I'd appreciate it if all readers would participate in this poll, whether you comment regularly, occasionally, or not at all.
४ एप्रिल, २०२१
I'm considering changing the approach to comments on this blog.
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«सर्वात जुने ‹थोडे जुने 647 पैकी 201 – 400 नवीन› नवीनतम»Arturo Ui said...
You're the one who thinks comment moderation is no different than the Holocaust. Maybe sort that one out for yourself first.
You know that is not the point I was making.
You are too stupid to discuss ideas and issues in good faith. Most of you progs are. You cannot come up here and discuss things with me or many of h=the other commenters here because you are limited.
That is why you and your friends are driving Ann to close down this space.
Because you are intellectual cowards. It is what you do.
And Ann is taking the easy path.
Into anonymity.
"Yes, some commenters are mean-spirited toward progs, though the majority of us are civil in our contempt and would like to see higher-quality lefties join. But what's unpleasant for lefties here is that it is the one place online where they are outgunned. That is intolerable. Of course, everywhere else online is unpleasant for the right-wing squatters (even the supposedly right-wing sites)."
Prof. Althouse states she is concerned that the right-wingers may make this blog "unpleasant" for "progs." I'd guess, moreover, that she doesn't like that the cadre of belligerent, loud, and oafish right-wingers distort her blog such that it may be perceived as a right-wing blog space, and, more important, that their comments bring down the general tenor and quality of the conversation.
I am unhappy with the way right-wing commenters have squatted here and made it unpleasant for other people. I don't want to spend my time maintaining a safe space for right-wingers.
I see which way this is going. I used to read and comment at HuffPo and even at Washington Monthly when Kevin Drum posted there. During the 2004 election, the left wing commenters there started attacking me and going to my own blog for personal stuff. I make no secret of who I am. The only one here who did that was Ritmo who was mercifully banned eventually. I was soon banned at Washington Monthly and my comments deleted, even while the obscene replies were left in place. The same happened at Huffpo.
During this election season a bunch of new left wing commenters appeared who are anonymous and who spend their time attacking, not adding to the conversation.
You could go the Ricochet route, similar to substack where I subscribe to several contributors. I finally quit Ricochet because it is run by Never Trumpers and I was suspended for a week for the term "Vichy Republicans," referring to the usual suspects. That was enough for me.
I have no suggestions as to content. You decided what you want to do. If you turn off comments, I will probably drift away as some of your topics don't interest me. Like another above, the Wisconsin Capitol protests were a highlight of the blog and marked you as a libertarian, sentiments I share. Now I can't figure out how you define "right wing."
Good luck with what you decide.
tcrosse said...Althouse fires a shot across our bow.
I must say, this is the first time in ten years I've ever felt insulted on this blog. Do blame the lack of left wing comments on deplorables wanting to own this space is just false. Wokeness in Madison where ALthouse lives requires not engaging in debate with deplorables. They are to be silenced and censored. They even publish that as part of their critical race theory beliefs.
Althouse is just is now succumbing to the ranks by blaming us...for her success???? Go figure. It's like how the Dixie Chicks really despise country music fans that made them rich.
steve uhr said...
No anonymity -- have something to say, don't hide behind a fake name.
Lefties always want to know who is saying things.
So they can punish them.
They never want to discuss difficult ideas. They always go after people. It is what they do.
Althouse @ 0733: "I have a vision for this blog, and if the commenters are doing something inconsistent with what I mean it to be, then what is my motivation to provide this place for you?"
A potential conflict: to "provide this place for you" or to satisfy your own "vision for this blog" and "what [you] mean it to be."
Your blog presently:
..informs me of music, art, fashion, and progressive rubbish in the media - none of which are natively of interest but are important in the wider world;
..provides insight and perspectives from yourself and informed commenters (a declining trend in both over recent years).
To honor the value provided, I use Amazon.com habitually through the Althouse portal.
Nonetheless, I would be interested to learn your "vision for this blog."
Wingers of any kind don't debate. Wingers are like starlings, they take over the place and make a lot of noise.
"A comment thread is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse, a party, a company by the way, a counselor, a multitude of counselors." – Bizarro Charles Baudelaire
Achilles - I have no interest in going after anyone, nor the time. Posting under your own name is a way to self-moderate. You should talk to someone here like you would talk to the parents of your kids' friends. Do you regularly insult in person people who disagree with you?
(Sorry if this is a duplicate)
A few years ago, while recovering from surgery that kept me from doing anything active, I did in fact scrape the entire Althouse blog from day 1 through Dec 31, 2018, I believe. This includes all posts, comments and tags. I was very bored and Ann had recently complained about Blogger, so I gave it a try. I then migrated that data into a different blogging platform that I had plenty of experience with. It all worked fine, the only issue being the fact that user names in comments aren't necessarily unique.
I notified Ann that I had this data, she was welcome to it, sent some screenshots, etc. I got a nice note back, thanking me for my efforts.
I've still got that data if Ann or anyone else wants it.
"I must say, this is the first time in ten years I've ever felt insulted on this blog"
Really? Odd. I dont think anything Althouse has said here is anything at all new. It's been part of her frustration for a long time and she's said so. I think she's insulted most everyone over time, but the ability to be insulted and press on without flouncing off is a sign of maturity
I don't want to spend my time maintaining a safe space for right-wingers. I'm not even a conservative. I'm just someone who wanted the full range of discussion, but this is not happening. This is a relatively small group of right-wingers bent on owning the space and excluding others.
If you were to ask "right wingers" to stop commenting, most would honor your wishes. That would probably reduce the number of left wings trolls who only want to twit conservatives.
Maybe it would create the type of site that you are looking for.
What a whiny little crybaby...
Here is an example of what I referred to in my last comment. No attempt at debate.
Your free ice cream: do as you desire with it.
You provide a place with your open posts , the ones where we can talk about whatever we want, and because of that we may have all been encouraged to think that applies everywhere.
The perfect is the enemy of the good. You have a really really good blog and a bit of that has to be attributed to the commentariat that gathers here for succor and nourishment. Is it perfect? No but no human endeavor can be.
I think others may have mentioned it but you could consider appointing some moderators to assist you. I would volunteer except I am erratic and unreliable. I would only add to your difficulties
I like the idea of running all comments through moderation before publication, but I wonder how much work it is for you as compared to what you do now. Pretty much any of the approaches involve a lot of grunt work over and above writing blog posts.
As long as the blog carries on, I'll adapt.
Any person in the world that opens a topic and allows the world to discuss it is going to provide more value than a curated/moderated propaganda outlet for one mind.
1000 minds will always be better than one.
But I don't think people understand the pressure Ann is under to shut us all up.
And most people just don't want to fight, especially for someone else.
Let me throw out a suggestion about why some moderate Democrats like Ann may be having a problem with us right wingers obsessing about the election. It was stolen. We all know that it was stolen. But the powers that be in this country want us to ignore that, and give the victor their spoils. The moderates just want us to shut up about it. Can’t we all just get along?
From the right, we see it as a truly existential threat to our country. For the first time in over 230 years, we are no longer governed with the consent of the governed, and we know it. That is what the blatant election fraud means. It means that the political machines in maybe a half dozen large cities around the country effectively disenfranchised 75 million Trump voters. A couple hundred people,out of 330 million.plus several thousand enablers. And the result? Maybe $4 trillion looting of the country and its treasury, beggaring our grandchildren to further greatly enrich the Pelosis, Feinsteins, etc, as well as their families and cronies. The magnitude if their avarice, and their blatant audacity, is stunning. But then they want to institutionalize the election fraud that brought them to power, further distancing us from governance with the consent of the governed.
Eventually, we might come to an accommodation. But then some leftist here invariably states with (supposed) authority that the governance of our country was not stolen through massive election fraud. And this is exactly the narrative that the powers that be in this country want so desperately for us to accept. Just accept their win. Pretend everything is just fine. Accepting that narrative means that we have lost permanently, because we accept the legitimacy of their win and their power. Nope. Not going to happen. They cheated and violated one of the core principles of our Constitutional republic.
Which may be an argument for some moderation for the next couple months, until things settle down some more. Ann has had to moderate a bit in the run ups to the 2016 and 2020 elections, but at least after the 2016 election, could back off moderation fairly safely. I can bite my tongue until it is bloody, but I am not going to accept the legitimacy of the 2020 election until the major charges of election fraud have at least been thoroughly investigated. They haven’t been. At a minimum, DeKalb county GA and Maricopa County AZ are desperately trying to prevent such investigations by their respective states. I think that this is going on in other states too.
Maybe what I am saying there is that I cannot morally shut up about this brazen power grab by the Democrats, and accept it as a fait accomplished. And I esp won’t shut up about it when told to by those who support the usurpation. So, if Ann has to moderate to keep this under control, I apologize to her in advance. She didn’t create the problem. And given the choice of some moderation, or no commenting, I vote for light moderation.
I enjoy the posts, but definitely come here for the comments. As a conservative, I learn from people smarter than me. Eliminate the comments and I may wander by every now and then, but not often. I especially appreciate that you do not censor comments, including those from conservatives. Maybe you are fearful of being de-platformed, I don't know.
It's your blog and I respect that. Do you what pleases you. As you are the same age as me, we don't too many years left to enjoy ourselves. "The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years..."
Posting under your own name is a way to self-moderate.
I agree with that idea, but do not trust some leftists not to go after me personally.
We live in unpleasant times that are morphing into a cold civil war between those who want freedom of speech and those who want to control speech. I can understand if Althouse wants to sit out that fight.
What Bruce Hayden said at 10:42!!!!
So, the Cafe invitations that "you can talk about whatever you want" is just another passive-aggressive liberal ambush, like "we need a conversation about race"? Noted. It don't take no weatherman to see which way this wind is blowing.
Sayonara.
I come here several times a day and while I rarely post, I do read both Ann's post and the comments. I believe the comments add to the total package. I voted to keep it as is.
The trolls very rarely add anything to the conversation, they drop in, post some inane talking point and derail the flow of the comments. Certain names I just scroll on by.
"I am unhappy with the way right-wing commenters have squatted here and made it unpleasant for other people. I don't want to spend my time maintaining a safe space for right-wingers. I'm not even a conservative. I'm just someone who wanted the full range of discussion, but this is not happening. This is a relatively small group of right-wingers bent on owning the space and excluding others. I am not here for that."
