Preparing to launch a “flame”.
A couple of things have happened this week that has made me look at this blog just a bit differently than in the past.
- I’ve had to ask for help for the very first time in moderating comments as I’ve run out of hours in the day. Thanks Jeez.
- I’ve had one of the most stressful weeks ever in trying to juggle all the workload with this blog, including a wildland fire that has made 5 of my 6 employees absent today. The phones are quiet at the moment and nothing had broken (yet) in our 50 or so servers.
- The realization that I’m going to have half a million unique page views this month
- Some very rude and juvenile comments were posted as of late by anonymous commenters, some of which I’ve simply deleted wholesale. Some I’ve banned. The trend for this has been upwards.
- I’m not getting other important work done, such as getting the surfacestations.org database updated as new stations are surveyed, and I need to deploy my Stevenson Screen paint experiment again. One of the screens has been damaged my a recent windstorm (knocked over, anchors pulled out).
- I’m falling behind in email correspondence.
As I review my time, I find that a good portion of it goes towards managing this blog. It has become a hungry insatiable animal. While I have no lack of material for postings, doing the moderation/management is becoming a bit much. It is often irritating as well as time consuming.
Faced with a choice of giving up blogging (as Roger Pielke did for awhile) turning off comments altogether (as Roger Pielke did when he returned to blogging) or changing the way comments are handled, I’m considering the latter.
One of the things that has always bothered me about blogging and commentary is that the “anonymous cowards” (as Slashdot calls them) generally have the upper hand. Science bloggers like Tamino and Eli Rabbet fall into the “anonymous coward” category, as do many of the rude posters here and elsewhere. Some like “Dano” and “TCO” have whole careers based on snark. Who are they? I don’t know/don’t care, as they are irrelevant. But, they waste everybody’s time nonetheless.
Being anonymous or using a handle allows you to say any stupid, hateful, inciting, derogatory, or otherwise negative thing you want and have no accountability for your actions. At the same time, your opinion or writings is generally worthless as it can’t be verified. Anonymity IMHO, serves only the purpose to allow bad behaviour while protecting oneself or one’s reputation from any real damage.
On the other hand, people that put their name out there with their work or writings, such as John Coleman, Roger Pielke, Joe D’aleo, Basil Copeland, John Goetz, Steve McIntyre, David Smith, Evan Jones, Jim Goodridge, Warren Meyer, and many others (I’m sorry if I missed anyone), including myself, often get viciously criticized for putting their word and reputation on the line every day for writing something they believe in.
The “anonymous cowards” that publish blogs or comments take no such risks when they criticize or challenge. They can work for NASA, be a member of the IPCC, work for a science organization, be a professor at a university, and can taunt, castigate, or criticize in any tone they wish, all without risk to their professional or private reputation.
So today, when I got some angry anonymous comments, one of which came from a NASA employee (which I know because WordPress.com automatically puts the source IP next to each comment, that’s not something I had to search for) it made me think about “why am I taking all the risks”?
Peilke and D’Aleo solved the problem by turning off comments. I like comments because they give myself and others new perspectives, but I don’t like the easy “drive by vitriol” that sometimes springs forth from anonymity. The commenter “MA” recently provided an example of the worst sort of that.
My father, God rest his soul, always told me to “stand behind my words”. I do that, by putting my name on everything that publishes here. I’ve taken a lot of heat for doing so.
So I’m considering this:
Change of policy – all commenters must use their real name and have valid reachable email. The name would be published, the email would not.
Sure, that will anger some folks, but at the same time it will also force those that wish to comment to choose their words carefully, to act responsibly, and to be courteous of others. It will also cut down on the volume of comments that need moderation.
I figure if you have something to say, and what you have to say is useful, factual, and important enough to add to the discussion, you’ll have no problem putting your name to it. Right?
Ok have at it. I’ll make a decision next week.
