January 13, 2023
If someone dies and I see fit to blog about it and you might be the first commenter, don't just write something showing you don't know or care much at all...
... about this person. That's really rude. I just deleted a comment but I wanted to state the general principle on the front page so everyone can see it. Stop doing this please. You don't have to comment. Plus, there's always a link to something you can read. This is a special subcategory of my general rule for the first comment — or first few comments — on a post. Here's how I word it to myself: Don't shit on the post.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
50 comments:
I would take that further--on any topic, if all a person has to say is they don't care, then not commenting at all is a better way to get that idea across. And it has the advantage of respecting other people's time.
On Ace's blog, every comment section begins a discussion of who was "first" and of the reasons why the not-first comments were not first.
Oh, Lordie, she’s having another of her periodic fits. I guess brilliance does not debar hissy.
- Krumhorn
So we got rules here, huh?
"Don't shit on the post."
I prefer, "Don't poop on the post." But it's your post they're defecating on so your rules.
Any exception for when Putin croaks?
@tim maguire: Right there with you, Tim, and the Blogmistress too.
“I couldn’t care less about Harry and Meghan, so let me tell you in three long paragraphs how much I don’t care.”
Right there with you on this point, tim maguire, and with the Blogmistress too.
“I couldn’t care less about Harry and Meghan, and let me tell you in three long paragraphs why I don’t care about them.”
"Here's how I word it to myself: Don't shit on the post."
Your blog, your rules. But I prefer the Latin tag: "nil nisi bonum" or (pedantic version) "de mortuis nil nisi bonum."
Do not speak ill of the dead. In a trivial sense they can't defend themselves. In a deeper sense your words will haunt you.
I wasn't about to jump in early on this one. In fact, I feel a bit uneasy posting this... .
Once, the Althouse commentariat was ousted for 'shitting on the blog'. Examples of such shitting were comments raising serious questions with the integrity of the 2020 Presidential election...
Related: Ann is reported to have anosmia.
The Romans had a saying: Speak no ill of the dead.
Good advice.
Don't be a crybaby about it. Alhouse hosts a blog. She askes that you respect a few niceties when you come into her sandbox. Go ahead, be a jerk. It does not look good on you and irritates our Hostess. Win-win, right? How hard is it to show a little consideration? You think she should run the blog to suit you? Don't like it, start your own blog. The rest of us will thank you.
Who is so and so and why should I care" displays a lack of imagination.
I occasionally wonder who is so and so but don't ask because I would rather conceal my ignorance.
I hold my tongue on negative comments unless a post is inaccurate or misses key facts. However, a simple post on a celebrity death is never suited for that response. Don't speak ill of the dead, at least at their time of death!
In barring shitting on the post, the Adam Schiff and lawyerly strategy would be to pee, vomit, or belch on the post.
The point is not to undo my work. I don't mind if you disagree with me and so forth. I just am not hosting disrespect for me that comes in the form of not engaging with the post in some way. If I say Lisa Marie Presley has died, I don't need someone saying Who the hell cares? Go somewhere else and do that. Don't undo what I am doing.
Well said...
"Do not speak ill of the dead. In a trivial sense they can't defend themselves. In a deeper sense your words will haunt you."
I don't think that's her point. I see her comment as an objection to and warning against taking the time and energy to write flippant or nasty remarks dismissing the person or subject of a blog topic. If you don't care about (fill in the blank), why bother to comment to that effect? What does it contribute to the discussion? It's really a very 13-year boy move.
Pass over that particular topic and leave it for those who do have substantive remarks to offer.
Hopefully Elon Musk will buy Althouse and put an end to this tyranny.
Brings to mind one of my favorite movie quotes: "Don't shit where you eat."
That’s why we love Ann Althouse. She cares about people. Like she has every damn day for the last 23 years that I remember without missing one.
Saying "who cares" is the equivalent to posting "overrated" every time something about the Beatles hits a blog.
Saying "who cares" is the equivalent to posting "overrated" every time something about the Beatles hits a blog.
Or "I don't watch TV" when posting about why the blog post about Friends was soooo wrong.
Good point. But I would like to address something else in this post:
You say Plus, there's always a link to something you can read.
That would be correct if you said "there is a link to something you might be able to read". Or "Sometimes there is a link to something you can read".
At a rough guess, about half or more of all your links come from paywalled sources that we can't read. (NY Times, WaPo, New Yorker) I understand why and I am not complaining about that.
But many (perhaps most?) of the commenters here cannot read those links. We are left to comment based on what you excerpt as the important part of the post. Again, generally no complaints, I enjoy your posts and the comments in more or less equal measure.
But (very) occasionally you chide us for missing the point of the article because there is something in the article that we were unable to read. Not that I think you are doing it in this post.
So link away as you see fit. But please don't complain when we can't follow the link. That is often your fault, not ours
John Henry
It's crude, but the old true saying is applicable to this blog: Don't shit where you eat.
Althouse is hosting a gathering of sorts and we are invited to attend and partake. If you don't approve of her choice of canapes--cruise on by until you find something more to your liking. Guests who loudly announce that their host is an idiot for offering salmon pate or Lay's Barbeque Potato chips are rude boors.
I didn't comment on Lisa P's death, which is what I assume you are talking about. I don't really know anything about her other than that she was Elvis' daughter and she died to young. My only comment would be RIP.
But, since you brought it up, her death did get a lot of play. I read the article you linked to and probably a couple others linked elsewhere.