This is the heart of the matter, you don't like what the comments have become and who is commenting.
Ann it's your blog, do what you want, run it how you see fit. You made it plain up tread you don't care if you lose readers. Make your changes and afterword's I'll decide if I still want to come here.
I've read through the comments and I appreciate Althouse responding. As someone noted, I do wish she would interact more, because I often don't know what she is seeking. Her podcasting helped because I could hear her interest.
I get that we all do the things we enjoy, suffer a bit with things we don't, and when the suffering outweighs the enjoyment, we prefer to move on.
I've read blogs since they became predominant than forums. I don't like forums anymore. My blog reading list is down to about 8 daily. Technically all of them have comment sections, but only 2 do I read and participate. I can't honestly say that comments are why I read blogs.
However, my likes and opinions do differ from Althouse. In most cases, I've stopped reading such blogs with differing views, but mainly because I get zero enjoyment if all I can do is read something I'm not interested in or skip that post to read something I don't agree and then can't respond. Althouse allows response, and I try to make that response as respectful as I can. She'll likely never know how her views have influenced me, and how often I have referred to her ideas positively to those in my life that don't read blogs.
I can say without comments, visiting would be less enjoyable. I'd still stop by, but I wouldn't get as much from the visit. The result would likely be more time for both myself and Althouse, and I have to admit, that is extremely exciting. Time is a scarce commodity, and more of it really is attractive. If Althouse feels the same at all; I'm not hopeful for comments staying the same. I will be sadden at first, but I'll move on to enjoy other stuff.
“ Not this shit again”.
Ayup. See ya down the line toots.
Achilles - I have no interest in going after anyone, nor the time. Posting under your own name is a way to self-moderate. You should talk to someone here like you would talk to the parents of your kids' friends. Do you regularly insult in person people who disagree with you?
That's one way to say everyone should self-censor of they don't want the leftist horde to crush them.
It's unfortunate that Althouse's time is limited. I think if she were able to spend some time on other blogs she might come to realize that she has an intelligent and perceptive group of commenters who are always entertaining to read.
Blogger Bruce Hayden said...
Let me throw out a suggestion about why some moderate Democrats like Ann may be having a problem with us right wingers obsessing about the election. It was stolen. We all know that it was stolen. But the powers that be in this country want us to ignore that, and give the victor their spoils. The moderates just want us to shut up about it. Can’t we all just get along?
I wonder if this is the source of Ann's concern. I agree with Bruce and have decided to watch and wait to see if the next election can be stolen, too. No marches or demonstrations for me. I do think the people running Biden are asking to be another Venezuela. I know Venezuela had a serious inequality problem. Chavez solved that. The prosperous Venezuelans are in Miami, like the prosperous Cubans. The poor in Venezuela are a hell of a lot poorer now. If they Biden runners wreck this country, there are not many places left.
Maybe Ann is getting feedback from Goolag. Another one of those conspiracy theories.
I rarely bother with the comments.
After reading the comments (ironic?) and especially your / Ann's comments, I change my vote to "shut off all comments". Life is too short and if you don't want to put up with the downside of people then shut 'er down and just post what makes you happy! So long, and thanks for all the fish!
why not just turn off the comments for posts you really care about & have people email you if they think they have something worth while?
I agree most of the comments are worthless, but you have a few star commentators. Maybe they can email you and get published. You can keep the Cafe threads for everyone else to talk.
Anyway, its your blog, and the number of people who read and just lurk far outnumber the the people who write comments. You could just go back to no comments and see how that works out.
If half the readers would go away without the comments, I'd still have plenty of readers, and they'd be much more the people I am writing for.
For many bloggers, the comments are their reward. Proof that the audience exists, proof that people are paying attention.
As has been pointed out, internet forums universally lack robust leftist debaters. Leftist comment thrives where the debate aspect of interaction lacks vigor. Rigorous political debate on internet forums ends up dominated by the right. We could debate why that is, but I suggest that it's not because the right side manages to suppress or intimidate or otherwise achieve debate domination by nefarious means.
It could be that leftists are more focused on what feels good and rightists are more focused on what works well, and when we all argue, we end up asymmetrical.
Why not have two versions of the blog? In one version the comments will be completely unrestricted and unmoderated (at least for a couple hours after a blog entry appears). This version of the blog will permit open dialogue and debate. Your readers will be able to respond to the content they consume and publicly debate political and social issues. Open debate will encourage more diverse voices to speak out. And it's more interesting. But another version of the blog will weed out the racist and misogynistic stuff. A lot of very sensitive people (mostly fragile narcissists and young women) respond poorly to online abuse. These people should only be exposed to interesting and well-informed comments that reinforce their already well-developed views.
Or, maybe, you should only permit comments from people who are not masking their identities? Anonymous trolls seriously suck.
I'm not sure what you mean by Right-wingers excluding lefties from posting. They do get pushback because most Leftists say nothing of interest and merely parrot the party line that everyone can read/see on Twitter/Facebook, every TV news show except Fox, and almost every Newspaper. Our media is a Pravada like echo chamber and having people on this blog "Play crossfire" gets boring.
"If half the readers would go away without the comments, I'd still have plenty of readers, and they'd be much more the people I am writing for."
Exactly! I enjoy many of the comments, but people come for the Posts. I'd bet "Althouse" is like every other blog. That is, 95% never comment just read and lurk. And I doubt your readership would be cut in half, probably more like 15-20%
“Wokeness in Madison where ALthouse lives requires not engaging in debate with deplorables. They are to be silenced and censored. They even publish that as part of their critical race theory beliefs.”
“Althouse is just is now succumbing to the ranks by blaming us...for her success???? Go figure. It's like how the Dixie Chicks really despise country music fans that made them rich.”
I keep forgetting this. I couldn’t live somewhere like Madison (or more likely, in my case, Boulder). The stifling orthodoxy would be overwhelming. I was a moderate in college, supporting Nixon, because I believed that he was most likely to keep me out of the rice paddy’s in Vietnam. I was right - the year I graduated, the draft was suspended because we had mostly withdrawn our troops. And then slowly over the next half century, I drifted to the right. Or, maybe just society drifted to the left. We would visit Boulder when I was in college, and have spent a little time there every decade since, most recently visiting my kid who spent 5 years on their PhD there. The orthodoxy has always been stifling there. It was 50 years ago. It is now. And Madison appears very similar.
I prefer living around conservatives, who pretty much leave you alone. I don’t think that I would enjoy the social pressure I would face if I lived in either Boulder, or Madison.
@Michael K - Before we get shut down (!), can you remind me of the Australian blog you follow? I've lost the link.
More J farmers, respectful, factual, doesn't need to use foul language, demean because of different opinion or most facts, explains not promotes delusions,"Trump is still president",he won the race,so much voter fraud(proven wrong by 65 out of 66 courts, trumps own AG and heads of both houses of Congress)Conspiracies and unproven and invalid statements made by people who seem delusional and without proven factual basis and usually end up F'ing you up if you dont believe the unproven delusions. (yes and sometimes I don't even understand some of the banter, over my head I guess, but at least its civil and with thought not just demean those who don't believe the delusions.)Yes more J Farmers,respectful,factual.im sure it wont happen though ,some folks just need to whine and complain with no answers for solutions just more problems.. two cents and thank you. Yes I said similar when I came here a right wing bastion of complainers who have closed minds, I was surprised. Seems very few up in here(and not me) could make a debate team in the real world. There is always Parler and Telegram and Mark Levine ,Breitbart etc for those who just need the pump. Even on Easter Sunday ,the "Christians" have the need to FU. Forgive them Father for they know not what they do. Right? Change is coming rapidly,some folks just cant deal with it. Stay tuned I guess and we'll see what pops
"I wonder if this is the source of Ann's concern."
the word seems to have gone out to not talk about certain subjects on the internet. Its not just fox news, but many of the Salem Properties and other more Establishment Right wing blogs will NOT talk about:
Ashli Babbitt
The stolen Election
Reforming the Voter Fraud.
The Jan 6th over-reaction.
"I keep forgetting this. I couldn’t live somewhere like Madison (or more likely, in my case, Boulder). The stifling orthodoxy would be overwhelming."
I just keep my head down. Not a problem. But publishing under my own name is out of the question.
I voted to keep things as they are.
But Althouse has raised this subject enough times that it is clearly an agony for her. Success often comes at a price.
So, my suggestion is, Let Althouse impose moderation in any form she chooses. Let someone else (or maybe a few someone else's), with the time and inclination to do so, create an "Althouse Comment Blog". Link to each Althouse post and provide for largely un-moderated comments.
The Democrat Party and the Media barons have gone hard left. Anyone who disagrees is CANCELLED and called a racist/sexist/etc. Trump supporters are getting fired in the real world. If one wants free and honest elections, or the immigration enforced you're labeled a NAZI.
I think Althouse doesn't want to labeled a NAZI because her comment section contained BAD THINK. Especially since she's OK with Biden being POTUS and voted for Hillary.
Bruce Hayden said...
Let me throw out a suggestion about why some moderate Democrats like Ann may be having a problem with us right wingers obsessing about the election. It was stolen. We all know that it was stolen.
**************
Public service reminder that the election was not stolen. You have as much evidence for that as you do that aliens abducted you last night and brought you back this morning. Even Sidney Powell now says she was full of $hit and should never have been taken seriously. Trump lost fair and square. He lost by many millions. He lost by many electoral votes. He lost badly. He lost badly because he responded to the greatest challenge of our time (the pandemic) with egregious incompetence and outright disinterest. He never polled above water his entire term in office. It is no surprise AT ALL that he lost, and lost badly.
I appreciate the work that's gone into the blog. And if its too much effort to keep the comments going, so be it.
Even on the sunrise thread, I look at the comments to see what others find worth "talking" about. I do a lot of skimming and skipping when the little feuds happen. There are some amazingly witty commenters that show up here in comment land. I would hate to not have the opportunity to enjoy their quips and/or insights.
Blogger Original Mike said...
@Michael K - Before we get shut down (!), can you remind me of the Australian blog you follow? I've lost the link.
It's libertarian, like Ann used to say she was.
Catallaxy files.
