddenly, we are discussing the building of the Suez Canal in great detail.
Sometimes, those "Suez Canal" comments can be quite lengthy. It becomes difficult for those who come to the blog to discuss the topic at hand to actually find the comments pertaining to the topic. Also, please keep in mind that exceedingly lengthy comments are rarely read by many folks.
So, later today, we will create a permanent "Open Discussion" page. Here is how it will work. If you become involved in an off topic, lengthy discussion, consider suggesting that it move to that page. We will be monitoring the discussions as well. If we ask that the conversation be moved to the Open Discussion page, we hope you will help us out and do so. Please understand that we are not insulting you if we ask you to move. It is simply a method of streamlining the discussion.
We are trying this system out and it is subject to change as the inevitable bugs are worked out. We will post the link to the page shortly.
Chronic Criticism by One Commenter
We have absolutely no problem with being criticized. We even do not mind being called names. Our current favorite is "follower of Satin (sic)." However, there are a few folks, (not to mention any names, Seneca,) whose main purpose is to say we, and our readers, are involved in all sorts of evil doings. Sometimes, I don't even read the comment because I know it is just the same old, same old.
Here is how things are going to work from here on out. Our chronic critics are welcome to express their disdain on multiple occasions. However, if the same, generalized "you stink" comments show up time and time again from one individual, we will limit it to just a few times. We will make a statement to the effect of "Yes, Seneca, we get it. You think we are terrible sinners. " From that point on, we will not post the repetitive comments and the person will be placed in permanent moderation.
We had hoped that by allowing multiple critiques, said person would get it out of their system. However, there appear to be some people who just keep going on and on and on over years. The point has been made. We get it. Now, either participate in the discussion or move along to another blog.
Comment in Moderation: Don't worry
It is rare that we personally put any comment/person into moderation. It is not rare for our automatic, obsessive compulsive moderation-bot to put a comment into moderation. Without going into details because TGBC will be mad at me, there are words that are used in everyday communication that can be misused in certain contexts. I have grown to agree with the wisdom of those types of words being automatically flagged. It protects us when we are sleeping or out of pocket.
Do not worry that you have done anything if your comment goes to moderation. I get thrown into moderation several times as week. But I get to approve myself!
You will know if I have problems with your comment. I will comment in the thread that a comment was "not approved" if there is a problem. I might even suggest how to alter the comment.
Once again, we value our readers. This blog is about you, not us. Please understand that it is hard to balance freedom of expression while allowing for a cohesive discussion to develop. We want you voices to be heard. You have made a difference over the last 5 years and we have reason to believe that this is just the beginning of effecting a change in how churches conduct their ministries.
God is at work in you and in us. Please know we are praying for all of you.
Thanks for doing this. I applaud the move because I often have trouble following the comments. And I knew you were “followers of satin”. Who doesn’t love chocolate?
http://www.mariecallendersmeals.com/cream-pies/chocolate-satin-pie-1278110200
🙂 Thanks for all you two do!
@ Doug:
Funny. We have also been called “followers of Stan (sic.)” Do you think it is this guy? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Lee
@ dee:
Isn’t everyone?
Doug wrote:
Why yes, yes we are!!!! 🙂
Was I supposed to say “First!”? I am new here… 🙂
“follower of Satin (sic).”
Err…. I follow Satin, too. I just adore satin sheets and pillow cases. I thought it was a compliment! (wink)
When people come to my blog and repeat themselves with those “All of you are wrong and I’m right” comments I delete them too, and try to note in a response to one I allow to remain up that the deletions are due to unproductive repetitiveness.
On the other hand, if someone is just being mean about it then I delete the comment without an explanation. After all, the comment policy at my blog isn’t that hard to understand.
as a sewist… can I join the “followers of satin” too? 😉
Good luck with the new policy. Sometimes I think disquis has a good presentation for the comments that wander (since they fall into nested responses), and sometimes I think boards are good. I haven’t found a perfect system though.
Suddenly, we are discussing the building of the Suez Canal in great detail.
Dee, you are blessed with the wonderful ability to make a very serious statement with a touch of humor that hits the nail on the head. Thanks for all you do!
I think this is a very good idea. I keep getting drawn into a particular long-running theme here, which is fine except when it starts to take over a thread actually devoted to something else. The discussion may be fun, interesting and worthwhile, but shouldn't become a distraction from other topics.
I'm not sure I've cottoned on to what you mean about being 'followers of Satin' – I suspect you are just spinning a yarn …
I do wish you could run to a review function which might help eliminate typos and other oddities from being preserved unto all the ages.
