"An Excellent Comment on Comment Moderation"
As a general rule, I avoid aggressive monitoring of comments. Megan McArdle explains my reasoning well in describing her own similar policy:
As y’all know, I exercise a pretty light hand on the comments section. That’s a tough choice. I could probably have a more civil comments section if I were more willing to delete nasty comments and ban trolls.
On the other hand, I don’t trust myself in the position of censor.... One will always find most outrageous those people who disagree with one’s own pet notions. If I started deleting comments, the net effect would be to pull the comments section towards agreeing with my particular brand of libertarianish, market-loving philosophy. This is not, to my mind, the point of the comments section. So I delete comments only when they are obscene or intolerably nasty; I ban people only when they have a history of repeatedly derailing threads, defaming my family, or similarly doing things that would get them kicked out of any decent private home.
So I have to ask you guys to do it for me. Play nice. Don’t call people names–any names, not just profane ones. Don’t characterize people as having bad motives. Don’t make absurd statements about how liberals, Republicans, or some other group are less virtuous, clever, empathetic, rational, pragmatic, civic-spirited, patriotic and so forth, than the fine, upstanding Americans on your side.
In the first place, it’s incredibly rude. In the second place, it’s basically never true..... And in the third place, while you lightheartedly believe that you are opening your opponents to justified ridicule, in reality all you achieve is to start everyone else snickering at you, because you sound like such a bigoted, arrogant fool.
Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) I don't get many comments on this blog, so this isn't really something I need to worry about.