I’m a self employed old construction worker. Name Steve Beery
Your blog is yours, it’s important, your time is yours, it’s important, surfacestation.org is important, but keeping Mama happy is very important.
My solution on my blog(s) is to post only the comments that I choose to. It’s my site, and my art, and so I am selective about what appears there. I know most of my commenters, but I do not post their real names.
I have two reasons. First, I don’t wish to subject them to the slings and arrows of notoriety. I choose to do that to myself, but not to others. Second, I can never be absolutely sure that the signed comment came from the actual person. I worry that somebody might pirate someone else’s good name, and that my site will be unwittingly a party to that.
So I use pseudonyms, or first names with an initial, on almost all comments, which, as I said, I select from. That cuts down on the trolls and lurkers tremendously, and so frees up my time for better pursuits.
Some have complained that I limit the dialog that way, but I am not in the dialog business. I have something to say, and I say it, and if others want to chime in with huge negativity, then they should get their own blog.
So that’s how I handle the problem, Anthony. You might consider it for your site.
My name is Robert Woodburn.
Having read through 94 comments above, I’d say
1. I’ve learned as much if not more from comments on the blog as from the postings. (I may be one of the few who actually enjoyed your repartee with MA, though I felt s/he was overly insulting and you spent waaayyy to much time on it.)
2. The most important part of any change in policy is to give you your life back while not cutting back on the scientific content of the blog. Having to keep track of multiple lists of bloggers (e.g., trusted vs. provisional), check out whether the emails/names given are real, or many other things that were suggested strike me as still not scalable (though the coefficient may be lower in some cases).
3. While I have always been happy to use my real name, I recognize that there are valid reasons why people who have good contributions may want to protect their anonymity. For one, I think it is important for AGW proponents to feel comfortable commenting/challenging/asking questions as long as it is done with a properly respectful tone. if not, the blog runs the risk of just breathing our own exhaust fumes, preaching to the choir, whatever analogy you want to use. Scientific discourse requires dissenting opinions to flourish and encourage deeper thought. This kind of person may not require anonymity, but it may help. The other obvious reason is for people who fear reprisals, either professional or personal, if they represent a position, whether they agree with it or not, that contradicts the established AGW orthodoxy.
Since you have so many regular supportive readers, I would like to see comments go through unmoderated and your readers to be allowed to flag anything they consider unacceptable for immediate review by your (panel of) trusted moderators. I think this proposal would keep the primary benefits of comments while distributing the monitoring workload. Of course, I don’t know if wordpress can support such a model.
If the flagging scheme cannot be made to work, my second choice would be for people to register using their emails and real names, neither of which is published, and their pseudoname/handle, a la Google Groups. They cannot post until their registration is completed by responding to a message sent to their email. Registration, or at least the privilege of posting, can be revoked by any of your panel of trusted moderators. I don’t like this proposal as well because I already have to keep track of about 50 login/password combinations, but it seems to be what wordpress already supports.
Thanks for all your good efforts, Anthony!
–Mark
Sounds reasonable to me.
David Segesta
aka David S
After reading your post, I was in favor of using real names. Upon reading through the comments, I was surprised by the number of people who feel that their employment or reputation would suffer due to their opinion on climate change. As I’m a self-employed nobody it was not on my radar. I understand their concern. Perhaps some sort of private verification.
I enjoy your posts, and the comments often provide points of view I’ve not considered. But do what is best for you and your family.
Well, this is your blog and you do what is easy for you to handle.
If you require registration, I will certainly register. Already my e-mail address carries my name.
I will think about putting up my real name to a bulletin open to the general public, particularly as the numbers are going up like this, if you decide to go that way . BTW congratulations on such a successful and informative blog.
Anthony, my two favorite Dallas Cowboys sites each have nine moderators. You are much more important than those sites. I havn’t been here long, but there are good women and men that I have read here that you could trust with moderation.
I appreciate you and the comments.