Limiting to one comment per person or 50 comments in toto means that commenters don't have the ability to respond to each other (in constructive and meaningful ways). It also means that afterthoughts, which are often more insightful than first reactions would be excluded.
Dropping the comments section means the cafes where "you can talk about whatever you want" are also gone, and what's left? A pretty picture? Pretty it may be, but you will end up with fewer, and not necessarily better, readers and followers.
I understand that you provide a service and think that it isn't being respected, but for others, the service that you provide is a forum for people to speak their minds. It may not measure up to what you hoped it would be, but it's much better than a lot of other chatrooms or bulletin boards or opinion forums, and that is a real contribution to your public.
In today's environment, one has to expect that conversations will often generate more heat than light. Banning people who use the site for personal abuse or to settle scores for a time is a good policy that might result in some improvement. I think though that you have to consider that there is the you who posts articles and thoughts and links and photos, and then there is the larger you who generously provides a forum for people - intelligent, thoughtful, lonely, brainwashed, angry, irascible, or just assholes - to speak their minds.
In today's environment, there's always a certain negative or cynical backwash on everything. Is it much of a problem? "Shitting on the post" isn't shitting on that larger you and isn't necessarily shitting on the you you either. It's a way for people to get something out of their system so that they can move on to other things, on the site and in real life.
The comment above by A.U. is a perfect example of what bores me about leftists. Its just dumb pushback and parroting something he saw on MSNBC or read in the WaPo. Boring! Anyway, I've said my piece. And I'm content with any direction Althouse wants to go.
When you started this blog you didn't enable comments. Do you remember why you started?
“ Ann has had to moderate a bit in the run ups to the 2016 and 2020 elections, but at least after the 2016 election, could back off moderation fairly safely. ”
Let me remind everyone that in 2016, it very much appears that the Clinton campaign hired an army of trolls, who worked shifts, coming by daily and dropping their canned campaign nonsense. Before moderation, it appeared that we had 2-3 of the Clinton trolls per shift around the clock. They were, of course gone, when moderation was eventually turned back office. With one exception - I first noticed Inga amidst the Clinton troll army, and just assumed that she was part of it. Nope. Over the last almost five years, she has remained, and while many rarely agree with her, she has become an honored part of the community.
Thank you! I'll bookmark it.
Would a blog without comments be less work?
Maybe not. Take yesterday. I count one and a half substantive posts by Althouse, the others are merely invitations to conversation by commenters. A blog whose most distinctive posts are about sunrises and art, with an occasional fisking thrown in, will not keep much of an audience.
The real value of the blog lies in the enduring Gestalt, the Gesamtkunstwerk. Practical problems aside, that is very difficult to accept for a romantic artist trying to articulate her "vision," expressing her true self and the way it sees the world, for the "right" readers who properly appreciate the essence of Althouse.
I say the blog is your Great American Novel.
It has more life in it than so-called literature, maybe some better characters and story lines.
As highly as you think of yourself and your vision, the blog's real claim to fame is that it is not just about you. Your greatest achievement has been to show the strength of character to allow something to evolve that goes against your own desire for control of your own vision of expressing the one true Althouse.
Besides, at the risk of being unpleasant, your pictures and politics and prose, interesting as they are, are not interesting enough to make you a great artist. You are uniquely talented in one thing: the riff. You do better with a foil, a chorus, a potentially skeptical audience.
Since Easter is about new beginnings which brings some things to and end, this post is timed appropriately for 2021. So I’d like to acknowledge some of my favorite commenters.
@Mike. You’re smart dude. I read most of what you write when I visit this blog and have visited your site so see what you write on your own. Your insights and medical experiences are always interesting.
@Achilles. You’re rock-star. I have cousins like you. Really smart guys but like bulls in a china shop. As Bill Murray once said, “I want to party with you cowboy”.
@Shouting Thomas. You speak loudly and carry a big stick. I’m younger than you and don’t have grandkids, but like you, I fear for my kids future, and my very young nieces and nephews. I could feel you tremble a bit last fall as the reality of the Chi-Comm takeover of our American Government became a reality. I’m scared too.
@Mike Sylwester. You get straight to the point with no bullshit. You were really honest this year about Qanon and questioning its authenticity and credibility. I didn’t follow it much and learned a lot. Another left with boogeyman.
@Dust Bunny Queen. – I’ve visited your website as well. Read your last post about the three types of people. You’re a good writer.
@Laslo – You’re hilarious man. You can make anything sexual and it’s funny. The Irish Whiskey of jokes.
@tcrosse - always short and to the point.
@wince. – great comments. For years I never clicked on your profile and the picture was small enough I thought it was a guy wearing a turtle neck sweater. But when I finally did and realized it was a guy from a spaghetti western with his head in a noose, I burst out laughing. Good stuff.
@crackemcee - I don't understand you sometimes, but read what you write. Sometimes you pull me out to left field with you. That's a compliment.
Too many to mention. But since this seems to be the beginning of the end, I’m going to make it a point to find some of the websites and blogs of some commenters here. I almost feel like I know some of you even though I’ve never seen your faces. BTW…that's is me holding the “Nuts” sign. I was drinking beer at Milwaukee’s Summerfest before a Kid Rock concert and asked a guy selling candied almonds if I could hold his sign for a second. Had my ex snap a quick pic. I came up with Gusty Winds one night drinking with friends. They asked what would you name your rock band and I said, “Gusty Winds and the Tumbleweeds”. So I started a blog with that but really didn’t keep it up.
God Bless everyone. Even @Voltaire, @Robert Cooke, and @AReasonableMan. You guys are truly idiots who have made me laugh for years. I imagine @Robert Cooke looking just like his pseudonym photo, and the juxtaposition of @Voltaire and @ARM using actual intellectuals for theirs has always seemed just perfect irony.
I enjoy the comments--some for the humor and some for the knowledge shared.
I am with you; I get annoyed when commenters scold you for your beliefs and/or for not commenting on what they perceive to be important. Perhaps, if those particular commenters, don't contribute much else, they could be sanctioned.
I've been reading your blog daily for years and I think I've commented once or twice. I will read your blog regardless of comments because I like the way you think and write. That said, the comments on your blog are the only ones I read regularly. I've found comments on other blogs predictable and a waste of time.
Whoops. Looks like I missed Spiros's post at 11:00 AM. Similar idea.
Great minds, you know!
If Inga is an honored part of the community, that must mean I am your Most High Exalted Excellency
Ann,
Don't get me wrong, I almost always find your post interesting and intelligent, but I come here 2-3 times a day because of the commentators. I've struggled to understand why and eventually concluded that there are two reasons. Primary among them is the sense of participation I get from reading your regular commentators. It gives me not hope, but at least solace, that there are others who see the world as I do.
Also important is their intelligence and diversity of your commentators. There are regularly facts and perspectives that I did not know or had not considered.
Yes, there are occasionally senseless rants back and forth which I skip but the gems among the comments outweigh the nuisance of the spats.
Ann Althouse said...
"I am forced to moderate because of spam and very destructive trolls. But aside from that, I am unhappy with commenters who jump right in and shit on the post and let it be known that they think I ought to have opened a discussion on the latest killing in the news...I write and then I look to see what's happening in the comments and people are just shitting on the post. Why should that be my life?"
Commentors are speculating about Professor Althouse's motives in considering eliminating comments.
She has clearly stated her reasons.
"I am unhappy with the way right-wing commenters have squatted here and made it unpleasant for other people."
Most of here aren't right wing. You don't really get many of those here. The predominate poster here is a classic liberal.
It's your site, Ann. Do whatever wish with it.
In my experience, this site and host cover some of the most interesting topics/issues to be found. The comments can range from the very enlightening and entertaining to the frustratingly predictable and banal (hello, Iman!). It is often as refreshing as a great cup of coffee.
I always appreciate the photography. I have made it a habit to use the Althouse portal when making transactions with Amazon. I also steer others here... the best site I’ve found on the innernetz.
Happy Easter to my brothers and sisters!
Whatever is easiest and best for you : )
I don’t think that I would enjoy the social pressure I would face if I lived in either Boulder, or Madison.
I think that could be getting to Ann as the Democrats who run places like Madison must be very paranoid about any deplorables in their midst.
I don't think I have "drifted right." I consider myself still libertarian. I am, for example, pro-choice. I was even scolded by Inga (of all people) for telling that I had done abortions in my training. Nobody liked it but it was a chore on GYN. Personally, I think a woman who has a second abortion should have her tubes tied. Maybe that makes me "right wing."
What else makes you "right wing?" I am agnostic but think churches are good for society. I think Socialism, has failed everywhere it has been tried as it is contrary to human nature. Maybe that makes me "right wing." I don't think wishing makes it happen, for example. Is that "right wing?"
I think Ann may have drifted left.
I would say the left turns on senior professionals of their Party over arbitrary nonsense, so trying to appease them is extremely foolish. Some "conservatives" have endless tolerance for disdain and condescension, so they might stick around a site that doesn't allow a relatively free flow of comments. Given the results of your last try to bring a near halt to comments, I'm confident you'll go back to unrestricted when you miss the attention.
But you're not interested in a particularly invested fan base, just pandering to the whims of the moment. Removing comments might reduce your mental stress in the very short term, but it will deprive you of supporters beyond that. Let me assure you: the elites you surround yourself with will turn on you the minute the winds shift. None of them care enough about you to risk their own jobs and families, as we see repeatedly in the struggles among your class. If you actually want peace, log out from public life as Ann Althouse forever, and post about your morning runs anonymously. Even if you do, the mentally ill freakshows empowered by President Biden WILL come after you for your previous sins. You're too big to be ignored.
Then again, you have Meade, a gun, a home, and your health. That's more than a lot of women have. I'm not enough of a fan to particularly care, and I only come for the comments.
I come here for the comments. Our hostess does a good job at stimulating conversation, but it's the comments that I read often. I come to be challenged in my thinking. The last time comments were stopped, some of the more challenging commenters from the left never came back. I actually miss that. Even though the commenters here are mostly right leaning, there are few places where intelligent conversations can occur. I have no problem ignoring stupid comments, they are just the result of sloppy democracy. It's your blog and it may not have turned out to what you wanted, but it's what is needed.
I have always though this was a socratic exercise, many of the source premises in the prestige press are patently ridiculous , but should be challenged with facts.
rcocean said...
