So I've been thinking about where to draw the line with negative Anonymous comments. Note that I will not be removing Anonymous comments in general, and note this does not apply to negative comments from registered users. This ONLY applies to negative comments from people that do not sign in. Also note you can remain anonymous signing in with an alias. The reason Anonymous comments are questionable is because there is no way to tell if it's from the same or different people. That said, should I remove them or leave them up? Let me know your thoughts via the poll below. If you do not care either way, obviously do not take the poll. I'm curious what you all think. Feel free to comment as well.
Monday, July 09, 2007
32 comments:
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MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH
© Matrixsynth - All posts are presented here for informative, historical and educative purposes as applicable within fair use.
MATRIXSYNTH is supported by affiliate links that use cookies to track clickthroughs and sales. See the privacy policy for details.
MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH
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I think it depends what you mean by "negative" comments. Obviously we should all be having a good time and getting along, but differences of opinion lead to interesting discourse. But the bottom line is that it's your blog, and you get to decide what kind of discourse takes place.
ReplyDeleteObviously comments that extend beyond the scope of free speech should be deleted, but aside from that you should reserve the right to delete posts made by people who are just here to cause trouble. The question is, how much time are you willing to spend policing your blog?
Comments can be negative while still be constructive. It's the pointless trolling that gets a little old.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Murray above. When it comes down to negative comments that are simply obvious garbage, yes, by all means these should be deleted. I get tired of seeing excellent sites such as this dragged around by the nose by trolls, flamers, and the usual net-brawlers. But when 'negative' comments are coming from informed and worthwhile viewpoints, then that's a different situation altogether, and adds to the exchange of ideas that makes this site worthwhile. It all seems to come down to, again, how much energy you're willing to expend in both the deletion AND determination of what goes on in these comment sections.
ReplyDeleteBut if you're talking about dumping the trolling comments, then yes, I'm all for that. Always will be. I've had more than enough of watching that sort of behavior drag down some things I've enjoyed on the Internet over the years, and I'd definitely enjoy seeing it go packing. If that's the real intent here, count me as a 'yes'.
Really, if someone can't be bothered to identify themselves, how constructive can their negative comments really be?
ReplyDeleteThe internet allows people to hide behind anonymity and get their kicks by being assholes. People are much less likely to be assholes if they can be readily identified.
Unless, of course, they actually are assholes.
Actually, I post anonymously on here because I've had to deal with the behavior of some ill-behaved net synth types before in the past. I won't post 'as myself', period. I have no desire to deal in person with some of the behavior I've seen characterize some online synth communities in the past and present. If you think that this diminishes what I might have to say, then fine, that's your opinion. But that being said, I think there's a clear difference between someone like myself who tries to add to useful discourse from a position of anonymity, and people who just hide behind the 'anonymous' tag for the purpose of causing trouble. Anonymity has its uses...and, unfortunately, its abuses as well.
ReplyDeleteFor the most part, I think that if you can't even be bothered to make up a name, your comment can't be worth too much. One good thing about Slashdot's messaging system is that you can filter out anonymous cowards, and the voting/karma system helps increase the signal to noise ratio.
ReplyDeleteIf you think that I bother to distinguish much between the authors of anonymous comments like the last two, you're wrong. I pretty much assume that all comments from anonymous are from the same author. "useful discourse" and "asswipe" alike.
My point in all this is that the constant trolling does get old.
its more work to "clean up" - with this blog gaining more nad more popularity, it will attract more of these "spammer"/ "stirring it up" types. Generally it should still be allowed to post without being signed in though, there are some valid reasons beyond simplicity
ReplyDeleteIt's actually really easy to clean up. I just click a delete button on the comment and that's it. I read all comments that come in. I figure if someone wants to post a negative comment they can create an anonymous account and log in. Seriously, how lazy can you be. The problem with allowing negative "constructive" comments is they actually make the best troll bait. The obvious bait is usually ignored. It's the "just rude enough" stuff that baits people. I see it happen over and over again here and other places. The easy solution is two fold - one, remove all negative anonymous comments period, and two if you want to post a negative comment you just sign in with an anonymous account you create. Again, how lazy can you be and if you are that lazy then who cares. I want to see what people vote on before I make a call either way. As for work on my end it would be much easier just to delete them as they come in rather than think about it, so...
ReplyDeleteConstructive criticism: Good. Trolling: Bad.
