How not to be a jerk when you post blog comments

If the comment you made didn’t appear on my blog (or for that matter, on any blog), chances are you were being a jerk.

Honestly, the rules are pretty much the same as they were 12 years ago when Charlene Li and I wrote about this stuff. And they’re pretty good rules for any conversation (Facebook and Instagram, too).

Here are some rules and examples, provided 80% to educate and 20% to horrify you with what appears in my moderation inbox. (All errors in quoted passages were in the original comment.)

Don’t spam

My excellent spam comment blocker, Akismet, has blocked over 700,000 spam comments since I started the blog in 2015. During that time there have been about 8,500 legitimate comments. When 99% of comments are spam, you have a problem.

Spam comments are pretty easy to spot. Would you walk up to people conversing about writing and say this?

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Don’t make threats

Would you join a conversation and immediately make threats or try to scare people? What makes you think I’ll let you do that on my blog?

Keep drinking the liberal kool aid, then crap your pants at the sound of the guns. Even if there was no fraud (and there was plenty), election rules changed by any body other than the legislature is an unconstitutional election under Article 2, sect. 1 of the Constitution. Don’t underestimate these Patriots. Many of them are trained for war, dedicated, and fearless. One way or another, we are headed for martial law in this country; either when our Supreme Court paves the way for affected state legislatures to elevate the legitimate leader of the United States back to power and your side goes nuts, or when they don’t and we go nuts. Pick a side and prepare to fight for what you believe in.

Don’t call people names

You can’t call me names. You can’t call other commenters names. If you do, you’re a jerk, and we don’t need to see your comment. Would you join people talking and then call one of them a sheep?

Hahaha.  Just like your title says, this is complete bullshit.
Scaremongering using something (covid) that is basically a psycological and political tool is scandalous. Join the sheep brigade.

Stay on topic

If we’re talking about press releases, don’t veer off into homophobia or whatever else is on your mind. (This comment was submitted on a post regarding Hallmark’s press release about ads with gay themes — the topic was the press release, not gay marriage.)

Oh how we have lost our way.  Forgive us Lord.  God himself defines that marriage is a union between a man and a woman.  In Genesis God tells us that man was created from the dust of the earth and made in His image.  Woman was taken from a rib in the side of man and fashioned by God because God said that it is not good for man to be alone.  Woman  was made by God in His image to be a helpmate to man and procreate.  

Don’t promote yourself

If I make a post about the Consumer Technology Association rescinding its award to an innovative vibrator company, that’s not an excuse to tell everyone about your own competing product.

As amazing as [name of company] vibrators are, sometimes it can really take you out of the moment to have to keep your hands on the toy to cycle through any patterns or adjust speeds or modes.

Don’t make claims without evidence

If you’re going to cite “facts” about which there is controversy, include some links to back them up. Otherwise, you’re just saying “Oh, yeah, sez you!” That is not adding much to the conversation.

Bottom line…Biden took money from
China, he’s compromised his integrity
and our country’s.

What pleases me most is the actual dialogue

My blog has 1,500 posts and 8,500 legit comments. This is a source of pride for me — it means there is actual dialogue going on. In some cases there are hundreds of thoughtful comments on a post.

I enjoy hearing from people who disagree with me — and each other. Frankly, “Here’s why you’re wrong” is far more interesting than plain old “You’re right, I agree.”

Many of our politicians have left civil norms behind. And the online world is filled with nasty, mean, irrelevant, and incoherent babble.

Luckily for me, the number of comments on my blog is manageable and the number of mean and off-topic babblers is small. This means I don’t need to pre-moderate, but can just delete and report the offenders, while everyone else gets a fluid and healthy dialogue.

Part of writing is being respectful of others, and that applies to comments as well. I cherish hearing from most of you, since you’ve clearly understood that.

As for the rest of you, go spew your idiotic garbage somewhere else.