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Do you want the ability to control comments in your blogs?
27-Sep-2010
I was planning to write a blog today and suggest once again that Mr. Javid allow us the ability to control and delete the comments in our blogs and noticed that Shazdeh beat me to it! But that’s ok I’ll write mine as a poll question and ask that you please vote Yes or No to this poll question:
Do you want the ability to control comments in your blogs?
Please use the comments section below and cast your Yes or No vote in the subject line. You can add your rationale in the body of the comment if you wish (or write your own blog) but please vote and I’ll tally the votes later this week and provide it here. Mr. Javid has provided a shabdol-azimi tarof that he’ll consider it for future but having a poll and some votes would help him decide one way or another.
This suggestion would not apply to Articles, just Blogs and News items since we have the ability to edit and/or delete our Blogs but not Articles and this is clearly stated in the procedures when you sign up and I think it is ok.
It is true that i.com is Mr. Javid’s house and he can do whatever he wants. However, we “rent” the blog section (also known as the belog section :-) from him and we “pay” him with our contributions. So I think it is only fair that we decide who should be our “guest” in our “rented apartment”.
Should Mr. Javid tell us; let this guy stay in your place for a while and the guest may have more guests of his own so prepare for that as well and send me a flag if something goes wrong?
Obviously something will go wrong and I think we can all agree that things certainly do go wrong and the problem is that Mr. Javid does not see the wrong as some of us do. It depends what your definition of the word “is” IS! He says that personal attacks will not be tolerated but if the “guest” gift wraps the attack, it’ll be tolerated. Here are some examples, some made by a self-proclaimed guilty party:
- You write a piece about being Iranian-American and want to discuss the loyalties between the two countries, when the first comment you receive lashes at you for being an “exile”.
- You are an Iran Iraq war veteran and want to write a piece to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the start of the war and discuss your memories and Islamic Republic’s behavior during the war with fellow Iranians when an internet trolls asks you for the detail of your service and if you don’t respond he’ll throw a tantrum and calls you a fraud and more.
- You want to write a piece about Bahai’s participation in the constitutional revolution when a self-proclaimed Bahai basher lashes at you for having such thoughts.
Now if we’re given the ability to control the comments in our blogs, like other sites do, some of the above bloggers in those examples may choose to keep those comments. Not everyone is the same and one size does not fit all. However, we will know that the blogger had an option and made a choice to allow the “gift wrapped” personal attack or an irrelevant or off topic comment to stay.
The attackers have a choice to say whatever they want in response to a particular blog in their own space and their own writing in a separate blog if there is dying desire to do so. No one is stopping them. Mr. Javid will have overall control of the comments or close a blog for further comments as he does already.
I should also mention that I wouldn’t want the comment control option if the IP address of the bloggers is identified as a result. Other sites (Blogspot, Wordpress or Huffington post to name a few) allow the commentators IP addresses to be shown but in the past i.com’s admin has stated that the IP address can remain hidden and not disclosed.
The argument that Mr. Javid provides is to be the “bigger person” and “ignore” them. But why should we? Why should we be “treated” with an “anti-Iran” comment by an internet troll? What did the bloggers in the examples I provided do wrong? All they did was to contribute to this website in good faith. The guilty parties are the ones being rewarded by getting a free pass to do this again and in more blogs.
I sincerely appreciate Mr. Javid’s work and responsibilities and I think he’d admit that since going to an all registered forum i.com has become much better and his own workload (on anonymous comments staying in his approval queue) has been reduced by at least 80%. So let’s take this other step and make it better and easier. i.com can do better. At least tell us why not? If it is democracy or practicing it, well there are laws under democracy and the most important part of the democracy is the rule of law and not applying it selectively.
This blog got longer that I wanted to so I leave you with the poll question once again with a Yes or No vote option and we can discuss more if you like. Please vote!
Do you want the ability to control comments in your blogs?
-----------------------------
Update: Oct 3, 2010
Let's keep the voting open so others can still vote. I'll keep the voting open until we are free at last! Free at last! Thank god almighty we're free at last, to delete comments in our blogs!
