Boing Boing Moderation Policy

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Boing Boing Moderation Policy

Submitted by enpen on Thu, 03/27/2008 - 2:29pm.

Topic: Boing Boing just published a Q&A regarding its Moderation Policy.

Hyperlocal relevance: Well, really it's meta hyperlocal in its relevance, in that I found much of the content edifying with regard to blog comments and thought it should be shared with my fellow OlyBloggers.

Favorite part: Disemvowelling. I love it. I need it. I want it for OlyBlog.

Edit: I left out the hyperlink the the actual article. Stellar.

enpen's blog
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Disemvowling would be a good "shot over the bow" for first

Submitted by Guglielmo on Thu, 03/27/2008 - 2:42pm.

offenses. Or a "sht vr th bw."

I think Talkleft uses the disemvoweling sometimes

Submitted by Mike on Sat, 03/29/2008 - 8:35am.

I recall that some idiot kept coming back under new identities, spewing hateful stuff, using different ISP email identities and such, but it became pretty clear when the guy was back and it was very comical scanning his blather without vowels.

As I recall though that was a response to being dumped from the site for the hateful stuff and the fact that he kept signing back on with a new identity. It's hard, maybe impossible, to police that kind of stuff, so letting him hang around without vowels was a good solution.

I don't see that having much application here on olyblog. Has anyone ever been banished from olyblog?

I continue to recommend the three strike - temp suspension model to encourage that the discussion remain civil and that gratuitous personal attacks stop. Disemvowelling seems like a last resort from my experience.

fck m hv bn dsmvld

Submitted by Mike on Sat, 03/29/2008 - 8:40am.

plg fr th bscnt

wow

Submitted by Rob Richards on Thu, 03/27/2008 - 2:53pm.

can we just adopt this already?

Who volunteers...

Submitted by Rick on Thu, 03/27/2008 - 3:01pm.

...to boil that down to a nice, think sauce and pour it into an OlyBlog comment policy?

> It's OK to be nice. <
enpen's social contract

I do - deadline?

Submitted by Ehver Green on Thu, 03/27/2008 - 3:06pm.

I do - deadline? I can't do the admin task but I'll format it and send to RR.

Next docent meeting?

Submitted by Rick on Thu, 03/27/2008 - 3:06pm.

Third Sunday in April...

...or is it the second?

> It's OK to be nice. <
enpen's social contract

Oh, I'll have it to you by

Submitted by Ehver Green on Thu, 03/27/2008 - 3:09pm.

Oh, I'll have it to you by Monday.

Next docent meeting: the third Sunday...

Submitted by Robert Whitlock on Sat, 04/05/2008 - 3:16pm.

...which is the 19th, if I'm not mistaken.

An exercise

Submitted by stevenl on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 5:58am.

Most of us (me included) have been guilty of posting things at some time or other worthy of disemvowelling. It would be an interesting exercise if this was applied retroactively just to see what percentage of the OlyBlog archives would survive intact.

If I were an offender, I would rather see my post deleted than disemvowelled. On the other hand, a disemvowelled comment just hanging there can serve as a warning, like a wrecked car on the side of the road on a black ice morning, that maybe it is time take care, slow down and cool off a bit in the discussion. I have mixed feelings about this method of moderation, but think is it is definitely worth trying as an experiment.

I'm all for disemvowelling

Submitted by Guglielmo on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 9:45am.

It is probably a little easier, emotionally speaking, for an Olyblog docent to disemvowel a comment than to delete it. As a result, comment moderation may become a more consistent reality. Quite frankly, it's fun to watch and we can all use a good laugh now and then.

It's silly

Submitted by security_six on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 10:26am.

And reeks of petty harassment, kind of like the stocks and pillory of days gone past. Delete the d**ned posts or leave them up. Nothing in between.

"Those who fail an attempt destroy me have made a serious tactical error."

Nope, the original comments

Submitted by Guglielmo on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 10:40am.

are silly and so are the people (the real harassers) who make them. I like Steven's road-side analogy, but I imagine dunce-capped heads on spikes...the funny, cartoon variety of course.