She seems to have been a singer, though I don't think I knew that until reading the AP article. Other than that, what has she done? Not a criticism, her death just seems to get a lot of publicity.
Oh, wait, now I get it: She was Elvis daughter. That is why the attention.
Another example of starfucking by the media in general.
Probably not the proper place to tell my Elvis death story here.
John Henry
Properly a moment for thoughtful reflection, a death-notice blog post shouldn't garner a bunch of foolish comments.
(Is that the proper statement of the rule?)
At least no one said "I have no idea who that is." with multiple search engines under their fingers.
Right! Tiresome to read those comments.
I miss that moment in time when Althousia was a fascinating back and forth between a brilliant regular group of commenters who largely respected each other. I'm not including myself in the "brilliant" part. I was mostly a rapt reader...but *sigh*.
Still reading though, and still grateful for the quality of the blog posts.
When Whitney Houston died and John and Ken (KFI Los Angeles) described her as a who-cares crack whore, John and Ken apologized and then were taken off the air for a while. Their show was never good again. They'll never again tell it like it is, which is what you tune in for.
Armstrong and Getty (same company, different station) expressed surprise that John and Ken would go along with that.
“If someone dies and I see fit to blog about it and you might be the first commenter, …”
Of course you don’t know if you might be the first commenter until the first comment is approved. So the obvious way around this rule is to post twice in that situation. First, you might post something innocuous like
“Sad”
Then you would followup with your big reveal:
“I don’t care.”
Despite being a lifelong Memphian, and despite the fact that Memphis is an overgrown town, my circles and those of the Presleys seldom overlapped.
I have met a lot of people who did know him, and had some graduate history classes with the lawyer who straightened out the mess that was left after Elvis died.
Elvis was a good-hearted natural talent, but he just wasn't very bright, and no businessman at all. Lisa Marie seems like reversion to the mean.
I want to know what Althouse has against Robbie Knievel.
“Properly a moment for thoughtful reflection, a death-notice blog post shouldn't garner a bunch of foolish comments.
(Is that the proper statement of the rule?)”
I think we can all understand the very clear request by Althouse…
“If I say Lisa Marie Presley has died, I don't need someone saying Who the hell cares?”
The first comment was such a comment and that’s why she deleted it, if I’m understanding her correctly.
Oh, Lordie, she’s having another of her periodic fits. I guess brilliance does not debar hissy.
Maybe. Maybe not.
But at least we don't have to put up with Freder's bullshit anymore.
“Of course you don’t know if you might be the first commenter until the first comment is approved.”
True! My new rule for myself is to not comment until there are at least 20 comments or two hours go by.
Yes, if a personal n has passed, much like an online obituary section memory board, it should all be about good thoughts and how much you liked/ or loved them. Who would comment if you didn't?
Yes, if a person has passed, much like an online obituary section memory board, it should all be about good thoughts and how much you liked/ or loved them. Who would comment if you didn't?
It might be a good time to observe that so many comments on this blog seem to be an effort to sound cute or witty rather than making any substantive contribution.
Randy Bachman has died........arrrrggghhh. All my guitar heroes are falling by the way side!!
Sorry, I don't understand Althouse.
Rather than spend my time commenting on blog posts that i find interesting, I love to go around the internet writing things like: "That's so boring" and "Why did you post that?" and "who cares?"
Then when someone calls me on it, I go "why, so angry bro?". Or talk about "I was just joking"
Or "Hey, Don't censor me!"
Of course, I'm a dickhead. But y'know I gotta fill up my time somehow!
Randy Bachman has died........arrrrggghhh. All my guitar heroes are falling by the way side!!
It was Robbie, the drummer.
It was Robbie, the drummer.
Thank you.
I saw it as a suggested viewing on YouTube. There was a picture of Randy, and I'm sure the lead-in mentioned Randy had passed.
I was click-baited.
Robbie Bachman, and the story of You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet.
Don't speak ill of the dead.
That's why I never criticize stalin, Hitler, or jeffery Dahmer. Once they're dead, don't criticize them. That's what Christians do. Even to Judas.
People say, that's not Althouse's point. But I think not. She's crafty that way.
I would call it inhuman instead of rude. We're all heading there and you can never really understand another person's struggles.
I agree with Darcy. There was a time when I spent a part of my day following here. Now it's just a drive-by, once a day, no give and take, no community.
The last LP I bought was BTO, but I don't recall which. 1976 or '77.
"It might be a good time to observe that so many comments on this blog seem to be an effort to sound cute or witty rather than making any substantive contribution."
Some people love it.
If I bother to read a post (I don't read all of them) and follow the link (I don't always) and read all the comments (which I almost always do if I've taken the previous steps), I will almost always make a comment.
Kind of like a dog on a walk.
I forget from the comment brouhaha a while back whether banning is technically possible with blogger. If so, I suggest our hostess just ban those who shit on threads. It's like pooping on her carpet after she's invited you into her house.
“It might be a good time to observe that so many comments on this blog seem to be an effort to sound cute or witty rather than making any substantive contribution.”
That’s probably because a lot of us are descendants of the English. That is just how the English are. We can’t change it. Read some Shakespeare and see.
So much for free speech
Maybe you and Meade should go back sockpuppeting to get the comments you want.
You been trying to astroturf the comments since your last attempt to troll your male readers backfired in your face. You should have gone the other direction, instead you made it worse.
Post a Comment