A discussion about comments
Long ago, none of the comments here had to be moderated. But, as we’ve grown, spammers started spamming the comments, trying to sell their crap. There are some add-ons to the software that help keep spammers off of the site, and there are some recommended guidelines to help site owners keep spam out of the comments. One of those guidelines is to make it so that a new registrant’s first comment must be moderated, and once someone has an approved comment, then as long as nothing else throws a comment into the moderated queue, all comments from there on out won’t be moderated.
There are also a lot of suggested keywords that will cause a comment to be moderated, and for the most part these steps have worked because it’s been a while since a spammer has managed to get spam into the comments.
When it comes to approving the comments that are moderated, I do not do that based on whether I agree with someone or not. In fact, take a look at the top of the comments, the wording says:
Note from RQ: The section below is for comments from ChinaAdoptTalk.com’s community of registered readers. Please don’t assume that I agree with any particular comment just because I let it stand. Posts are generally only removed if they don’t follow the rules of the site. Anyone who fails to comply with the rules of the site may lose his or her posting privilege.
If I only approved comments I agree with, there could never be any discussion, an weighing of the issues, could there?
But I do require that people be nice when they comment. It is possible to disagree and to do it nicely. There is no room for venom in a civilized discussion. Rule Number One on both the blog and forum is to Be Nice.
And finally, without getting into a huge “he said she said” discussion, just because someone posts to their blog “this was my comment and it was refused”, that doesn’t mean it was the entire comment. If they are only posting part of the refused comment, then it may look like a comment that should have been approved. I’m not going to defend myself every single time this happens, but suffice it to say, it happens fairly often.
It is my hope that a simple perusal of some of our more heated discussions will make it very clear that I don’t approve or deny comments based on whether I agree with said comment.
January 31st, 2010 at 1:45 pm
RQ: I think most of us understand and agree with your stance. It’s good to get many points of view on any given subject, and with something as personal as those issues that surround adoption, it is A very Good Thing for everyone who comes here to be exposed to others’ opinions. I have little doubt, nor I am sure do the other regulars, that you do not censor comments based solely on the opinion expressed.
That being said, this is your house. Anyone coming here has no real leg to stand on if their comment is rejected, regardless of the reason. They have something to say, they can always got start or comment on their own darn blog. At least, that’s my opinion over at my own place.
Keep up the good work. You have gotten many of us through this interminable wait very nearly sane. ;-)
January 31st, 2010 at 2:34 pm
I have to say- why you even need to say this is beyond me. This is your blog… you can decide what stands and what goes. Bottom line- I thank you for giving us an outlet and for helping us through with this journey in our lives. If someone does not like the fact that you may not allow their post- they are free to find another blog or start their own. I appreciate hearing all different views and welcome the fun and kind banter we have had going on here for many years now. Thanks for providing the space to do so.
5/06
January 31st, 2010 at 5:00 pm
RQ..can you share the list of words that trigger being “moderated”? I am occasionally moderated however my comments always end up being posted a short time later. I will avoid certain words in the future if they trigger a review yet do not prevent the post from being published. Perhaps that will save you some time.
Thanks for all you do!
Susan & Joe
LID 06-20-06
January 31st, 2010 at 5:04 pm
RQ: Since we’re on the subject, my comments have been subject to “pending review” for (I think) over a year now, before they’re posted. My responses got tagged when I disagreed with part of your post on Korean adoptees. I did not view my responses as ill willed, They were valid questions. But apparently they were taken as such by the moderator.
Is there a possibility that I will some day be taken off the list?
January 31st, 2010 at 6:32 pm
There are actually a lot more things that can throw a post into review than what I mentioned in the blog post. For instance, there is a list of IP address ranges that get moderated, and that means that most of the time if you post from China it will likely be moderated, since the list that comes with the software add-on lists all IP’s that are more likely to be a spammer, and apparently a lot of spam originates in China and Russia. I know there are some AOL ranges listed as well, but not all of them, and I’m not sure why that might be. So, it may be that you are moderated at work but not at home, and that may just be a matter of your work IP address falling into one of those ranges and your home address not being in the list. To be honest, I don’t understand how the whole thing works, I just know it stopped the spammers while allowing most messages to get through, so I’ve kept it.
As for the key words, some of them are obvious like viagra and ring tones and (part of male body) extender and free and discounted, but some of them aren’t so obvious. I’ve added a few of my own, like a few of the larger agency names, but I haven’t added very many.
Someone doesn’t get put on some sort of moderated list for disagreeing with me – though if you name your agency, or preach to us (about anything – the danger of rumors, the peril of our soul, whatever), or if you step really out of line with a post (calling people names or something), then there is a switch that will put your user name and IP address into an “automatically moderated” status. Unfortunately, the software is not sophisticated enough to take someone off after they’ve gotten a set number of messages approved. That might be a nice upgrade at some point in the future, but it isn’t there now.
You guys are right, this is my home and I don’t have to approve anything if I don’t want. But, I’ve made a statement that I’m not going to block opinions just because I don’t agree with them, and I want to be clear that I’m following my own policies. Like I said, all you’ve got to do is read through some of our more heated discussions and it should be clear that I allow comments that I don’t agree with one little bit.
January 31st, 2010 at 10:21 pm
RQ, I have seen MANY comments that clearly disagree with things you’ve expressed in posts. I myself have submitted comments that disagree with you and have never had one not posted. I’ve also had a few held for moderation and never have I had one not approved. As far as I’m concerned, you’ve been more than fair with people, and I’m surprised that someone would accuse otherwise.
February 1st, 2010 at 5:06 pm
Wander through the forum and it is pretty clear that a lot of things stand that are not nice. Moderating is a messy business.