I opted to kick off the discussion with a question regarding an incident of possible clerical abuse when I was 16, and I do hope you’ll join me in analyzing it.
Doug wrote:
I may don my satin blouse later this afternoon and my satin pjs this evening. 😉
Thanks, Dee, for the inspiration.
Will there ever be a “like,” or “heck yeah!” function on any threads? 🙂
I am a follower of Satin, too, as long as it is silk. Poly not so much. As for the old acetate satin, I’m pretty sure Satan’s red suit is made of that evil material.
How about when the string of comments become more about the commenter, than the topic at hand? You know, somebody disagrees, and then of course they’re a troll, PR rep, drive-by, organizational insider, etc? At that point, suspicions and accusations toward the commenter effectively shut down the conversation (or at least any dissenting viewpoints.)
Please don’t go to Disqus. Pretty please…
Deebs!! I think you’re going into new territory…you’re becoming the Washington Post of the blogs Ms. Kathleen Graham? 😉
Gram3 wrote:
Amen to that. The Disqus interface doesn’t work properly with my iPad running the latest IOS, it tends to jam and prevent character input until I reload the page several times. And knowing the verbose nature of my comments, as you can doubtless surmise that’s a major hindrance for me!
Thank you ladies. Your site is so popular that this will help each insight/thought to be noticed instead of getting caught up in the middle of a detour.
You guys are the best. If you’re ever in the Northwest, come hiking with me or even better, we’ll hike to some local fab shoe stores !! (My passion too!)
And, unless someone is discussing the 4 times of the year or tenderizing their steak, can we add “season” to the list with “bitter” ?
nwhiker wrote:
Well there are the liturgical seasons; I would like it if we can still talk about Lent, Advent, Eastertide, and so on. I don’t get the objection regarding Season by the way, I noticed that it was followed by a TM on the post about Driscoll’s disqualification, but if someone could clue me in on what that’s about I would appreciate it.
Deebs, You guys are doing an awesome job! I bet you didn’t expect 5 years ago how big this thing would get! You guys have every right to run your blog in the most efficient way possible as well as keeping yourselves from burnout! Your readers love you and thank you for your service. Seneca may think ya’ll are great sinners, but I am one reader who has recovered her hope in Christ due to sites like yours’ and Julie Ann’s. After years of struggle you guys have been the voice of hope. Thank you for your witness!! Ann
Cool beans, Deebs!
btw, we have been having *snow flurries* up here today. It’s far too early in the season for that!
@ nwhiker:
nwhiker, this comment is expressly for you –
http://thewartburgwatch.com/2014/10/22/new-comment-policy-making-threads-easier-to-follow/#comment-162371
Good rules. Love the “followers of Satin” criticism. 🙂
I do wish we could have nested comments for replies. This would make it easier to follow various threads of comments.
@ numo:
Ah, sorry! Note to self!
John wrote:
We used to and there was an outcry that it wasn’t working. Some nested comments had 50 entries and it was confusing.
@ Ann:
Thank you for your kind words.
@ numo:
Snow…oh dear. It was a cool summer here and I fear the winter may come early.
@ nwhiker:
i was joking! 🙂
@ dee:
i hear you, and think the same. But, being in the mountains + a few hundred miles north of you, I think we’re going to have a worse time. (Unless you get ice storms – those are like a preview of hell, I think, and I remember them all too well from living in the D.C. area.)
@ dee:
This is funny. I was told by a friend of hurh that had sent some missionaries to Japan and had printed up a bunch of fliers for them to use warning the Japanese about how dangerous Satan was. However, there was a typo that left the Japanese who read the fliers wondering who this Stan was and how to avoid him 😉
John wrote:
I like nested comments. They are great for showing up and following the 300 comments posted since you were here last. But if you read in “real time” they make it very hard to see what has posted recently. You have to scan for times.
I’d love to find a plug in that would allow individuals to pick and better yet switch back and forth. But so far I have not seen such a thing.
Anyway I like threaded, Dee doesn’t so we don’t. 🙂
As someone who has posted “Suez Canal” comments in the past, I fully support the new comment policy. Great idea.
Just in case anyone hasn’t notice, there is a menu for this new page and also a link to it on the right side of this site.
dee wrote:
From the wiki page: “In August 2011, Lee announced his support for the Eagle Initiative”
oh, I’m big time guilty of Suez canal comments, love this new idea. Agree with the comments on Disqus and the current comment layout – keep it as it is ! Tip: I often use Ctrl + F (find function) to search for someone’s name or a keyword when needed – makes for easy navigation on the page.