The comment above by A.U. is a perfect example of what bores me about leftists. Its just dumb pushback and parroting something he saw on MSNBC or read in the WaPo. Boring! Anyway, I've said my piece. And I'm content with any direction Althouse wants to go.
**************
And yet you have nothing, zero, zilch to refute it with. Because I'm exactly right, and you know it. Saying the election was stolen isn't a statement of fact, it's a statement of religious fanaticism. And it has already gotten people killed.
Ann Althouse said...
This is a relatively small group of right-wingers bent on owning the space and excluding others.
Nobody is being excluded. People who are only here to shit on commenters are being shit on in turn.
Take procurator evers who has done every one step one could do in handling an epidemic yet he still retains considerable support among the party faithful
My observation is that the blogs which consistently have comments that align with the goals of the host are those that employ an aggressive approach to bans with rapid, occasional, and indefinite shutdowns of comments.
For a refresher on host frustrations with moderating comments, I’ve just re-read the host’s explanation of her comments policy at the financial blog, nakedcapitalism.com. Very illuminating.
By the way, kudos on your patience in moderating comments on any post about transgender issues. I have the option of reading them or not whereas you currently have to both read them and moderate them. I’m assuming that reading yet another comment on XX and XY chromosomes and the resulting biological “equipment” is a really annoying waste on your time.
Sebastian said...
Besides, at the risk of being unpleasant, your pictures and politics and prose, interesting as they are, are not interesting enough to make you a great artist. You are uniquely talented in one thing: the riff. You do better with a foil, a chorus, a potentially skeptical audience.
4/4/21, 11:23 AM
****************
Geez, dude...
I'd like the comments nested.
I may need to find another time suck if the comments are ended.
Paco's separate forum idea might be good. At Ace of Spades the last decade or so, the comments poor in so fast, it's impossible to keep up. Does anyone actually read any at sites were there are thousands of comments?
Weighing your thoughts, observations, information, and knowledge against others is critical in the human endeavor.
Unless you're a know-it-all, a proverbial fool.
Michael K said...
What a whiny little crybaby...
Here is an example of what I referred to in my last comment. No attempt at debate.
**********
The quality of the "debate" often limits to "go die in a fire, you lefty troll". When it's not "Why isn't Ann more into me, I told her all the things she is wrong about very strongly."
Hi Anne,
It is your blog, created as the result of your efforts, with obligation to no one....so of course if want you to achieve whatever aesthetic end you desire and if changing the comment section serves that end you do not need our approval (but thx for asking : )).
But because you asked, I will offer that I vote for no change. I really enjoy the comment section. So many bright and thoughtful folks on here that have "triggered" (in the good way) useful conversations. Heck, I would even be in favor of allowing upvotes!
For full disclosure, I am probably one of those conservative Neanderthals. I first found your site when you were covering the teachers' Union conflict in Wisconsin. I found you to be one of the few left leaning observers who appeared to be making an honest attempt to step outside your tribe and view things on their intellectual and utility merits. I have visited your blog almost every day since. It has been fascinating to watch your journey from card carrying member of the establishment to where you are now. Yes, like others, I think I have experienced some "wish thinking" that you would make some miraculous change into a card caring libertarian warrior-ess for the conservative team. My bad. But I was never heavily invested in such fantasy, which is where I think some of the angry comments from Achilles and Shouting Thomas stems (though again, I am aligned with them politically and philosophically ...would probably be beer-mates with them if we lived in proximity). I have defended you on sites like Instapundit in the comment section where the animus seems puzzling and unwarranted. I am sure though it stems from my side's troubling losing streak in the culture war over the last 5 decades.
Anyways, thank you for the blog. There are fewer and fewer places where the left and right can discuss things civilly. Respect to you.
"what about joining Pajamas Media and giving them the moderation job?"
I can't stand Pajamas Media -- can't force myself to read on that site at all, even when I want to read the material. The tone is completely off, completely not my style.
As for Instapundit, I have group-blogged back in the day when it was just Glenn but he went on vacation sometimes and I and 2 or 3 others substituted, but I never felt the kind of flow I have here on my blog. And now that Instapundit is a group blog all the time, the feeling has changed, and I would not belong in the mix.
And I don't want my OWN blog to be a place where I of all people don't belong, which is what it feels like sometimes.
I read comments at quite a few sites. Ace of Spades is one of them. I may not read all of them, or address them, but I rarely find myself disappointed by a stroll through the comments there. Unz Review is many things, but never dull. I may regard Saker as a manic cheerleader, but I suspect Karlin's view of the American military will be closer to reality than Joe Biden's. And Vox Day is rapidly becoming successful enough to be a linchpin of Western nationalism- Steve Bannon really should have learned from him.
Ann Althouse is an amuse-bouche by comparison. And I rather like them! I just wouldn't fill up on them at parties. Er, anymore.
"Finally the truth comes out. The right wing commenters presence is the problem. Their very presence makes people uncomfortable"/"Yeah but she's right. Y'all want a safe space for right wingers, and you want Ann to pay for it and moderate it for you. And when she doesn't, you become abusive. Half of you sound like a jilted ex-husband, simmering over that witch that did you wrong, all because a comment you don't like appeared. And that's on a good day."
Ha ha ha ha.
Thank you, Arturo.
I think it's certainly possible that Biden won the Electoral College and likely that he won the popular vote. Trump didn't win by a landslide as he claimed. I also think it's clear that there was some fraud on the Democrat side that could have denied Trump victory in some states. I don't think Trump could have excluded fraudulent votes in those states because of the legal and political difficulties, but that doesn't mean that his allegations of election fraud were wrong. Courts dismissed cases because of technicalities or because they couldn't know how many votes and which votes were fraudulent and couldn't take responsibility for the chaos that would result from changed vote totals.
I don't see how any of this relates to the topic at hand, though, and would understand if diversions like this are irritating to the blog owner. Also, on a blog authored by a woman, it's probably a good idea to keep comments about which women are hot and which aren't to oneself.
Anne - please expand on what you mean, I think this is really important.
>And I don't want my OWN blog to be a place where I of all people don't belong, which is what it feels like sometimes.
Well. I had no idea it was THAT bad.
I've been here almost two years, and not because I share the Prof's particular passions and interests, but because so many of the commenters are interesting and informative and she leaves them space to be so.
I don't even read half the posts (is that a bothersome observation?) but will comment on those I do read--but I can stop that, and I'll certainly lessen my "not interested" comments.
My vote was moderate moderation but I'd be happy w/o it too.
Narr
It's your thang, do what you wanna do
Dear Ann,
I voted for no moderation, but am rethinking after reading some of your comments.
I appreciate your blog for what it is -- interesting and diverse topics, many I would probably not have seen elsewhere or have ever thought about. I think because of the nature of your blog you get higher level comments which is why people say they like the comments and is a testament to the blog itself. That being said, it has always bothered me how some people attack your posts. They don't get it and I am often muttering "start your own blog!"
So to that end, ditch the comments if it is what you want to do. Life is too short. I will still be a reader of your posts.
American Thinker recently eliminated comments. I think it was the right decision for them and it may well be for you too. It's a shame we live in a society where there are always people bringing down the level of discussion with insults, base language and vitriol. Who needs it?
Thank you.
I strongly suggest that you, Althouse, do whatever the Hell you want to do because that's what's going to happen anyway and I want to be on the winning team.
Althouse @0836: "I am unhappy with the way right-wing commenters have squatted here and made it unpleasant for other people."
Yes, the cohort of commenters has drifted toward right-wing hackery, away from right leaning libertarian. Althouse, a Progressive at heart I think, has fed this somewhat with her starter analysis.
Catering the audience majority perhaps? Or just that the prevailing Progressive position has rapidly turned insane and farcical.
Ann is dead right about Pajamas Media. And inviting Disqus into the blog will be to make the problems she is experiencing way worse, if Instapundit is any guid.
I do not comment frequently, mostly because with work and life, I get to everything late, but I certainly do enjoy the comments submitted by your readers. It seems like there is someone who is very well versed in almost every topic presented (ask me about the Exclusion Crisis at your peril - I'll argue either the Whig or Tory position). I do use my real name, nobody else will or has offered to take it on. Again, acent grave over the final 'e', thank you WC Fields, who did spend time in my hometown.
The left wants to destroy every institution, and then deny its happening cities can be under mortar fire for months but any response is the problem, children can mutilates by quacks and worse subjecting to them to worst of patent medicine, that is the new normal,
I read all the posts. The perspective and interests of our hostess are wonderful and have often brought new things to my world.
I read many of the comments. I have learned a great deal from comments here. At some point in every post they often degenerate into back and forth which is no fun.
I rarely comment myself. There's lots of smart people here and they usually post what I may say before I get to it (and I am not interested in jumping into those back and forth fights).
It would be sad if the comments were to go away. If that's what it takes to keep the owner of the blog posting... so be it.
"please expand on what you mean,"
I don't know how much more plainly she could have put it.
No thats not the reason the left wants ways to silence speech that challenges their worldview in fact at moved to a differrent platform
For years AA provided clickbait for right wing commenters based on the Clintons being criminals, Trump being the world's greatest comic, and Biden being a candidate for memory care. Then the 2020 election finally exposed so many of them as loons. But she's now stuck with them.
"What stops you from just trying one of your other options? You aren't going to be able to control other people, so just do what works for you."
Oh, that is absolutely my intention. There's no way that the poll is a democratic process and the answer with the most votes wins. In fact, the way some of the people are arguing for free comments is unintentionally influencing me against comments.
Particularly bad is the threat that I'm going to lose traffic, especially the idea that the traffic equals money and I'm going to miss that money. What money? Do you see some mechanism here by which traffic corresponds to money?
I've said over and over that I do this for the intrinsic reward to me, and yet you don't hear me. Why should I write for people who can't hear me? Because of all the money that these people who don't understand me are paying me? That's insane.
“And I don't want my OWN blog to be a place where I of all people don't belong, which is what it feels like sometimes.”
Not long ago Michael K quoted Ann Althouse and didn’t realize it was she he was quoting and called her a “troll’. While it made me chuckle, it depicts a serious disconnect between the comments sections and the blog author. Many, too many, right wing commenters have become indistinguishable ( to me) from QAnons and other radical rightist group adherents. I could see it being an embarrassment to Althouse to be connected to some of these comments.
