Commenting is a privilege, not a right.
Published Thu, May 17 2007 5:35 PM
Technorati Tags: Blogging, Annoyances
If you're reading my blog, it's a fair bet that you either have a blog of your own, or you read other people's blogs. Most of us have learned the "rules of the road" and a bit of netiquette.
For example, it's considered to be rude to use an image in one of your posts by including a link to that image's location on someone else's site. This is tantamount to a theft of bandwidth.
In fairness, I must admit that I did this quite some time ago by hot linking to a picture of a swan boat, in one of my early posts. That image is no longer available, and the post in question now looks rather embarrassing (besides the fact that the width of the replacement screws up the CSS based layout of the page it appears on).
David, at third world county has an excellent list of thirteen blogging blunders. It's a fairly good read and I recommend it.
I'd like to add one to the list though, and I'm sure that there are very, very many others that could be added.
When a blogger posts terms of usage, and a comment/trackback policy on their website, read it, and follow it.
I am sure that you have seen it on other weblogs and it applies here: You don’t have First Amendment rights on any blog, other than your own. If you don't like my (or someone else's) policy on comments, feel free to start your own weblog and establish your own policy.
On my website, I allow and encourage dissent. If you don't agree with what I have to say, I won't delete your comment for that, and in fact I will probably respond and try to engage you in a conversation to either try to change your mind, or give you a chance to change my mind.
Anyone that posts a comment on my website is the sole person responsible for what they say. I don't allow anonymous comments on my website. I believe that if you've got the guts to write the comment in the first place, you should have the guts to let people know who you are when you say it.
Anonymity is for cowards. Cowards have no place on my website. I will delete each and every anonymous comment that I receive, regardless of how well thought out the argument may be.
I do my best not to violate the policies other bloggers post on their websites. Please read and follow mine as well.
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David responded with:
 | Well and good. My comment policy is similar in some ways to yours, but quite a bit more rambling. I can appreciate your stance on obscenity, though my "language" policy varies a bit from yours at twc where I ban profanity, allow vulgarity and scan obscenity for relevance to content and usefulness (for example, obscenities referring to politicians are almost always valid, IMO. *heh*)
Yeh, I do make sharp distinctions between the three forms of speech some find offensive. Because they are different, of course. :-)
Banning someone from comments is rare at twc. Oh, a few who have made physical threats (I'll find you and beat you up" is about as far as any of those have gone. *yawn*) and others have ranted and raved and not been banned... the first time. But I reserve banning primarily for people (and I use the term very, very loosely) who couldn't find a rational thought if it were tied to their noses. While such critters are sometimes useful as front page mocking blogfodder, their usefulness is extremely limited. ;-)
I'll try to stay within your guidelines when posting here, even though that may mean sometimes avoiding commenting on posts about politicians. *LOL* |
The Random Yak responded with:
 | Your policy is similar to mine, though I've opted to require blog registration for commenters, in part because of issues my clients have had with their blogs. I'm also sensitive to libel, and would rather "chill" the conversation slightly in order to make sure at least the first offering from any given individual suggests the commenter intends to behave himself (or herself, or itself). Harsh decision, maybe, and I'm sure it cuts down my comments, but it also tends to eliminate the comment spammers and those without something relevant to add to the conversation. |
Perri Nelson responded with:
 | I try to avoid libel myself. If a commenter libels someone, my policy is that that commenter is responsible for it.
I'll call them out on it, but ultimately the commenter is responsible for what they write. That's one reason anonymous comments aren't allowed here. |
Kristee responded with: theft of bandwidth
 | Ok, I have a really stupid question. What do you mean by theft of bandwidth? I am concerned that I may have done this but am not sure what you mean by hot linked. I thought that folks appreciated being linked to. Is this just for posts? What about sidebars? I am trying to learn blogging netiquette and hoping not to commit too many faux paus, kwim...
thanks,
Kristee |
Perri Nelson responded with:
| It's not a stupid question really.
When you include an image in one of your posts as though you were hosting it, every time that post is displayed, so is that image. But the bandwidth for transferring the image is paid for by the person hosting the image, and not by you.
Normally sidebar images, such as the ones that are associated with blogrolls are hosted on sites like photobucket. Photos or images that accompany other peoples blog postings may be as well. Somebody's account gets hit for the bandwidth for the image transfer.
Most blogroll providers don't mind for their blogroll images, but it's generally considered bad netiquette to use an image from someone else's post without asking for permission. |
Kristee responded with: two more questions
| Thank you for your answer. If you copy and save an image to your computer and then upload it to your blogs photoalbum does this avoid that problem? Also, once you do this and put it in a post or sidebar and then link the image to a site does this cause issue with their bandwidth?
thanks,
Kristee |
Perri Nelson responded with:
| Saving the image to your own host avoids the bandwidth issues. There may be licensing issues though, so it's a good idea to check with the person that owns the image first. |
Kristee responded with:
| Unless the image is Mickey Mouse and you are a terrorist... |
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