Well

Submitted by security_six on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 10:46am.

I fart in your general direction. Hmph. :-)

I don't think it's too hard a choice, either the post is worthy of staying up in it's entirety or someone decided to play "I have a bigger stick than you" and mess with someone. And this coming from someone who has had very few posts deleted...

At any rate we won't agree on this anymore than Hillary will agree with McCain....

"Those who fail an attempt destroy me have made a serious tactical error."

You are trapped in a false dichotomy and biased premise (ouch)

Submitted by Guglielmo on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 10:56am.

I'll just deal with the premise. You are assuming that docents are motivated simply by the opportunity to "mess with someone." Given the enormous opportunities you and others provide them, I have a hard time believing that is even a secondary or tertiary motivation.

It is an impression

Submitted by security_six on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 12:45pm.

For the most part I don't believe they are "messing" with anybody, however disemvowling can provide that impression as opposed to simply deleting an offending comment. A simple deletion and reminder note to the offending person would be just as suitable as pillory of disemvowling. At any rate like I say we are not going to agree on this one... :-)

"Neeh"

"Those who fail an attempt destroy me have made a serious tactical error."

or

Submitted by enpen on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 10:43am.

People can learn from the experience and change the way they interact with other people on OlyBlog. If people dislike the policy and choose to no longer take part in this experiment then that's their prerogative, but my hope is that people will take it as an opportunity to evaluate their communication styles and work toward changing it in order to have a real conversation.

"In principle, I am an anarchist. Kurt Vonnegut once said he was an agnostic who respects Jesus Christ. I am an anarchist who loves democracy." - Kenzaburo Oe

The Wiki entry on this type

Submitted by Ehver Green on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 11:29am.

The Wiki entry on this type of moderation is quite good. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disemvoweling

Thanks

Submitted by Guglielmo on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 11:34am.

"the dialogue stays, but the misanthrope looks ridiculous, and the emotional sting is neutralized." Perfect.

OK enpen and G-Guy

Submitted by stevenl on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 6:53pm.

Your points have been taken. I have always respected and seriously considered your opinions. You have swayed me more to your side of the issue.

Almost.

Here's a suggestion.

I would encourage the docents to keep in mind this method of moderation is experimental and to set a definite deadline for evaluating the pros and cons of using disemvowelling. Like in 2 or 3 months.

And here's the rub.

The Black Ice image I offered earlier in this thread is one allegory that could be seen as a positive. A negative one would be the picture of locking some poor clod up in a public pillory for public humiliation. Of course, flipping back again, some dogmatic and paranoid types would enjoy that treatment and regard it as a badge of honor. Martyrdom. So in the latter case, I guess everyone would be happy.

So, disemvowelling looks like a worthy experiment to me.

And G-Guy, I hope you'll consider becoming a docent. You'd be great at it.

You're proposing a pilot project

Submitted by Guglielmo on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 10:24pm.

Always a good idea.

we share worries...hopefully that's it

Submitted by enpen on Sat, 04/05/2008 - 3:32pm.

I agree. I think we should revisit this issue in two or three months, take stock of where we were before and what has happened since its implementation. As OlyBlog represents both an online and offline community a policy that is effective in other quarters of the mostly anonymous internet may indeed be too close to public humiliation for something like OlyBlog.

...some dogmatic and paranoid types would enjoy that treatment and regard it as a badge of honor. Martyrdom.

This may just be an ongoing reality of OlyBlog. As long as there are those spreading the "OlyBlog is promoting a liberal agenda" canard there will continue to be those who feel vindicated in that belief when their crappy behavior isn't excused.

"In principle, I am an anarchist. Kurt Vonnegut once said he was an agnostic who respects Jesus Christ. I am an anarchist who loves democracy." - Kenzaburo Oe

I like the boing boing policy

Submitted by Robert Whitlock on Sat, 04/05/2008 - 3:14pm.

It makes sense to remove those comments which detract from an atmosphere of participation and inclusiveness on OlyBlog. It's not censorship, it's just proper moderation in order to maintain an environment of accessibility for the greater community.

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