I'd miss my own comments the most...if we're being honest. I really crack myself up sometimes.
@Michael K said...I think that could be getting to Ann as the Democrats who run places like Madison must be very paranoid about any deplorables in their midst.
As a resident of Madison's antithesis and rival, Waukesha County, WI I can attest to Madison's violent insanity, and it's unqualified corrupt arrogance. Jefferson County in between us is simply a buffer zone. It’s like Poland.
If you polled Madison for what to do with the comments on this blog, it would be 90% shut them off. They are censorship proponents. Althouse is at risk in her home town allowing free speech on her blog. Protesters in Madison show up at the Liberal Sheriff’s house to threaten and intimidate him and his family. They tore up their own town last summer. And they welcome outsiders in to tear it apart, and then say thank you. If they could have, they’d have come to Waukesha County and done it to us. But, luckily, our Sheriff and cops won’t put up with that shit, and our suburbs are armed with deer hunting rifles.
Two completely different cultures only 50 miles apart. We don’t break business windows, they do. We don’t tear down statues, they do. We don’t close our schools or churches, they do. Our restaurants are packed, theirs are empty. We don’t fine little girl ballerina companies for holding the Nutcracker.
I’ve thought it was quite brave for Althouse to allow free speech in her comments given that she lives in the midst of the totalitarian gestapo. I thought it made her different, even though she was liberal. But the violence and cancel culture of 2020 made it all ten times worse. She can play victim here on this post, and say her vision for this blog is not being fulfilled, but I’d venture to guess she is not feeling safe.
So of course…blame it on the right-wingers. Her stock in town just went up blaming right wingers. It was on the rise denying election fraud in her own backyard. After she bans the comments, when they see her downtown Madison she will be cheered and revered. A complete 180° from the Walker protest days.
Today we learned her commitment to free speech was more a guideline than a conviction.
>>Ann Althouse said...
"But aside from that, I am unhappy with commenters who jump right in and shit on the post..."<<
One man's shit is another man's fertilizer.
Wendybar quoted me as saying something above, but I was just quoting someone else. I doubt it was intentional, but it was a misquote.
Michael K said...
What a whiny little crybaby...
Here is an example of what I referred to in my last comment. No attempt at debate.
**********
The quality of the "debate" often limits to "go die in a fire, you lefty troll". When it's not "Why isn't Ann more into me, I told her all the things she is wrong about very strongly."
Francisco D said...
"It doesn't really matter to me anymore what the total number of readers is. If half the readers would go away without the comments, I'd still have plenty of readers, and they'd be much more the people I am writing for."
I think you have your answer Althouse.
****************
Ipsa dixit, folks. she's not writing for "us", but for those she wants to agree with her. If you don't, I guess you're a "right-winger.
It's astounding to me that Althouse thinks "right-wingers have taken over here, when such regulars as ritmo, Inga, Chuck, Mark, Farmer, Arturo Ui and his sockpuppets, Mary Glynn, and many more mix it up with others on a daily basis.
Would Althouse care to enlighten us as to **who** these over-bearing right-wingers are? And what she finds so offensive about them?
"Coz the way I see it, if she gets rid of all those detestable right-wingers, this blog will become nothing more than a leftie circle-jerk.
As Althouse's idol Bob Dylan put it:
"Ain't no use you talkin' to me,
Same as me talkin' to you."
I do not frequent any sites( news, blogs, otherwise ) that do not allow comments, none.
The quality of the "debate" often limits to "go die in a fire, you lefty troll".
More examples from AU but I now see Ann allies herself with him.
Much is explained.
" The blog is too big to archive with blogger's tools, which is where the "best house in an increasingly neglected neighborhood" description comes from. But with python scripts and the use of a few proxies to evade controls, the entirety of the blog could be scraped in short order. The tech stuff is awful to wade through for non-techies, but that's where having kids come in handy. The irony is that the tech stuff is miserable to non-techies, but this looks like a weekend's worth of work to anybody with scripting skills."
Experts at Google were trying to help me, years ago, and in the end they gave up. The blog is twice as big now. I think if it could be done, they'd have done it for me. They were trying, and my contact there was a high-level person who was giving me personal attention. I was told that a whole team of people at Google worked on it for me for a long time. That's why I'm not interested in looking into that.
I really dont get it, why would would you use traffic because its not the same cookie cutter nostrums you see every else where every outrage is treated as hohum ans every aspect of tryingto retain normality is the outrage.
Gusty Winds said...
Today we learned her commitment to free speech was more a guideline than a conviction.
4/4/21, 12:05 PM
When the metal hits the meat, few people will speak out against force. In the end, they will always kneel? Well, maybe 9 times out of 10. 95 out of 100 in modern America. I don't even blame Althouse, she's under no obligation to defend me. Then again, if she thinks the left will forgive her heresies, which went some way to Trump's utter domination of the physical polling in Wisconsin, that's a level of naivete beneath most college co-eds.
steve uhr said...
No anonymity -- have something to say, don't hide behind a fake name.
******************
With the Prog Fascisti engaging in doxxing and cancel culture over ANY disagreement with "the narrative" (aka "The Party Line") that train has left the station.
Too much crimethink to clean up, under social credit any contrary voices are silenced that has become clear with googles algorithmic preferences.
Bruce Hayden @1042. Well said. (And on-topic, insofar as the drift of comments toward right-wing circle-jerk seems to be what is bothering Althouse.)
Were surrounded by narrative often cotradictory aspects of same all day,
"You owe me nothing. But yeah, I will still read your blog. I am sure that the number of page views per day from me will drop dramatically, but unique users from me will stay the same. Maybe I could use your blog and others as writing prompts for my own personal journal, which is something I had been considering doing for quite a while now."
Anyone can have their own Blogger blog, and you can write the same things you would write in the comments and link to my blog posts if they work well for you as writing prompts. Why would you need to share the page with me? Presumably, it's because you want my readers as your readers. I understand that writers want readers, but why should I want to be weighed down by so many other writers who want to take advantage of my place for their access to readers? It should be that it's good for me. Your answer seems to just be that the good that I GET is the additional readers, but that's the good that YOU get — readers for your writing. How is it that what's good for you is the good that you're offering me? Well, it could be a mutually beneficial project, but you get to have all the writing prompts, the space to write, the ever-present readership, and no moderation responsibilities. That's mutually and equally beneficial,
Althouse: "Experts at Google were trying to help me, years ago, and in the end they gave up. The blog is twice as big now. I think if it could be done, they'd have done it for me. They were trying, and my contact there was a high-level person who was giving me personal attention. I was told that a whole team of people at Google worked on it for me for a long time. That's why I'm not interested in looking into that."
Tell them you are personal friends with ChiCom govt officials and you are seeking ways to limit right wing commentary on your blog.
That should do it.
Blogger Inga said...
“And I don't want my OWN blog to be a place where I of all people don't belong, which is what it feels like sometimes.”
Not long ago Michael K quoted Ann Althouse and didn’t realize it was she he was quoting and called her a “troll’. While it made me chuckle, it depicts a serious disconnect between the comments sections and the blog author. Many, too many, right wing commenters have become indistinguishable ( to me) from QAnons and other radical rightist group adherents. I could see it being an embarrassment to Althouse to be connected to some of these comments.
************
This 1000 times. I've spent a lot of time on lefty and righty blogs. I've never encountered this same dynamic of weird, obsessive loathing of the blog owner from the blog's own commenters. This is unique to the Althouse blog. It's less surprising that the haters of the head woman blogger are all men.
Maybe the problem isn't with the comments but with your need to do something everyday. Like 365 days of seeing the sun come up. Years and years of never missing a day blogging. There's no prize for things like that. Maybe take a day off. Blog 3 days a week insteead of 7. Or only make one blog post a day. You've retired. Maybe retire a little from the blog slowly, too. If your blog isn't attracting the community you want, amybe take some time off to reflect on how to build the community you seek instead of the one who sought you.
I Althouse running a household or a national debate? One takes relying on feelings, the other depends relying on structure.
The structure point she likes is that the cure for bad speech is more speech, perhaps from when she was in a minority on some topic and the more speech was hers. That wasn't a household time though. That was a national debate time.
Hmm...some sort of disqus makes sense to me after reading Dr. Althouse's reasons for wanting to change comments.
The only resolution for dumb as rock commenters is banning them. Now, that also "may" require some work if you want to give them a second chance or explain it. But then again it doesn't have to be that way either. Powerline banned me for something, I don't know what, probably dissed Paul, heh, but they neither explained or have allowed restitution.
C'est la vie.
I guess you are able to ban certain posters now so that may not reduce the work, unless they are NEW posters every post.
I still read powerline for the post AND the comments. The comments bring nuance and spice to the posts, where it's not just the authors thoughts out there, but new perspectives and other opinions that I had not thought of or appreciated.
And for some reason they continue to let me up/down vote, but not post, heh.
I don’t read PJM either except for Instapundit. I find it hilarious that Stephen Green is usually the one pushing PJM premium, because his content is my least favorite on Instapundit.
rcocean said...
"If half the readers would go away without the comments, I'd still have plenty of readers, and they'd be much more the people I am writing for."
Exactly! I enjoy many of the comments, but people come for the Posts.
>>>>And your evidence to support that statement is...what?
I'd bet "Althouse" is like every other blog. That is, 95% never comment just read and lurk.
>>>>The only reason to "lurk" is to read the comments. No one lurks reading a Dead Trees newspaper.
And I doubt your readership would be cut in half, probably more like 15-20%
>>>>so...Althouse, why not give it a go and see what happens?
Fact: The customers always think they could run a bar better than the current proprietor.
Michael K said...
The quality of the "debate" often limits to "go die in a fire, you lefty troll".
More examples from AU but I now see Ann allies herself with him.
Much is explained.
************
LOL, Ann has no idea who I am, and that's fine with me. I'm sure she has more important things going on in her life. You guys take this $hit way too seriously. You and Achilles and the rest think you're on the front lines of some civilization-defining internet war. It's just the internet, dude. Chill out.