------------------------------
Update: Oct 5, 2010
This blog was blocked by Mr. Javid apparently because some users couldn't sit still! You see if I had the option to control comments in my own blog I'd have deleted the comments that caused this blocking by the Editor. To all who voted NO and worried about censorship, take a look at the end result of this one example. Censorship for ALL not just a few users. I once deleted a numerous commented blog of mine which made some unhappy. Having my blog blocked here is there a difference?
Anyway I'm eliminating two other users' votes because they couldn't sit still either or as Mr. Javid would call it who couldn't "ignore" it :-) To those who'll say the voting was a sham and no one should be eliminated, etc., I'd say take it easy! Final tally is 7 YES and 23 NO.
Oh well at least I got to say the last word!
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admin - what is the yardstick for deleting flagged comments?
by MM on Mon Sep 27, 2010 10:13 AM PDTis it automatic or based on a system?
comment controls
by admin on Mon Sep 27, 2010 10:10 AM PDTAnonymouse,
Sure finer-grain comment level controls can be implemented without showing IP addresses. Right now JJ deletes flagged comments without seeing any IP addresses. I am personally committed to not exposing IPs.
The system we are using does not have native support for this feature, (giving comment controls to bloggers). This means it is not a simple switch that can be turned on or off. It requires some additional software development.
When we first built the Web2.0 version of the site, I tried very hard to stay within the parameters of what the system natively supports for security and upgradability reasons. Now we have made so many changes and exceptions that staying inside the box is no longer a barrier. Any major upgrade requires a massive effort regardless, so making this change won't be as consequential for upgradability.
For me, this is mostly a policy question and that is JJ's call ultimately. You mentioned Blogspot and Wordpress. I have to say, I don't see us in that light. Those sites are more like blogging "services". They provide tools for people to make their own sub-sites that have nothing to do with each other. There is no central theme for all of them.
We lack many features compared to those "service" sites. You can't have your own theme or your own users.
We see ourselves as more like a magazine with many writers. Our blogging features are closer to "columns" or maybe like "diaries" like those in the big political blogs, technically called "group blog". So comments are to some extent "iranian.com" comments rather than just a particular blog's comments.
I see what you are saying as well. Right now our blogs are being viewed more than articles, even though articles occupy so much more front page space. So we can certainly evolve our philosophy and move to new directions. I'm just trying to shed light on what the thinking has been thus far.
no
by MM on Mon Sep 27, 2010 10:03 AM PDT.
Boring v Right thing2do = American democracy v Ahmadi democracy!
by Anonymouse on Mon Sep 27, 2010 09:39 AM PDTLooks like the main "fear" so far is that i.com would be boring. Again this only applies to blogs where we already have the option to delete or edit them. The rest of i.com will remain open to the more fun aspect of fighting each other left and right!
The main pillar of democracy is having laws to enforce the rights of the individuals for everyone, be it a minority or majority. In America the law is blind, in Iran they have blinded the law and the democracy that is supposed to withold.
I have no doubt that there are those who would like to contribute more but for their own personal reasons do not want to dirty themselves by getting tangled by internet trolls who want to take a drive by shot at them. Have you considered those? I also said this option does not automatically make everyone delete all comments. Those who don't want to don't click "delete", simple as that.
I don't understand which right is it that given to us to attack others in their own home? You want to attack me? You want to have some fun? Go ahead, hold a sign outside my blog and in the belog section :-)
Everything is sacred
Anahid jaan this is about the "option" of having it.
by Anonymouse on Mon Sep 27, 2010 09:25 AM PDTI was actually going to use one of your poems as one of the examples in this blog. The title was like "I want a colorful revolution" or something like that, when Jaleho made a totally inappropriate comment to you about jamesh kon now that the green color has failed you want another color or something to that effect. I couldn't find that poem.
I was going to say that someone writes a poem about a vision of a revolution where different views are included only to be lashed out by the same crowd who call other voters as weeds, khas-o-khashak
I'll count your vote as No, unless you decide to change your mind a bit later.
Everything is sacred
Admin jaan
by Anonymouse on Mon Sep 27, 2010 09:15 AM PDTYes I noted that difference between Shazade's blog and mine. If we can have an option to completely turn-off the comment option, like when JJJ blocks an article or blog from comments, then that'd be good too.