ReplyDeleteI think troll comments should be removed, because although troll hunting can be fun it can get messy.
ReplyDeleteEven better would be to log their ip.
Does every comment an anonymous visitor makes have to be positive?
ReplyDeleteno not all comments needs to be positive - thats nonsense
ReplyDeletei had a negative comment on a Oscilloscope Test video where i've shown some functionality of an oscilloscope
someone made fun of me how i can post such a simple stuff - what did he expect on a video called test?
That kind of comments are totaly senseless and can be deleted imo
Some of the best conversations I have read on the internet (and by this I mean profound) have come out of people after a heated debate because of a troll. Granted, it can just as easily stay at a bunch of people getting angry. However, everything has meaning, a need, and a use. By removing the negatives and policing the site, it may reduce its ability to become important to some people on an intellectual or spiritual level.
ReplyDeleteI think everything has a point, and by modeling things away from one thing, you can inadvertently turn it into something else equally as unwanted.
That said, posts that are obviously pointedly hateful should be removed, because they generally don't serve any purpose at all, except making people angry.
Like any type of discussion there will always be people that have positive things to say and those that have negative things. That is what discussion is. Removing obvious negative comments such as "that f** sucks, you s***", yes. But why remove comments such as "I hate the way synthis sound and how retarded it is to route anything"- it is just opinion and only that.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to remove negative comments, then you should also remove positive comments as well - that's fair and balanced- right?
I agree with the above post by Murray. Common sense, common sense.
I read this blog almost daily during the week and I just don't see that much in the way of troll comments compared to other blogs I read, so IMHO, what is appearing isn't a big deal.
ReplyDeleteBut hey, it's your blog, so cull what you want.
i like discussion with trolls sometimes a lot - but here's no way to dicuss - espicially not if the poster was anonymous
ReplyDeleteMy mind can delete negative comments on its own, but usually I find them spicy.
ReplyDeleteif you're going to decide to care about damaging comments, then remove them all, regardless of whether they're anonymous or from a potentially equally anonymous user name.
ReplyDeleterandom thoughts after reading people's comments:
ReplyDelete-i feel you should remove comments intentionally made to put someone else down, to hurt their feelings or their business, or outright lies. and of course the trolls who post flame bait should be deleted and banned. let them turn some other forum into a zoo.
-policing a blog should be required of all blog owners.
-as an anonymous poster myself, i completely agree with this comment: "Actually, I post anonymously on here because I've had to deal with the behavior of some ill-behaved net synth types before in the past. I won't post 'as myself', period. I have no desire to deal in person with some of the behavior I've seen characterize some online synth communities in the past and present. If you think that this diminishes what I might have to say, then fine, that's your opinion. But that being said, I think there's a clear difference between someone like myself who tries to add to useful discourse from a position of anonymity, and people who just hide behind the 'anonymous' tag for the purpose of causing trouble. Anonymity has its uses...and, unfortunately, its abuses as well. "
-also, did you non-anonymous people realize that google archives all the sites you visit, and keeps tabs on all your net activity, on and off blogger? scary big brother shit!
-matrix, how do you have the time to read all comments that come in? damn, i need your job!
Anonymous said "if you're talking about dumping the trolling comments, then yes, I'm all for that."
ReplyDeleteAnd then Anonymous said "I post anonymously on here because I've had to deal with the behavior of some ill-behaved net synth types before in the past". I suppose that the fear of bad behavior is typical of people who hide behind bushes. Of course, in my experience, a lot of bad behavior is enabled by anonymity.
Anonymous followed that up with the cogent bon mot "all you asswipes can lick my sack".
A little while later Anonymous made the basically stupid comment "everything has meaning, a need, and a use.", which is obviously false.
Anonymous added "why remove comments such as 'I hate the way synthis sound and how retarded it is to route anything'- it is just opinion and only that.", to which I respond: opinion is weighted by the reputation of the person giving the opinion. For example, I don't care what Britney Spears might have to say about the pin matrix of a Synthi. Brian Eno's opinion is worth something. If you are posting anonymously, I'm just going to go ahead and assume you are Britney Spears: bored, petulant, with too much time on her hands.
To me this question of identity is crucial. I don't need to know people's True Name, but I do want some sort of identity to interact with. I'm fine with it being an abstract identity. For example our host, Matrixsynth, is basically anonymous, but because there is a consistent name associated with the identity Matrixsynth it makes is possible to have conversations with, and rate the opinions of the entity known as Matrixsynth.