William G. wrote:
William, “season” has become one of those Christian-eze buzz words like “cynical” and “bitter” and “have a blessed day”. I’m sure there’s a list somewhere. Here’s a similar type post: http://www.stuffchristianculturelikes.com/2013/11/236-labeling-dissent-as-cynicism.html
I find “have a blessed day” interesting, as it’s usually put after contradicting someone or totally putting them down.
These terms and phrases and who uses them and in what context is worthy of linguistic analysis methinks (eg, use of the ?pirate word “huzzah” in Quiverful circles).
@ William G.:
Several ministerial types use the word “season”, actually overuse it, to mean a period of time where things aren’t going so well for somebody. The word begins to sound like empty verbiage instead of a comment about bad times.
@ numo:I am going to move this to the open thread because I was thinking today about my definition of hell on earth: What is the situation I would least like to spend eternity? nd I realized that it has changed over the last few years.
Ah, I can see how that can be annoying. But perhaps we can make a distinction between the use of the word to refer to liturgical seasons which most denominations follow, and the euphemistic manner that you have described. I don’t see anything wrong with ” Have a blessed day”, I am a fan of the Anglican dismissal “May The Lord God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, be amongst you, and remain with you always.” The Byzantine blessing is longer, more ornate, differs if said by a priest or a bishop, and invokes Ss. Joachim and Anna among others, as one might expect, it takes about five minutes to say it.
William G
This comment is definitely off the topic of this post. Could you stick to the topic or bring this over to open discussion? Thanks.
Hi Dee,
off-topic, but what does “out of pocket” mean to you? This is the 2nd time I’ve seen it on this site in the last few weeks and it’s being used in a different context to what I’m familiar with
Where I’m from, “out of pocket” refers to money spent/lost, usually unexpectedly. Eg, “I dropped my phone and now I’m $100 out of pocket for a new screen”
@ Dave:
It’s the same in my part of the US, but evidently not in Dee’s. 😉
Dave wrote:
I use the phrase to mean that I will be unavailable to do the things we usually do because I am away or indisposed. So, it means that my commenting, moderating, etc. will not be as usual.
However, I have used to to mean the same thing as you do. I have used it much of my life so i do not know if it is a Boston expression or if it came later after my move to the South.
It does appear that the ad hominen attacks have lessened. Kudos ladies.ut
*
I actually pay fairly close attention to arguments for or against the theological positions held by conservative evangelicals. But if the comment is simply an attack on their person/character of a man/woman they happen to disagree with ( but they don’t actually know), I’m going to give their comment short shrift. But if people make a thoughtful case with a minimum of snark – I’m good with that even if I disagree.
*
BTW, I think the conservative American church has huge problems. But I don’t think that’s actually anything new. Materialism has always been a big problem to the people of God. It certainly is to me – sadly. Sen
@ Dave:
I’ve always used it in the “unavailable” or “unreachable” sense except when specifically referring to an expense that is not reimbursable.
I don’t know where or why this use originated, and when I took the dialect quiz that was making the rounds some time ago, I had words and expressions from all over the place in the U.S. Gramp3 says he doesn’t know how or where it originated either.
Maybe because something that it is one’s pocket is readily at hand.
@Dee & Deb – maybe you can be followers of some nice satin sheets with a nice cup of hot tea.
I was apparently placed in permanent moderated status around June or July of this year (every single post goes straight to moderation), was not told before hand this would be the case, and have no idea why this even happened.
I checked my email address that I registered with this site and didn’t see any sort of communication there about that.
Around the time all this happened, I was not even posting as much to this blog as I had before (due in large measure to some personal changes in my life).
Being placed on moderated status indefinitely makes it a little tougher to comment, or get replies to questions / comments. Maybe that is the intent, to discourage me from leaving remarks, I don’t know.
Usually, by the time one of my comments gets approved, there might be anywhere from 5 to 25 new comments by others below mine, and mine might go overlooked as a result, since most people have the tendency to scroll down to the newest comments.
Has there been any talk about using a threaded comment system? I’m just so used to Disqus now everywhere else. My 2 cents 🙂
Personally, I am a follower of Santa. Especially in December.
@ Phoenix:
With three kids in the house, I am Santa (and the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy).
I always used to say that at an appropriate age our daughters knew the truth about Santa, The Easter Bunny, and The Tooth Fairy. However, they believed wholeheartedly into adulthood in the Laundry Fairy (the one who turns crumpled, dirty heaps back into clean, folded clothing in drawers.) They believed until they became Laundry Fairies themselves;)