REPLY: More important than the Dallas Cowboys? Are you trying to get me killed? 😉
Go for it Anthony.
Keep up the good work by keeping us informed of the alternative view on this complex subject. We can do without the arrogance of ‘those who know better’!
Requiring a valid e-mail address is the rule at every other forum that I contribute to. I don’t know why it should not have already be in force here.
I am strongly for registration and login. You’ve grown to the point that unless you can watch all comments like a hawk, you will be trolled all the time.
Consider it a sign of success.
I didn’t read all the comments. I suppose the cute little “handle” thing has a place. In fora such as this, accountable, blunt and logical debate is required. No time or emotion to waste. Please keep the comments. Do whatever works to get it under control. Lots of quality and qualified people on board who could assist — to which, no “real” name would object.
I didn’t read through all the comments, so some may have expressed similar views to mine, which are as follows:
1) It’s your blog and you need not apologize for whatever decision you want to make that works best for you
2) That said, I don’t view the “only” reason for anonymity being to hide and be a coward. While I personally have not tried uber-seriously to not divulge my real name, I do in fact have a wife and 6 kids. I have a blog. It wouldn’t take a genius to put all the pieces together, but maintaining some level of anonymity has – at least in my own perception – a little bit of protection from God knows who and what when expressing opinions on the internet. I have always tried to present myself in anonymity as I would in full cognizance, but I understand that others do not always do the same. I will have to decide personally whether or not to comment given the new rules, if that’s what you decide to do. But so be it. You must think of yourself first. I do, however, appreciate your willingness to field comments first, though.
Nevertheless, I will continue to check your site even if I no longer comment. I value the information I get here.
Your blog is my favorite on the web. I read it every day. Whatever you decide to do regarding comments is fine. Please keep your blog going!
My husband and I are taking a road trip to Idaho in July and you’ve inspired us – we’ll be sending you some surfacestations reports from various Idaho locations.
Thanks so much for all your hard work.
i log on to this site everyday and use it as a portal to other great sites. i read all your posts and only occasionaly read the comments. the posts in my view are obviously what people want to see more than comments so keep em comin’ and dont worry about changing the policy. Most of us will understand.
some of the policies have to change from time to time because of this sites popularity, and if the hockey stick karma keeps steepening your rise in hits then obviously somethings HAVE to change. and remember that for every idiot that writes something stupid, you have maybe reached ten others who are getting their views changed about AGW.
maybe one idea for later would be to turn comments off completely and only turn them on for certain stories and posts. i dont know if thats possible.
anyway keep up the great work.
hugo
This is only my second comment on this blog so this may not be as relevent for me like the rest of you but I LOVE it and would hate to see it go. I also love the comments and I think Pielke’s blog lost a bit of something after he closed it to comments… mostly because it was from reading the comments that I actually understood what Pielke was saying
I would prefer not to have my full name out there because I live in a rampant greenie area in Australia and the council here is already sending out it’s dogs to survey properties et al to make sure we’re ‘doing the green thing’. They also have snitch hotlines set up where you can ‘dob’ in your neighbors for just about anything. Australia is a scarey place. Anyway, I totally understand people’s need for anonymity.
I think registering may be the best way forward.
Congrat’s on one of the finest blogs and keep up the great work!
Yes, this is the right way to go. At least for you. CA manages to get by without it, but that’s the benefit of having quite a few postings consisting mainly of pages of R code.
Some site, like OSNews, quite a few mailing lists, simply insist on registration before posting, but do not insist on real names. That is a halfway house. Checking that names are real and associated with a given address is both intrusive and time consuming. I would start with compulsory registration. Pielke jr I think seems to get by ok with that. If that still leads to false registrations and abuse, then you could go to verification by additional information which can be checked.
But in any case, as a blog, you’re sometimes mistaken, but always doing your best and trying to be informative, and you always personally avoid the kind of tone which you object to in posters. If there is a legitimate criticism, it might be that you’ve strayed a bit from your own expertise once or twice, and been a bit slow to correct. Well, we are all human.