Here is an option chosen by American Thinker that is really scary. Despite the fact that permission to comment in one part of instructions says "register and you can comment" - that changes at the bottom of each article or blog entry to:
If you would like to comment on this or any other American Thinker article or post, we invite you to visit the American Thinker Forum at MeWe. There, you can converse with other American Thinker readers and comment freely (subject to MeWe's terms of use). The Forum will be fully populated and ready for comments by midday (Eastern time) each day.
It would seem that Parler and gab forum services are are also available where AT fans can fight among themselves. This option might make sense where there are many authors to visit the named forum to defend themselves.
But personally, I will never open MeWe, Parler or gab to be tracked by QAnon and other extremists. I see where something like 555 million Facebook files have been breeched this past week.
Oh, Professor. If you offered moderator status to those among the majority of the commentariat, this would be a very different blog. It might even become more interesting. Driving off the fan base while the subhuman lunatics prowl outside for wrongthink is certainly an alternative strategy. Let's see if it pays off for you.
Honestly, after reading (and making) a few comments earlier, then coming back to read what's up here a couple of hours later, including your own comments, I think you should liberate yourself (to use your words). You should walk away from comments, free yourself. If you miss it, you can always come back to it. And in the meantime, as long as you don't care about the volume of readers (and I know that you don't) there will be a shakeout of some of the current readers. Others, who want to see what you're pointing out, shining a light on, will still stop by to check in and read about it all.
I've found myself for sometime thinking I'm spending way too much time commenting here, which means reading articles and other's comments as well, when I should be doing my own thing, which I seem to never have enough time to do. I've often thought about not looking at Althouse for a period of time. Yet I come back daily. It's become part of my daily routine. And perhaps I need to alter that routine anyway.
I would be fine if you stopped comments on your blog. And if it ever opened up again, it might seem fresh, not only to you, but to your readers. Also- one last comment as I ride off into the sunset. You spent your working life as a Law Professor. You had control of the classroom. You had some control over teaching your students how to think. We- your commenters/readers- are not a control group like your class might have been. We are a random sampling at any given moment. We are not subject to you giving us grades, and we don't have to be here to get the credits. You give so much to us, like you did at the University, but at the U, you were compensated in various ways (not just monetarily). Here? This is more like offering topics to a chicken coop and trying to herd the chickens into a cohesive discussion about that topic. We're not ever going to cooperate in the manner you came to expect during your years as a Professor.
I suggest you liberate yourself from any of this that drags you down. Seriously. Life is too short. You don't owe it to us. I make no claim on your time of life. Do what is best for you. If you're here, I'll read it. If not, I'm plenty busy. And thank you for running it as you have for all of these years. I've written you previously to say I do not even come close to understanding the discipline it takes to do what you do, every day since 2004. That's a career by itself. Take a break.
But personally, I will never open MeWe, Parler or gab to be tracked by QAnon and other extremists. I see where something like 555 million Facebook files have been breeched this past week.
Another Qanon believer. Why are you all on the left?
I'm Full of Soup said...
Fact: The customers always think they could run a bar better than the current proprietor.
4/4/21, 12:21 PM
This sentiment defined the Trump era, and is why the 2020 election had to be stolen. It doesn't terribly matter- the nationalist base has woken up. No amount of censorship will save the shell of the American Republic, any more than it saved Weimar.
I think stephen green captures the perfectly absurd way of this world, the bafflegrab of captain oveur and his ministers his minions in the press.
Original Mike said...
publishing under my own name is out of the question.
Especially since there's a regular commenter here who previously doxxed and threatened another commenter.
Ann Althouse said...What money? Do you see some mechanism here by which traffic corresponds to money?
The money you got for years leaving up Google ads, and the money you asked for when you openly and consistently asked readers to "support" this blog using the Amazon Portal. You've even turned Google ads on and off this year, and have openly stated you turned them off because, as you explained it, it let them get their fingers a little deeper into the blog. Now there's no money, through traffic volume? That's your current choice. Are you claiming you never monetized this blog? You get a UW pension from the taxpayers so I'm sure you're comfortable, and don't need it. You're being disingenuous which is something that started in 2020. It heightened after the election fraud.
And those pointing out that your traffic will diminish are not threatening you. Sorry if the comments are more interesting that your analysis of Wash Post propaganda. You asked the question.
Quit playing victim. You're not a victim of anything, Ann. You live a pretty cush upper class life in America's #1 retirement community. And obviously during your career, your employer allowed you the time to build this blog while students paid your salary through loans and debt and Wisconsin residents through taxes. You're welcome.
You know full well the comments section increased traffic. Traffic you never cared about, or profited from. Yeah right.
But to help you out, as one of the right wingers this will be my last comment ever. It was fun and interesting when it was unique, bold, and brave.
Madison uses the rest of Wisconsin for its own selfish benefit. Ann Althouse, today you openly admitted you used us deplorables for years, and now want to play victim. Well, thank you for the platform, and your welcome for helping make your blog more interesting, challenging, evertaining, and unique.
Off to the Sunset cafe. GOD BLESS WAUKESHA COUNTY, WI!
The conservatives here don't want or need a 'safe space, They fo a damn fine job pointing out when Ann and the rest of the you lefties are completely full of shit and back it up with evidence. I get the vibe it's wearing on Ann the collective isn't accepting the warped view of reality we get from the 99 percent of the propagandists disguised as objective media.
Well good luck with whatever it is you're trying to accomplish.
Maybe Althouse could read Eudora Welty "One Writer's Beginnings" (now it's on kindle!)
When we at length bought our first automobile, one of our neighbors was often invited to go with us on the family Sunday afternoon ride. In Jackson it was counted as an affront to the neighbors to start out for anywhere with an empty car seat in the car. My mother sat in the back with her friend, and I'm told that as a small child I would ask to sit in the middle, and say as we arted off, "Now, talk."
in the first section, "Listening"
Gusty Winds nails it here.
I’ve thought it was quite brave for Althouse to allow free speech in her comments given that she lives in the midst of the totalitarian gestapo. I thought it made her different, even though she was liberal. But the violence and cancel culture of 2020 made it all ten times worse. She can play victim here on this post, and say her vision for this blog is not being fulfilled, but I’d venture to guess she is not feeling safe.
Yes. AU also keeps making my points for me, as well.
I come here for what you post and the comments associated with them, but I don't read all your posts - only those that interest me, which are many. How about the daily or occasional "Open Line" cafe post? Folks can flame each other there, comment on past blog posts, etc.
I've posted doberman pictures every day for probably as long as this blog has existed and have maybe five regular viewers, to judge from view counts. It has to be a mutual habit.
I have been reading Althouse for years and do occasionally comment. I do not read all of the posts as sometimes the subject matter is not something I am interested in, though I generally scan all the posts. I voted to leave the comments alone. When I read the comments, I have found that there are a few folks who really are not looking for a conversation, they are just pushing some narrative of their own and are using this blog as a vehicle for their views. These folks I tend to just scroll past.
I found in the past that when moderation was on, I came here less and less, as it was no longer the very lively place I had come to appreciate. Instead it generally turned into another echo chamber of the like minded, and not the give and take of different points of view - which has been the great thing about the comments section and one of the great things about the blog, along with the variety of posts that cover a wide range of topics.
I am not sure what Ms. Althouse truly wants the blog to be, and what she wants the commenters to be. If she is looking for folks who agree with her and find all of the 'cues' in the post and shout wowzer, and comment on how wonderful it all is, then I am not sure why she would bother. Taking the time and effort to create a blog such as this, only to hear oneself, would be fairly narcissistic I think, and I have never gotten the impression that Ann Althouse is narcissistic. I do not agree with her point of view on all things, and do not wish to live in a world where everyone thinks as I do -- that would be insane. Being challenged to think and re-evaluate ones positions is a necessity for all people. Only every hearing your own thoughts is dangerous.
I do think that there is pressure from various corners demanding that all speech not supporting the leftists, progressive narrative be expunged - we see cancel culture in operation on a daily basis. I also think that Ms. Althouse is getting pressure, and that, coupled with finding the blog not meeting her expectations and desires (though in fairness, has she clearly expressed what these are, or are we expected to figure it out or go elsewhere?) has made keeping the blog going, needing more work, not what she expected in retirement.
If the comments go, I'll check in from time to time, but eventually will not bother as the comments make the place a lively community. Without them, I feel it becomes just another thread of the 'narrative'.
But whatever is decided, thanks to Ms. Althouse for the varied posts, pictures and comments over the years.
"How is it that what's good for you is the good that you're offering me"
I think you misunderstood what I said, but I take your point nonetheless, I have often thought it myself, I should get my own blog. I haven't because I don't feel like doing the very work that you are rightly complaining about so I free ride off of your readership, and I likely abuse the privilge. What I meant was writing prompts for my own private journal, not to be shared publicly, except perhaps as fodder for some other project. If you don't think that my comments add anything to your blog, it saddens me, but I would certainly accept it and move on. Notwithstanding the possibility of that sad eventualityI thank you for tolerating my writing here day after day.
It's probably long past time for me to flounce, as it seems that you are hinting.
Docrev: my comment was about bars and restaurants not the country. Though I think I voted for and support Trump because he was the kind of customer/ citizen who has better ideas on how to run the country. So your point is well taken.
"If you change the blog to only publishing email comments that you like...it would not be anywhere near the salon/cafe/welcoming feeling that it has now."
You don't realize that for many people, the comments make the blog LESS welcoming and friendly. There are people who WOULD read the blog but stay away because of what's in the comments. Why should I have that burden on my work? I have spent years tending to the salon/cafe and it has meant a lot to me, but there is a tragedy of the commons, and I don't think it is rational for me to give my time to the project of tending to these commons that other people regularly fuck up, often with malicious intent. I can't believe how many times commenters who probably don't think they are destructive will react to a new post by just announcing that they don't respect the news source I'm linking to. It's a huge drag on what I am taking the trouble to do.
I think Ann may have drifted left.
Mike K.,
Ann is a respectable liberal who has been drifting into conflict avoidance for some time. She doesn't have the fighting spirit of a Jonathon Turley or Alan Dershowitz. That is just her nature.
2020 was a year of great conflict that has not resolved with the selection of Joe Biden as POTUS. 2021 strikes me as an even more contentious and possibly dangerous time for those of us fighting for the free expression of ideas. Ann has a more aesthetic and intellectual focus. She is only so much of a fighter.
