Glance at the comment thread of this blog post. Granted, it's nowhere near as inflammatory as some online forums, but still, it's not pretty. There is too much ad hominem reasoning that obscures the germane arguments that sometimes are made. Looking on the bright side, no one has called anyone else a Nazi ... yet.
After the jump, is there anything that can be done?
So, I'm polling the innocent bystanders. If (1) you are *not* already a commenter on that particular thread, and (2) you have any suggestions on what could be done to get more productive conversation on this site, ... well, I'm all ears. Add a comment yourself, send me a private email, corner me in person, whatever. I'm not all that hopeful it can be done, but I'm all ears. I'm looking for ideas, but simple commiseration is welcome, too.
Just please don't call me a Nazi. Come to think of it, maybe please do call me a Nazi. Then, by a corollary to Godwin's Law, the thread is finished. It wouldn't improve a bad conversation, but it might mercifully end a bad one. That's not chopped liver, either.
2 comments:
Going forward, the commenting rules will be more strictly enforced. As a reminder, here are the rules:
Comments are welcome, but please identify yourself.
Keep it courteous, keep it clean, keep it on topic.
Commenting rules have been modified:
Comments are welcome, but please identify yourself.
Keep it courteous, keep it clean, keep it on topic,
and always advance the conversation.
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