New Comment Guidelines

May 23, 2007 in Other Stuff with 9 Comments

This makes me sad, but I had to change the comment strategy on my blog today. Honestly, this is selfish, but I need to get more "strategic" about my time. With wide open commenting, it’s taking me additional time to filter and/or respond to comments that aren’t appropriate or are intended to provoke attacks. Today, I made a couple of modifications:

  1. I turned on "TypeKey Authentication" which requires folks to login before commenting. It’s another layer to hopefully prevent spam.
  2. I turned on the comment moderation feature. Basically that means every comment needs to be approved before it gets published.

In case you’re wondering, here are some guidelines to make sure your comments get published:

  • Stick to my agenda. This is my blog. I get to decide what topics we discuss. If you want to push your agenda or talk about your topics, start your own blog.
  • Don’t attack individuals (including me) or ministries (including my church). We "encourage one another and build each other up" around here. It’s biblical. And, it’s a lot more fun. Again, if you want to be grumpy and pick fights, do that on your own time. There are plenty of blogs out there that are designed to encourage bickering. I don’t have time for that.
  • Don’t embarrass me. I’m trying to be a good Baptist boy. If you use inappropriate language, I’m not going to post it.

Because of this change in directions, you may notice that comments aren’t posted immediately. I have a day job. That means comments waiting approval will probably stack up until after my kids are in bed. Sorry for that inconvenience. Hopefully we can find a solution to keep the conversation flowing. If at all possible, I’m going to delegate comment moderation so I don’t even have to get involved.

Just in case you’re wondering, I view blogging as another way for me to learn. I don’t like "yes men" on my team…and I consider you to be a part of my team. If I know your motivation is to help me take my next step in my spiritual or leadership journey, I want to hear your push back. I love that part of blogging.

Let’s continue to encourage healthy conversations. And, let’s continue to strive for a more Christ-like dialogue. We’re leaders. We should model healthy relationships and interactions…even if they are virtual.

The world is watching.

9 Responses to “New Comment Guidelines”

  1. crcole May 23, 2007 at 6:34 pm #

    It is a shame a small but vocal few have to ruin things for us all. I faced almost overwhelming spam on my silly little space. And I have maybe three regular readers if you count me twice.

    You need someone to filter the junk for you. Someone who shares your vision, loves Jesus and hangs at NS.

    Keep posting don’t let them get you down

  2. chris day May 23, 2007 at 6:57 pm #

    Tony I don’t like it as much. Part of the enjoyment of blogging is the rapid comments back and forth sometimes. HOWEVER I completely understand why you are going this route and respect that.

  3. tony morgan May 23, 2007 at 9:46 pm #

    Yea, hopefully you won’t notice too much of a change. Honestly, I bet 99% of the comments haven’t been a problem. And, because I’ve tried to stay on the ball, the comments that have been a problem you probably didn’t even notice.

    I’m just in that phase of life with family and ministry that I need to streamline and redeem as much time as possible.

    By the way, Perry wants the free flow of dialogue to continue as much as possible and offered a suggestion today to help continue that.

    tony

  4. jane May 23, 2007 at 11:06 pm #

    Tony… if you want to do as crcole suggested… You need someone to filter the junk for you. Someone who shares your vision, loves Jesus and hangs at NS.

    I am willing to donate my time to your cause!

    one bad apple ruins it for the entire orchard!

  5. Timm May 24, 2007 at 10:26 am #

    I totally agree. Thanks for having the guts to stick to your principles.

    Enjoying the blog, and learning from it. Keep it coming…

  6. crcole May 24, 2007 at 1:09 pm #

    I join with Jane … I am willing to screen too.

  7. carlos whittaker May 27, 2007 at 2:02 am #

    Yea. I think that half the point of blogging is the ever flowing conversation. When you take out one side of the conversation, well, it stops being a conversation.
    That being said. I don’t have even half the traffic you do and I get fed up with the haters. I call them the “Ragamuffin Rebels”. They do tend to dominate the conversations sometimes. I’ve been threatened to get beat up on my blog, been called a pagan sinner on my blog (which I am), and pretty much have gotten Erwin McManus himself to not like me on my blog. But the conversation on my blog is actually shaping me into a better person.
    Anyways. All that to say that your blog is amazing maybe in a few weeks of months you’ll let the conversation flow again. But you are lucky. You are one of the gifted ones that can keep my attention all alone. Like a one man talk radio show. The Jim Rome of church leadership blogging.
    Out,
    Los

  8. Ken May 29, 2007 at 5:08 pm #

    I think I have no hope of ever being a “good baptist boy”. The use of “inappropriate” words is my standing nemesis. I make Swindoll look good (although “heck” is not too far deep into the bad words category). So – where does the line get crossed? Who makes the call? To what extent is effect minimized by shortchanging on the wording? What’s your criteria?

  9. Ken Newton May 30, 2007 at 1:51 pm #

    Watch YourMouth.

    Readership on my blog has more than doubled over the past few days.  I like that.  It makes writing all the more meaningful if there is actually someone out there reading your stuff.  Actually, its a lot more than someone, and I continue to b…