As evidenced by a quick look over in my "Recent Comments" sidebar, redshifter.org's once-steady stream of comments from friends and regular readers has slowly dissolved into sporadic flurries of discussion/argument, anonymous posters/trolls, and people discussing ocular migraines (thanks to this site's high Google Rank for the search phrase "scintillating scotoma").
Hey, I'm down to help out fellow scotoma sufferers, but at this point I think we all know that they're not all that big a deal in the grand scheme of things. As for providing a forum for random Google searchers to say "hey, nice car," or more accurately, "this is a ncie fuking car i wish had one..................... dam thats nice," well... I mean come on. This is ridiculous. I guess the woman behind the wheel of the YOR MOM car is a shitty driver. Sucks for you, pal. There are a lot of shitty drivers out there. Hunting her down on Google and slamming her on my site is just a teensy bit weird.
And then there are the anonymous posters. The silly thing is that I frequently know who they are, as in the case of the person who just enlightened us with the "that's what you get for shopping at Guitar Center" comment, which was the last straw. Nevermind the fact that the comment was completely inaccurate to the issue -- it is in fact the amp that is bad and not the cabinet, and I am the unfortunate victim of coincidence. Also, if by posting under the pseudonym "Sam Ash," I'm being encouraged to shop at Sam Ash instead of Guitar Center, then that's bogus too as Sam Ash does not carry any Ampeg products, nor are there any Sam Ash stores in the Bay Area.
I can't believe I've spent the last 15 minutes typing this. The bottom line is that I'm pretty dissatisfied with the way the comments have shaped up on this site, and lucky for me, Movable Type 3.2 is around the corner, with specific fixes to improve the sense of community on weblogs.
Specifically, I think I'll be requiring commenters to have a TypeKey identity in order to post. That's something I could institute with the current MT build, but that paired with trusted commenters will hopefully be a powerful combination. Yes, I will probably see a marked decrease in commenting, but my hope is that any initial drop-off in comments will temporarily give way to better comments down the road as the overall community feel is improved. After all, who wants to try to make an intelligent point if it's just going to be sandwiched in between shit-talk.
Comments (8)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOB !!!
Posted by Dirty Jase | July 16, 2005 1:33 AM
Posted on July 16, 2005 01:33
sounds like you will be handling your web site like a "good republican" edit all
Posted by curious looker | July 17, 2005 5:41 PM
Posted on July 17, 2005 17:41
oh, man. *bangs head against wall*
(thanks, Jase -- you rule)
Posted by BK | July 18, 2005 8:36 AM
Posted on July 18, 2005 08:36
is this what that rant was about, b? feeling down in the mouth about another birthday?
enjoy it my man... its a lot easier being old and playing bass. you can hang back and sway while your drummer rocks the stick-around-the-head manouever and your guitarist holds down the axe-wielding responsibilities, judo kicks and strap-launches... huh
happy bday my man!
Posted by bob | July 20, 2005 6:03 PM
Posted on July 20, 2005 18:03
Bob, why not just delete the comments you find objectionable?
Posted by Raphy | July 25, 2005 6:14 AM
Posted on July 25, 2005 06:14
Hey Bob, either there is another Raphy commenting here, or someone is posing as me. I didn't write the comment above.
Posted by Raphy | July 25, 2005 9:36 AM
Posted on July 25, 2005 09:36
Yipes. Another great reason to require logins for comments.
Posted by BK | July 25, 2005 9:53 AM
Posted on July 25, 2005 09:53
hi Bob, both the commenters above are goofing on me. This is the real Raphy.
Posted by Raphy | July 27, 2005 2:15 PM
Posted on July 27, 2005 14:15