But I think that is a minor and the option to delete comments is more encompassing and more important, in my opinion.
I won't count your vote since you have a conflict of interest! But if you sign in as Foad and vote, I'll count it! Whatever you want! Thank you for your comment and since I have your attention, can you confirm if we're given the option to delete comments that the IP dresses won't be shown? This is very critical to me and if it can be shown I don't want it at all, based on Islamic Republic's tendency to put people in Evin if they're given a chance!
Lastly, last time we discussed this on a SamSam's blog that I think has since been deleted, you mentioned that the IP dress issue is NOT the reason we're not given this control and option. Do you know what IS the reason? Again this applies only to blogs.
Everything is sacred
I vote for admin
by Souri on Mon Sep 27, 2010 09:14 AM PDTadmin jon,
You are just right! I had suggested this, longtime ago, but I came to the realization that it would be just undemocratic and unhealthy and also booooring!
MM y would a separate blog take away the debate aspect?
by Anonymouse on Mon Sep 27, 2010 09:08 AM PDTFirst of all, if someone is a registered user (not one with blockage problem) and wants to make a comment without a condenscending tone or lashing out at the blogger then s/he can do so.
Besides if a blogger continuously deletes comments then that person will get a negative reputation. In other sites there are this option and the debate goes on.
You mention "powerful" writers, what about the ones with basic belogs?! Seriously. Why do I have to wear an armor to contribute to i.com? Again this is not about all of i.com just our blogs which we can currently edit and/or delete in its entirety.
The same argument was used when 1) we went from total free willy nilly anonymous comments to 2) waiting approval queue and 3) all registered forum that we have now.
In each of those steps they said the debate aspect would be lost where as water did not move from water!
Now what is your vote? Yes or No? I need to count them.
Everything is sacred
No, I don't want this control, let them write good or bad
by Anahid Hojjati on Mon Sep 27, 2010 09:05 AM PDTThis ability is not going to solve all problems. I believe I have read comments like that I have lied, write poetry like a seven year old and couple other negative comments. None of this has been on my blog. Also, even if someone leaves a comment that I consider negative, I am going to learn from that. I remember in few of my blogs, contributors including "hamsade ghadimi" and SamSam had comments that were not positive. Hamsade wrote that I was responding to readers' comments about one of my poems in a wrong way and SamSam was writing about some comments that I had written a while back and he thought it was unfair to him. Both of their comments were valid. Also, once I wrote about a homeless woman and someone complained because he was writing about situation of homeless in Europe. During comment exchangge between him and me, misunderstanding was resolved. Any way, I have learned from negative comments and if a comment is really rude, we can still flag it. So my vote is NO.
small point of clarification
by admin on Mon Sep 27, 2010 09:03 AM PDTHi Anonymouse,
I believe what Shazdeh was talking about was the ability to turn off commenting on your own blog entries. This is a little different than the ability to delete only particular comments that you are talking about.
It would be interesting to see how this changes the dynamics on Iranian.com. I can see advantages to both methods. I can also see them in our current system. Don't count this as a vote.
Filtering takes away the debate aspect of IC blogs
by MM on Mon Sep 27, 2010 08:59 AM PDTAs I said it in SAM's blog, if I cannot make a comment on an outrageous blog, I may just stay away or start another blog as a response which takes away from the debate aspect of the blogs here.
There are plenty of powerful writers at this site who can neutralize the outrageous claims / effects of the IRI-crowd or the shock&awe-crowd. And, JJ and us should monitor the foul language by prohibitive comments.
Dirty Angel not everyone appreciates freakshows in their blogs
by Anonymouse on Mon Sep 27, 2010 08:46 AM PDTThey can take their freakshows to their own blogs and not force themselves on others. Would you invite a freak to your apartment?!
So far one No and one Yes for me.
Everything is sacred
NO!
by Dirty Angel on Mon Sep 27, 2010 08:36 AM PDTThe funniest, most hilarious on this website are the freakshows. ;)
"The paradox of freedom: sometimes people freely choose not to be free."