I am pretty sure that this is all Trump's fault because he is truly a fighter, albeit a clumsy one.
"Keep it the way it is but with one change: Allow us to edit our comments for five minutes. To fix typos, extra words, left out words, etc."
I'd like that too, but it's not available on this platform.
"I know why you are focusing on my posts. How many emails have you and your other people sent Ann? Does she know you are all organized?"
Give me a break. This is the kind of bullshit I can live without.
"So, I propose Althouse turns off comments, and several ambitious, energetic, and web-savvy commenters with time on their hands (i.e., not me) enable such a forum. Althouse writes what she wants, the existing Althouse commenting community has a place to gather and discuss. Althouse can ignore them entirely if she wants, commenters aren't constrained by Althouse's choice of topics and source material."
History repeats itself. That's already happened to this blog. It's always been true that you can talk about my blog topics all you want somewhere else. You won't have access to me and to my readership, but if expressing yourself about the topics is what really matters to you, then you do have an option.
Wow people stay away from the blog because of the comments? That makes no sense to me. Like Yogj saying “no one goes anymore. It’s too crowded”.
Althouses comments today seem very naive and self serving. She's having a Robert Oppenheimer reaction to Trinity after years of convincing herself all along she was crafting rubber baby buggy bumpers.
As Mao said, allowing criticism of the Chinese government, "Let a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred differing thoughs contend," a Chinese poem. Then he flipped and started the cultural revolution.
"This is like the pub down the street where a lot of smart funny hang out, learn from each other, try out ideas, are forced to improve their arguments, get shouted down and then forgiven. If has become unrewarding, Prof A, tell us how we can take on some of the work or be less difficult."
Thank you for displaying a cooperative spirit. I appreciate this contrast to the comments that are warning me that I'll lose traffic. I need the load on me to be lightened. I don't want to have to keep going into comments moderation. It's a grind, and I don't want it to be part of my life anymore. If free comments worked well enough with no moderation at all, that would be my preference. But it doesn't, so my day is marred by the recurring need to go to the moderation page and see what's going wrong. But I don't have to do that. I have not been treated with the respect that I deserve, and out of self-respect, I have to let go.
Mao felt he wasn't being understood. Let the dissidents start their own govenment.
Is this really about blog comments, Althouse?
Or is it that you are angry about something or other and are looking for someone to take it out on and the commenters are readily available dogs to be kicked?
Some of us definitely deserve a kick, but the headphone session in the dark last night with the drone music that few others found interesting was ... different.
I know I am posting a second time on this discussion to say this, but I really wish people were allowed only one or two posts per topic.
Instead, we have people who seem to think everything revolves around them or they are so wise we need to hear every comment that goes through their head.
It's funny how this discussion post has been a near perfect encapsulation of the problem, with rambles about election legitimacy and call out of Ashli Babbit included to make sure the point is unintentionally made clearer.
Take a comment break. It's happened before and didn't drive us away. Time for you to tell us we just kindly wasted some of your precious time and end the song like Dylan.
"Except for the discussions where you participate, Ann, I find little value in the comments."
That is a value of the comments for me too. I like to comment in the comments.
Your blog. Close comments. But don’t lie to yourself that you don’t care about monetizing it, and don’t pretend that your traffic will be remotely as robust as it is today. If it ain’t worth it, just be honest about it. But the reality is, I don’t and have never visited this blog for your insight. I come here for Robert Cook, Bruce Hayden, and other diverse viewpoints. I suspect strongly that your traffic will drop dramatically, But if you really are just writing for yourself, go for it.
I’m torn.
Ann, I am somewhat bemused by a couple of your comments.
But first this: PEOPLE! Ann is Ann-sans-E. It seems to me that if you aren't courteous to notice how Ann spells her name, you can't be trusted to respect her thoughts and insight. (As an Anne, I am protective of us.)
But here are some of my bemusements: you seem to really dislike your "right-wing" visitors. I consider myself on the right, and although I comment infrequently, am now thinking that you have contempt for any comment I do make. I was a frequent commenter on the pandemic posts and felt that it was the lefties who made those comment threads unbearable (having been the commenter Mary Glynn threatened to dox).
I am bemused by your thought that the right on here runs off the left. In my experience over many blogs over much time, the quality of left-wing commenters is far lower than that of right-wing commenters. Mostly because the left always devolves into ad hominem focused on various "isms."
I am frequently bemused by a couple of commenters whom you tolerate (such as the guy whose comments are nothing but puerile rants about women and how much he despises them). There is a weird dynamic with just a couple of commenters who seem to want your attention--and they attempt to get it by mocking you or demeaning women. Like boys in grade school who have a crush on a girl and torment her as a way to gain her favor.
I am trying to put myself in your head and figure out what exactly you are looking for. A sort of Parisian salon where people who share your sentiments and approach to life and culture share witty, pithy conversation? That would involve a curated commentariat. And it would mean you purge almost all of us. But if that is what you have in mind, then that is what you should do.
Having said all that, I do come for your unique curiosity--to see what has caught your attention and how you will examine it. (Your comments on writing styles and writing habits grab my attention. You must have been a hard grader!). I also come for the sunrise photos, although I almost never comment on them--only so many ways to say, "WOW!"
I am sure you will get it all figured out.
Whew! I wish we could all get back to debating Gregorian calendar vs Julian calendar. But that shipped sailed, some 325 comments ago.
>>Arturo Ui said...
"I've never encountered this same dynamic of weird, obsessive loathing of the blog owner from the blog's own commenters. This is unique to the Althouse blog. It's less surprising that the haters of the head woman blogger are all men."<<
Nonsense from a noob. The Althouse worship and sycophancy here ("our esteemed 'profesora'," etc) from those very men is rampant and often gag-worthy.
Instapundit stated the Althouse fame by sending people over (interesting, a female law professor!), and many of them discovered the great comments section and stayed.
As Scott Adams recently said, in his second marriage, one fo the things I've learned is that you can't please a woman.
Rory said...
Wendybar quoted me as saying something above, but I was just quoting someone else. I doubt it was intentional, but it was a misquote.
4/4/21, 12:06 PM
I did, and wanted to agree with your post, but got called away, and posted it without saying that!! Now I can't find the original...too many comments!! haha!!! But whatever you wrote back then....I AGREE!!
"How do you know that anyone is reading your blog, appreciating your fine artistic eye, or your discerning intellect, absent your commentariat? And if you don’t really know if you have a serious audience, then why bother publishing in the first place? Disk space is cheap. You could do as I do - just save your amazing insights, your cutting wit, etc somewhere and be done with it. Don't bother with the publishing. Not worth the effort."
I guess I'm not a narcissist. I don't need to know someone is appreciating it for it to have value for me. I have always said I am doing this for the intrinsic reward. That what makes it the way it is. If anyone wants to read exactly that, then it will be here for them. If they want to let me know they are reading, they can email or they can make a PayPal contribution (as many readers do).
rehajm said...
I get the vibe it's wearing on Ann the collective isn't accepting the warped view of reality we get from the 99 percent of the propagandists disguised as objective media.
That's not it. Althouse wants the left to be liberal and therefore her audience is the left. Any association with the right - moderate or extreme does not matter- makes her reform effort less effective as that target audience dismisses her arguments based on this association. Separately to the extent comments do drive off leftists she is losing the audience she values.
As a very long-time commenter, I would be very sad to see the comment section disappear (as it has once before) or to see it severely curtailed. But, it's not my on my dime, and all things must pass...
I think it is a sad commentary on the nature of the modern internet that the Althouse forum probably has one of the best comment sections. If you disagree with that assessment, feel free to show us an example of a better one. I also think that Prof Althouse's wish to see a more politically varied commenteriat is also not feasible. Once again, show me a left-wing site where there is intelligent back and forth among the commenters of classical liberal, post-modern, and classical Marxist Left positions. Those sites don't exist either.
This isn't a situation where "If you build it, they will come" for the Left-leaning among us. The sad truth is that modern left is not into discussion so much anymore, on anything, even among themselves.
Prof Althouse said it herself in an interview many years ago: "The Left looks for heretics, the Right looks for converts". As clumsy and ham-handed as those attempts at conversion on this site can often look, the statement still rings true.
You don't realize that for many people, the comments make the blog LESS welcoming and friendly. There are people who WOULD read the blog but stay away because of what's in the comments.
Now it's because a lot of us don't respect the WaPoo and NYT. Just a bit bizarre.
Whatever she decides, the internet is a big place. Mostly this has been a friendly group. I have myself been caught up in some of the flame wars and have several times quit commenting for periods of weeks to months. One problem with lefty commenters, few are of the caliber of Kevin Drum or even Andrew Sullivan. It is no accident that he and Greenwald are now on their own and getting lots of "right wing" subscribers paying $5 a month to read them.
It's clear enough to me now how you feel about the comments. It's pretty clear that even the café comments are creating a situation you wish didn't exist. I will still read your posts, but avoid reading the comments, as I know myself and I know I will be drawn in. End them or keep them, I don't want to add to your problems.
If it weren't for Tina Trent and Michelle Dulak Thomas, balfagour, narciso and a couple others, I guess I could forgo the comment section without feeling I am missing very much.
"Can't you "white list" certain commenters, so that their comments are published without moderation? To get on the white list (if it were up to me), you need to stay on topic, refrain from "proof by repetition" and "proof by bullying" (name calling), imputing bad motives to others when a more benign explanation is available."
I wish I could, but Blogger does not offer this function.
A commentless Althouse is like Aunt Jemima without the black lady. Good rebranding remark by MEG.
The left doesnt want to be liberal, it considers free thought and archaic notion a relic of slavery and toxic masculinity.
Ann Althouse said...
"Except for the discussions where you participate, Ann, I find little value in the comments."
That is a value of the comments for me too. I like to comment in the comments.
Yes.
For my second comment, in two full pages of comments, I must say that I too look forward to comments pages that are so good, and so on-topic, that Althouse herself finds reason to comment and I very much look forward to those comments by her.
And oh btw; out of politeness about ten years ago I made the innocent mistake of addressing "Ann", and learned that "Althouse" is preferred. Long ago I got over the personal feeling that it was somehow disrespectful. Particularly when it was Althouse herself who did the correction. Althouse; Meade; Jaltcoh. FYI.
I've been on this blog for well over a decade, and quite honestly I see no shift to a "right-wing" commentary.