-C
p.s.
As I understand it, Google tracks your usage whether or not you are logged in to Blogger or not, if you have cookies enabled in your browser.
If something is vile or crude by all means clean it up. But to sanatize comments because they happen to be negative and anonymous isn't real. There are auctions that are linked from this site that have no doubt been fraudlent and anonymous, you would think thats more damaging then some punk harping on about banjo sounds etc. If your looking to create some type of synth fairyland go ahead and and remove the negative comments. I guess this would be considered one of them?
ReplyDeleteAre you guys really that dumb? Of course he meant trolling comments, not valid disagreements.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I wonder about the Internet...
Britney Spears said "Are you guys really that dumb? Of course he meant trolling comments, not valid disagreements.
ReplyDeleteAre you really a troll?
-C
"Actually, I post anonymously on here because I've had to deal with the behavior of some ill-behaved net synth types before in the past. I won't post 'as myself', period. I have no desire to deal in person with some of the behavior I've seen characterize some online synth communities in the past and present."
ReplyDelete*awesome*. thanks for writing that. my sentiments exactly.
there are about 1000 other things you could do to improve this blog that are more important than censoring comments.
also maybe if you stop giving elhardt, chicks with synths, and lame shit that has already been posted 1000 times so much attention, the negative anon comments will die down :)
censorship of anyone's comments is evil. however, making money by linking to every single synth related ebay auction is evil.
ReplyDelete"Brian Eno's opinion is worth something."
ReplyDeleteBrian Eno's opinion on the Synthi has little merit because he gave his Synthi AKS away when he went all MIDI. Eno gave it to a coworker who worked on one of Eno's albums. It used to sit 50ft from my desk and was unused because "it's special - Eno gave me that". What a waste.
-Cary
Yeah, but compared to Britney Spears? :-) This is getting to be a digression, but...
ReplyDeleteWhy does the fact that Eno got rid of a piece of gear, after initially embracing it and using it for years, negate his opinion about it? He made some wonderful music with it, and reveled in its quirks while he had it. I would say that he is eminently qualified to render an opinion on it whether he still owns one or not.
I'm about to sell my ARP 2600. Does that mean my opinion about that no longer counts?
Surely you have opinions about some of the gear you no longer have.
I generally do not like trolls but vote that neg anonymous comments stay. while acknowledging thier capacity to hurt, the ideas and bait submitted by ignorant people are usually sad or funny or both---to me, anyways.
ReplyDeletei feel that trolls do somewhat provide an interesting comment on the holistic nature of the net.
also pretty much everybody loves synth babes, eno and MS in general. there probably aren't a million things you could improve here. *maybe* a few at most.
I suspect people have asked for better censorship here before. Which comment/s prompted this poll?
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't one comment. It's various comments over time. I thought it would be interesting to see what came in on a poll. It looks like it's split just about down the middle with removing negative comments slightly ahead. The thing to keep in mind is if I removed negative Anonymous comments, you could still post anonymous negative comments - you would just need to sign in for an anonymous account. Why does this make a difference? It would most likely filter out a bit of the noise and multiple comments from the same individual pretending to be different people.
ReplyDeleteThat said, and with results that came in, I'll leave things as is for now, meaning I will delete the more offensive stuff and if you see something you want removed, just shoot me an email and I'll remove it. Note the bar for removal goes way up for registered users. Up to the point that the default is no I won't remove it unless it's hate, porn or whatever else. If it's an anonymous comment, it's fair game. If you are an anonymous commenter who wants to post something negative and not have it removed, just sign up for an anonymous account and use that. I don't feel sorry for people that disrespect others, yet are too lazy to sign up for an account.
I think you should remove ALL disrespectful comments if you're going to remove any. It doesn't make sense to leave some and delete others.... but do what you want - it's YOUR site. :)
ReplyDeleteTo me, it's like the difference between friends who disagree with you and argue with you honestly, and "friends" who talk badly about you behind your back.
ReplyDeleteI really don't have any problem with the former; I like a good argument, and I have friends who make no bones about not caring for my style of racket. That's fine.
Britney Spears who snipe behind the shield of anonymity are essentially talking behind your back.
If someone doesn't like something and says it to my face, that's honest desent, and I'm fine with that. If Britney Spears is hiding in a closet and shouting "lick my sack", that seems to me to be a sign of disrespect.