My patience is running out on the open-door policy in the comments section.
After seven months of tolerating hatred and abuse, I am appreciating the argument that allowing anyone to leave any comment can be extremely disruptive.
I am this close to allowing only registered users to leave comments.
At least this way we would have a better idea who these courageous defenders of freedom and justice are :o)
But seriously, what do you think?
Give me a good reason why I should not feel guilty about closing the door on abusers? Don't they have rights too? What happened to my original position that basically all speech is ok? Help me out here... :o)
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Only registered users, YES!
by Anonymousforever (not verified) on Sun Mar 02, 2008 09:12 PM PST"I am this close to allowing only registered users to leave comments. "
Great idea JJ, please do that. Don't hesitate for a minute. Farda kheili dir ast.
Fabulous Question and THANK YOU!
by Leila Radan on Sun Mar 02, 2008 09:08 PM PSTAs someone new to Iranian.com, I most definitely had a shocking arrival here when it came to the viciousness of the comments. I have felt welcomed into the community by the registered users, and, most of all, by you. Your taking the time to teach me the ropes around here and help me in all the ways that you did is something I am very grateful for.
But the commenters almost had me beg you to pull me outta the site. I did ask you too, but never got to the point of begging! :-)
I am glad I stuck it out but yes, I do think a stricter format needs to be in place with regards to the haters as their presence, in my mind, demeans the integrity of your publication. Many sites, such as The Daily Kos and other publications that I have written for, allow the writers of the articles to have full control over the comments and give them free reign to delete the ones they see fit. I think this would be both a very helpful and easy feature to install and I would most definitely encourage it.
Unregistered people are not allowed to vote
by Jahanshah Javid (not verified) on Sun Mar 02, 2008 09:07 PM PSTI am not Jahanshah Javid, but I am posting this comment to make a point.
Why is it that unregistered users can post comments as registered users. There is a major problem with this dual system of register/unregister users. I gave up a while ago on blogging and posting comments under my registered name because a registered user accessed my Bio, then logged out and logged back in as an unregistered user and criticized me based on what he/she had learned from my Bio. There have been many apologetic comments posted with an unregistered name Kouroush Sasanian, how can this be possible when Kouroush Sasanian is a registered name?
Under this dual system I don’t recommend any one to register. The unregistered users have figured it out that there is problem with being registered.
In political arena everyone can be a participator, but people have to be registered to be able to vote. I don’t see any difference here.
I don't understand why it is so difficult to.......
by Nadias on Sun Mar 02, 2008 08:58 PM PSTjust simply register. You don't have to reveal your true identity if you register. There are a lot of people with pseudonyms and don't even use their actual picture for their avatar.
Mr. Parsi is not the only author that has been trashed on this web-site in the last 7 months. A lot of the comments on the threads don't even have anything to do with the article/blog. Some are attacks on the author's family and physically appearance.
Solh va Doosti (paz a vosotros)
Nadia
JJ Let the people chose...
by ahvazi on Sun Mar 02, 2008 08:53 PM PSTJJ let the anonymous system be. Some of the comments are good, some are bad and some are ugly, but the reader can chose for themselves whether to read the comment or not. We are all learning how to refute points we don't agree with...I think it will get better.
How about a comment policy
by always (not verified) on Sun Mar 02, 2008 08:49 PM PSTHow about a comment policy like below:
Wildly off-topic comments will be removed.
Spam (i.e. comments containing irrelevant links to commercial sites) will be removed.
Abusive comments will be removed
Define abusive for your readers.
I am all for registering
by Majid on Sun Mar 02, 2008 08:44 PM PSTYou are the one who rightly came up with the "chicken" avatar, and I think that was the best way to describe them, A person who decides to stay on the annonymous side of the fence just to be able to go back and forth numerous times and portray different opinions,sometimes contrary to "themselves", just to say something!
Recently I decided not to read/respond to un-registered comments, since I find them not valid if they decide to remain annonymous.
In my dictionary they chose to be invisible and invalid, so they have it.
Salam again
by Disenchanted on Sun Mar 02, 2008 08:42 PM PSTOne thing that is essential is to limit the length of the comment. Some folks dump a whole book in there. They should write their own bolg/article if they have something that long to say. As a common sense comments should be shorter than the original article.
I am against not allowing anonymous commenst because it tilts the balance toward people who are kissing Power's A$$ (OOPS!).
Those who are defending the "establishment" of any kind would benefit from it because they are immune. YOu can set a strict rule that profanity woud not be tolerated.
Plus registrating is not same as showing ones identity. I am an example! :-)
Cheer up J... :-)
Dear JJ
by IRANdokht on Sun Mar 02, 2008 08:35 PM PSTI can't believe this issue has caused such a dilemma for you. It has nothing to do with freedom of speech. People who are hiding their identity to only slam others are abusing your generosity and trying everyone's patience.
It didn't take long to register and it costs nothing, now this is "freedom of expression". No need to allow out-of-line comments from people who do not want to respect others.
Make them own up to what comes out or stay quiet. Accountability is fair and just.
respectfully
IRANdokht
tough one
by manesh on Sun Mar 02, 2008 08:33 PM PSTThis is a tough one.
I guess the only benefit of an open door policy at this point is to highlight how disjointed and screwed up our community is. It's a mirror that reflect why we are so far from getting our act together.
But, people who write spend time and energy and put their thoughts out there. So it hurts when idiots come along and effortlessly tear them down. My concern is if people stop sharing ideas.
Registration seems like an inevitable next step. It does not limit free speech and can deter "drive-by" stabs in the back.
Good luck. We support you.
I am against anonymous chickens.
by Mohammad Ala on Sun Mar 02, 2008 08:27 PM PSTJahanshah jaan; What you are doing is an enormous task. You tried your way, against the will of some of your valuable members. I oppose those who hide behind anonymous names to attack others and me. Quality of posts has gone down considerably with some people using profanity.
My views are posted in my articles on this site. In brief, we must not let the broad freedom of speech which is permitted in the U.S. mislead us into language which could cause civil and/or criminal liability and which at the least undermines our ability to communicate with and to trust each other. We should seek to support one another and our organizations which are seeking to protect our rights and our identity as Iranians not undermine these organizations or each other.
Blocking
by Niki Tehranchi on Sun Mar 02, 2008 08:22 PM PSTThere is already a delete and a report abuse function. What about blocking so the person doesn't spam your article 1000 times or come back under different anonymous names to repeat the same thing they have already stated ad nauseam.
Balancing act
by Ali P. on Sun Mar 02, 2008 08:15 PM PSTJJ:
Anyone who wants to express his/her opinion, should be expected to take 2 minutes and register.
If you don't have the 2 minutes for us to register, I don't want to read your comment.
JJ salam
by Disenchanted on Sun Mar 02, 2008 08:13 PM PSTDon't be frustrated my friend. What is the straw the is breaking the back of camel?! I guess bunch of nonsense commenst with regard to Mr. Parsi article today....
One thing you can try( not sure the technology cost) is to let users flag the nasty commenst and if certain criteria is met you delete them.
I am for anonymous comments. Revealing ones identity to foes is not a smart thing to do....
But again, don't be disheartened by some people's comments. That's all we got right now to express ourselves. Be patient and kep up the good work...
best,
M