All I seek is the truth. Truth is often messy and convoluted. Sometimes it's clear cut.
If this were becoming an echo chamber I wouldn't waste my time.
Original Mike: I just keep my head down. Not a problem. But publishing under my own name is out of the question.
When I first started commenting on blogs, I had to be very careful not to say anything that was forbidden by my industry and told not to post under my real name.
Securities. Financial planning. SEC. Very strict about giving advice to people who are not your clients. The know your client rule. Could be subject to fines and possible imprisonment. So. Nope on the real name. And nope on giving advice.
The mere mention of a mutual fund or a stock or a bond issue by name could cause me to lose my licenses. General information that was generic, educational and not specific to a particular "issue/stock/bond" or which could be construed as giving advice...like get a survivors trust you dope. All verbotten.
So...to avoid losing my livelihood, I chose a on line name and until I was retired was as careful as I could be to not give advice. Now being retired, I can say what I want and people can take it for what it is worth...or not worth. IDC
Because I also, live in a small town in a sparsely populated area, some people who wanted could have found me and caused problems with the SEC if they wanted. Now..... I don't give a shit about that. But...having been Dust Bunny Queen for many many years now...why bother changing.
"Prof. Althouse states she is concerned that the right-wingers may make this blog "unpleasant" for "progs." I'd guess, moreover, that she doesn't like that the cadre of belligerent, loud, and oafish right-wingers distort her blog such that it may be perceived as a right-wing blog space, and, more important, that their comments bring down the general tenor and quality of the conversation."
True.
Not to keep beating this poor equine, Ann, but a couple of comments posted while I was composing my last and caught my attention.
I see that perhaps what you want is not that those of us on right cease to comment, but that we keep our comments on-topic, civil, and fresh.
I see that you want people to respect your choice of topics--this is, after all, a blog about what YOU find interesting and meaningful. And that respect extends to not denigrating your choice of sources.
I see that you would like your commenters to use your perspective as a springboard to related observations that offer equally insightful, thoughtful and original ideas.
Is this close to what you are thinking of?
You said that you would like your load to be lightened. You cannot be expected to go around rapping knuckles with a ruler all the time.
Perhaps those who comment regularly can take up the knuckle-rapping. Ask us to police ourselves--to politely remind each other that we are guests in your house and need to respect your desires. I know that I sometimes make comments of which I am not proud--a civil, well-place reminder from another commenter for whom I have respect would be of help, perhaps, to get me back on track.
Perhaps that is more than you want to do, but it seems like a way to try to salvage the comments, which seem to be important to all of us.
"For many bloggers, the comments are their reward. Proof that the audience exists, proof that people are paying attention."
Often they are proof that people are NOT paying attention.
Drudge did a rebranding and he's still around. I don't know anybody who reads him but here's there.
It was in an Althouse sunrise post that I saw the first glimmer of the color red after the drunk t-boned me and I lost my color vision.
Every day I open Althouse and look for the photos with a thankful prayer that my color vision finally returned. It has become a ritual of hope and faith fulfilled. Especially this Easter.
It seems Althouse has lost hope, or faith, or humor, or perhaps something I cannot quite put my finger on. It is sad.
"'Gusty Winds nails it here.'
"I’ve thought it was quite brave for Althouse to allow free speech in her comments given that she lives in the midst of the totalitarian gestapo."
Anyone who states they believe Madison, Wisconsin to be a center of a totalitarian gestapo immediately impeaches any presumption of their good judgement.
"It's libertarian, like Ann used to say she was."
See? That's the kind of not paying attention I am talking about. Here's this commenter, bashing me for not living up to a statement of mine THAT NEVER HAPPENED.
I never said I was libertarian, and I've been in big fights with libertarians.
Ann Althouse said...
"Prof. Althouse states she is concerned that the right-wingers may make this blog "unpleasant" for "progs." I'd guess, moreover, that she doesn't like that the cadre of belligerent, loud, and oafish right-wingers distort her blog such that it may be perceived as a right-wing blog space, and, more important, that their comments bring down the general tenor and quality of the conversation."
True.
*****************
Yet in the wider world around her, which Althouse seems blissfully unaware of, it is the LEFT that is shouting down, doxxing and canceling those they disagree with, and burning down their cities.
How's that square with your oft-proclaimed idea of "cruel neutrality", Miss Ann? Why are WE the oafish and belligerent ones, when WE aren't doing those things?
Instead of just airily throwing out assertions, why not tell us EXACTLY who the offenders are, and why they distort your blog?
And why not, as I have suggested, go ahead and censor everyone you find offensive? After all, you routinely did that when you were a law professor, in order to squelch oafish comments in your classroom----oh wait---those were in the days when you paid lip service to the Marketplace of Ideas.
That was then. This is now.
Ann said: "Experts at Google were trying to help me, years ago, and in the end they gave up. The blog is twice as big now. I think if it could be done, they'd have done it for me. They were trying, and my contact there was a high-level person who was giving me personal attention. I was told that a whole team of people at Google worked on it for me for a long time."
This is not true. As noted earlier, I have the entire blog -- from the first post through 2018 -- running on a different platform (Drupal) on the computer in front of me. I can post links to screenshots, if anybody wants proof. If I can do it, there are a million other people who can do it.
This doesn't solve your commenter conundrum, but if Google said it was impossible, they lied to you.
See? That's the kind of not paying attention I am talking about. Here's this commenter, bashing me for not living up to a statement of mine THAT NEVER HAPPENED.
Now I'm in Ann;'s dog house. It has always been my impression, dating back to the beginning of the\is blog that you claimed to be a libertarian.
I guess I was wrong.
Anyway, Althouse bizarrely came away thinking that conservatives and libertarians were frightening "true believers." Why? Evidently because they took political and moral ideas seriously. Much too seriously for Althouse's comfort. For one thing, there was quite a bit of discussion about the relation of virtue to liberty. Meyer's argument is that liberty is the necessary prerequisite for practicing virtue. Apparently some conservatives, such as L. Brent Bozell, Jr. (see Bozell's 1962 essay "Freedom or Virtue?" which we read for the seminar) with whom Meyer was arguing, believe that the state has the right and obligation to coerce virtue. This is anathema to libertarians.
Thank you for correcting me.
Yeah I'd hate this blog to go the Patterico route, though with him you can feel the hatred and intolerance for oppdosing views.
Ann is not like that.
"When you started this blog you didn't enable comments. Do you remember why you started?"
I remember and my reason for doing this has always been the same. I used to put it in the form of a motto: To live freely in writing.
I wanted to think in writing in public, and just the capability of being seen was enough. I've felt tremendous flow and intrinsic reward from writing about what I read and sharing drawings and photographs. There is a lightness to my style that fits the blogging format, which has been the coolest thing for me — a format that fits me.
That pre-dates any comments. I liked the feeling of opening it up to comments, but there's always been an uncontrollable downside to comments. It brings me down. I want what energizes me. Some of the comments do, and I don't like having to lose that, but the downside is pervasive. It will never end. And life is precious — what little I have left. I'm 70 years old.
"A blog whose most distinctive posts are about sunrises and art, with an occasional fisking thrown in, will not keep much of an audience."
I. Don't. Care.
One of my proudest achievements is having been tagged and front-paged by Althouse.
Yes hes seeing his beloved los angeles burnt down, thanks to gascon and yet refuses to speak of it. Jeralyn merritts blog had a brief respite of sanity but they are stark raving mad now
Time to say your goodbyes to each other. The comments will go dark very soon.
Meade said.... (I’m going to miss you all. Most of you. Some of you. One or two. Maybe three. Four, at the most.)
I guess the writing is on the wall.
Althouse, “I've said over and over that I do this for the intrinsic reward to me, and yet you don't hear me. Why should I write for people who can't hear me?”
The above is the central premise which I accept. So, Althouse is Jaleen Suggs the point guard for Gonzaga. All season he’s been playing and practicing with his team. They know each other and their style of play.
Suggs leads a fast break down the left side of the court last night. The 6’10” Laslo Spatula- Drew Timme races down court in the middle lane. Althouse fires a 50 foot cross court bounce pass that threads 3 UCLA defenders. Spatula catches the ball in full stride and dunks it.
That’s how a team can work. Pure beauty. Creighton did that play about 20 years ago. It is rare. But the rare and beautiful happen here frequently.
Suggs hit the three to win, but that pass was just as important.
Beauty and team artistry is its own reward, Ann.
Good Bye all.
Best of luck to all of you.
" It will never end. And life is precious — what little I have left. I'm 70 years old."
People say that, and before you know it, they're 95.
It's been nice! Have a great life! I will miss most of you. Shout out your blogs so we can follow you!! Really sad that this is happening to my favorite blog on the eve of my 60th Birthday. At least I can watch the new Greg Gutfeld show tomorrow night instead.
Good bye all to all my fellow Athousians. Adios, and take care.
Adios muchachos y muchachas. Buena suerte.
It has been fun, but nothing lasts forever.
"I am doing this for the intrinsic reward."
If by that you mean the intrinsic reward of writing and posting, assuming that creating and maintaining a comment space carries no such reward, why worry about comments one way or the other?
"There are people who WOULD read the blog but stay away because of what's in the comments."
So there are people who would read you but don't because of comments that are invisible and that they don't have to read? Simply because they can't bear to be in the virtual vicinity of wrongthinkers? And these would be the "right" kind of readers for you?
Bob Boyd said: "I'd miss my own comments the most...if we're being honest. I really crack myself up sometimes."
You are one of those I will miss the most.
I guess I am free now. The last thing I will do is replace this blog with another time suck, internet based anyway. Thank you, Ann Althouse.
Well that is too bad, but it is your space. I do not think you will find it all that rewarding after you engage your 'Great Reset', but that is, as they say, your issue and not mine. I will miss your blog, but do thank you for the varied content over the years.
One but - at 70 (I am 68) you have around 23 to 25 years left. To disengage from what you have created is to die a bit inside. We cannot live in the past, no matter how much 'better' we find it. Change is always, and a lot of times its not to our liking. How we master it is what makes us 'us'.
Oh well. Have fun and don't lick the yellow snow.
I’m very upset and disappointed with myself that I haven’t been able to persuade Ann Althouse.
Another DDB failure.
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