Ever since I added the commenting feature to Ducksnorts several years ago, I’ve enjoyed hearing what other folks have to say. I’ve learned a lot from debating topics of mutual interest in a constructive and respectful manner.

Lately, though, we’ve lost our focus thanks in large part to my laxity in enforcing the Ducksnorts Comments Policy. It’s in my nature to err on the side of permissiveness, which I’m sorry to say hasn’t served the community well.

That changes now.

Henceforth I will be reviewing all comments to ensure that they adhere to the Ducksnorts Comments Policy. Anything that doesn’t is subject to removal without prior notice. If I have time and I’m feeling magnanimous, I may email you with an explanation, but I’m a writer, not an administrator, so don’t count on it. Assume that if your comments have been removed, they are in violation of the policy. It is your responsibility, as a participant in this community, to figure out why and make the necessary adjustments. Drop me a line if you are uncertain.

If you repeatedly violate the Ducksnorts Comments Policy (which I’m sure you won’t), I reserve the right to hold your comments for moderation so that they don’t appear unless and until I approve them. You may or may not receive prior notification that this will happen, again depending on my availability and mood.

If you wish to participate in the discussion here, please take a moment to review the Ducksnorts Comments Policy so that you have a clear understanding of what is and is not acceptable behavior here. Compliance is mandatory.

Comments that are excellent candidates for deletion include (but are not limited to) a few pet peeves of mine:

• Take a position without offering reasonable evidence to support it. This is not a message board. There are places to spew garbage, but Ducksnorts isn’t one of them. Please engage your brain before speaking here. Comments that demonstrate a lack of thought will be given the attention they deserve, which is to say, they will be deleted.
• Repeat yourself excessively. Debate is welcomed and encouraged — if we engage one another in a constructive and respectful manner, we all stand to gain from the experience. Badgering and bullying, however, will not be tolerated. Again, there are places for that sort of behavior, but it is not welcome at Ducksnorts.

I also very much appreciate comments that attempt to engage my articles. This is the reason comments were enabled in the first place, and although I enjoy many of the twists and turns our conversations take, it sucks to have my stuff ignored. It kills my incentive to create new content, which in turn kills my incentive to maintain Ducksnorts.

Yeah, I know; I should have a thicker skin. But I don’t.

This is my web site. I’ve invested a lot of time and energy in it, and I’m prepared to ensure that it maintains a certain standard. As such, I am the sole arbiter of what constitutes acceptable behavior. All decisions are final, unless they aren’t.

Please make an honest effort to stay within the guidelines, as every minute I spend policing the comments is a minute I spend not creating new content, which puts me in a very nasty mood and gets me fantasizing about a world without Ducksnorts (this fantasy also involves Diana Rigg in her prime and an endless supply of Macallan 18 at my disposal, but I digress).

We’ll give this a shot for a while and see how it works. So long as my moderating duties don’t infringe too much on my writing time, we’ll keep the comments open. Otherwise, I’ll be forced to re-evaluate the situation and consider other options.

If you have questions, feel free to leave ‘em in the comments or drop me a line. Agree or disagree with my policy? Either way is fine with me. All I require is that you abide by it.

Thanks for your attention. Go Padres!

Tagged as: acceptable behavior, comments policy, compliance, ducksnorts, message board, moderation, pet peeves