Good luck with it anyway. I am pleased to reflect that this may be my last anonymous posting here, and look forward to the first registered one. Those who no longer come when anonymity goes will not be missed.
Yep… sounds awlright ta me…. I don’t go fer the excuse that “the bigidda badda Boss ” will google my poor wee name and bring down the wrath o’ th’ devil ‘pon thee…..
There’s plenty of Jason Hansford’s, Jim Smith’s, Julie Atkins’, Dweezil Zappa’s…. well maybe not so many Dweezil Zappa’s… But ya get me drift.
What ever makes yer life easiest Mr Watts. I reads ya blog and likes to comment when the impulse or reaction takes me fancy.
… More power to ya Sir.
Jason Hansford.
Hey Anthony
As I am mostly a lurker visiting your site, as I have done both Climate Audit and Steve Milloy´s site for years, I heavily support your decision whatever you might choose to do. Just you promise to keep up the good work you have begun by creating and running this blog which I consider to be both neutral and open minded. I think it´s needed.
Thank you and good luck.
Hans Kelp
Unless you’re going to run a complex and VERY expensive registration process (much more so than just returning an e-mail) you will not get REAL names. You will get identifiable names which can be tied to an IP address, but who is to say if they are real or not?
I am Dodgy because identification on the net IS dodgy. Long may it remain so! I could claim I was Geraldine Tong, or Sebastian Q Harcourt, but I think that Dodgy makes the point better.
By all means abolish anonymous posts and tie IP addresses to unique IDs so that posters can be tracked, warned and banned if necessary, but it would be a shame to lose some of the better-informed posters who can’t use their real name for political reasons. And I can see no benefit in making them, or me, lie about our identities – it just adds another layer of deceit to this already amoral world….
With you 100%. Keep up the good work.
Thomas Gough
I am a retired civil engineer and with time on my hands started to look at the claims for AGW which had seemed a bit fuzzy. I came across your web page and am impressed by the standard of the work you produce. Clear and factual (as distinct from the mob hysteria I associate with stuff from Al G and his cohorts).
Please keep up the good work. Your page may yet be a major influence in getting the Powers That Be, to look rationally at the science and hence avoid the waste of huge amounts of of the West’s wealth on fruitless attempts to change climate. Just recently I have seen references to your page in the UK press, so hopefully, more people will come to read your page.
Kind regards Bill Bowie
As a regular reader of this excellent blog but a new contributor I would prefer to use my regular pseudonym.
Can I suggest a compromise.
Add a registration facility where the real name is given and allowing the use of a pseudonym but also include a requirement for a response from the given email address before registration is accepted.
I discussed this on the phone with Anthony this afternoon, and in my opinion, the management and control issue can be readily solved with requiring registration with real names not necessary.
While there are 100’s of thousands of viewers to this site, there are currently no more than a few hundred regular posters. Registered users can be easily managed by a handful of admins. I think Anthony is worried this will cut down on users and posts, but I seriously don’t think that someone who has something even modestly interesting to write will be frightened off by a simple registration process.
Another advantage of moderating users is that after a certain point, you don’t have to moderate every post if the users are trusted. It is easier to block a single user than a dozen abusive posts by that user. The workload could drop dramatically.
There are valid reasons for anonymity on the ‘net. I have an Internet stalker. He does not know any personal details of mine and I wish to keep it that way. Violence is a distinct possibility.
Anthony’s fear of managing registration reminds me of his fear of flying with airline miles. I think it is necessary to experience the process before passing judgment.
Yes I am posting anonymously in violation of the proposed policy, but Anthony knows my name, business address, phone, and what I like to drink in an Italian restaurant…so nyeah!
I say take it even a step further.
People leaving comments should leave their FULL NAME and not just their first name. I personally would like to know with whom I’m communicating.