Metapost: Comment Policy Change (Again)

Ramblites, in light of the Misandry/Misogyny thread, there is a new comment policy update.

Please read it, if you can. I'd appreciate it, in all seriousness. But if you can't, here's the short version:

I want a safe-space here, as much as possible. But I'm one person. I eat, sleep, and work outside the home 40 hours a week. So I need your help to flag posts that are triggering or offensive or problematic. I'm pretty sure if you flag a comment, Disqus sends me an email (we'll test that below). If not, you can pull up the permalink to the comment by clicking the comment-datetime, and you can send me an email. Nothing fancy needed, just "hey, Ana, this bothers me".

I read every comment on the site. But after 11,055 comments (and counting), I don't always trust my judgment as to when Fluffy Bunny Ana is called for and when Norse Goddess of Fury Ana is needed. I distrust myself, and I need your help. Please. Because I really don't want all of you to get triggered, discouraged, and frustrated, and then quit. That would make me deeply distressed. But nor do I want all of you to feel oppressed, terrified, unable to participate, and stifled, and then quit. I do not want either of these things.

Content Note: Transvaginal Ultrasounds, Rape

And now something a little more personal. Next week there will be a post on transvaginal ultrasounds and the Texas rape law currently in effect in my state. If I even think a comment is suggesting that men or specific male law-makers should be similarly raped in response to this law, I'm going to delete the comment as soon as I see it. I don't usually truck with deleting comments, but this is an exception I'm willing to make. And if I have to, I will lock the thread in question.

End Content Note

Thank you all for helping me sort out a workable comment policy for the blog. It will continue to grow,and I appreciate your current and future willingness to provide me feedback and concerns. I want to make this a safe space for all of you, and I appreciate any help you can provide me with that. Thank you.

21 comments:

Ana Mardoll said...

Please flag this comment as a test. Thank you.

hapax said...

Can't flag it. Probably because I'm not logged in.

AcyOS said...

I am logged in, and it should be flagged now. Is it?

Ana Mardoll said...

It works!

A user has flagged a comment on the site. To moderate it, go to the following url:

Thank you.

Brin Bellway said...

For what it's worth, I think you've been doing a great job, Ana. (Though I'm far from the best judge when it comes to dealing with triggery stuff.) I'll be sure to let you know if I ever have any concerns.

[self-centeredness]
But after 11,055 comments (and counting)

Hmm...*poke* *taptaptap*

...I've written ~2.46% (272/11055) of all the comments on this site, as of you writing that. That's...kind of neat.

[/self-centeredness]

mmy said...

Ana -- flagged you "for fun."

And hugs...this is never easy.

Evan the Lurker said...

Apparently I can flag even though I'm not logged in.

Bificommander said...

Without loging in I can flag Ana's comment, but not anyone else's. I guess that's because Ana's comment already received a flag, so Discuss judges it more likely that someone else might dislike it to or something.

Ana Mardoll said...

Thank you, all. :)

(Brin, the sad thing is that apparently I've written 23% of those comments. o.O)

Ya'll, looks like I only get one notification per flagged message -- after that, it just increments the count which is useful if the blog has a "hide after X number of flags" option. So continue to flag away, without worrying that you're overwhleming my inbox. :)

Brin Bellway said...

(Brin, the sad thing is that apparently I've written 23% of those comments. o.O)

Well, you often make several posts in a row, one addressed to each person, rather than combining all the replies into one. That would inflate the numbers somewhat, though figuring that effect out wouldn't be nearly so simple.

Evan the Lurker said...

I don't think that's the reason. I was just able to flag my own comment from yesterday without logging in - after clearing my cookies and everything, so it can't be just because it was my own. I don't think anyone's flagged it before...

chris the cynic said...

I wanted to second Brin's comment:
Ana, I think you've been doing a great job.

Also, going forward, I very much trust your judgement to when it comes to deciding what to do. That doesn't mean that I won't try to help, nor does it mean that I think you shouldn't be asking for help, but I just wanted you to know that I do trust you to make the right call.

-

As a complete aside, is anyone else getting weirdness from disqus? Whenever I go to a page with disqus (so basically here and Slacktivist) it tells me that there's a new response to one of my disqus posts, except it's not a new response, it's always the same response (a post Dav made replying to me in the Misogyny-Misandry thread), but the notification never goes away. It refuses to acknowledge that I've already gotten it.

Ana Mardoll said...

Thank you, chris. :)

If you click on the red notification number at the bottom of an OP, does it turn grey and say zero?

chris the cynic said...

It does, but then when I go to a new disqus having page, or reload the current one, it's like I never did that.

Ana Mardoll said...

It does! I never noticed that before. o.O

depizan said...

I just wanted to say thank you. And I really appreciate your desire to make this blog a safe space for everyone. :)

Silver Adept said...

[TW: Legislative [1000Hz]ery]

Ah, thanks, Ana, for the heads-up regarding the transvaginal ultrasound bill. I would probably have insinuated such a result as a reasonable lesson for the legislators as to what such a thing feels like. Will it be okay to mention the amendment in another state that suggested all men be required to undergo a rectal examination before they are prescribed pills for erectile dysfunction?

[/TW]

Ana Mardoll said...

TW: TV Ultrasounds, Rape

I have a note about that on the scheduled post, but yes, I would ask to keep that out of the thread.

Melissa McEwan has done a great job, I think, of articulating why fighting rape bills with rape bills is an understandable but ultimately bad idea because it buys into non-consent attitudes, rape culture, and invasive legislation in order to work.

Plus, realistically, rich legislators will never be affected by such laws, and may even be in favor of extending government invasion of private bodies.

I also think the post will be triggery enough without anyone suggesting that someone, anyone, should be raped in response. Which will really only add to the triggeryness.

Thank you for asking for clarification. :)

Silver Adept said...

Fair enough. I suspect a large part of my initial response to this would be, "Well, how do we get the seriousness of the consequences across to these legislators about what they are doing/have done?" And that sounds like it will stray into territory that will end up in the deletion pile. I'll have to see how that idea can be expressed without getting to tit for tat territory.

Since Trudeau ran an entire week's worth of comics on it, will the Doonesbury strips also be part of the scheduled post? Probably best to ask now so that we don't cause an unintentional trigger in the comments by trying to be informative.

Ana Mardoll said...

There's a link to the Doonesbury comics, yes. (Which were, in my opinion, awesome.)

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