Last week I removed commenting ability for a person. This is the first time since this site opened for commenting 11 months ago that someone has been removed - and I hope the last time. Some members have asked that I clarify the rules - and so this post.
When each person registered to comment, the Terms of Service were in plain view on the registration page. Here they are.
“All messages posted at this site express the views of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the owners and administrators of this site.
“By registering at this site you agree not to post any messages that are obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, or that violate any laws. We will permanently ban all users who do so.
“We reserve the right to remove, edit, or move any messages for any reason.”
Pretty straight forward. This site is not a playground for abusive writing. It is not a public domain where all have the right to post anything they want. I’ve no obligation to provide such a service. This site exists for three reasons.
First, as a venue for knowledgeable citizens to post original articles. These are people who I think have important contributions to make to our community. Smart, savvy, and with years of public involvement, we can all benefit from their writing.
Second, as a site where readers can check for articles and know they will find good, intelligent writing and relevant discourse. Those who find what they want here will return.
Third is commenting. It is valuable when it contributes to or counters the ideas in the original article. The only criteria for commenting are to use your own real name and to, of course, follow the terms of service.
I’ve no intention of spending my money and a lot of time and energy to maintain a website for people who want to wander from blog to blog making snide and insulting comments. Sorry, they can go elsewhere - or even better, start their own website. I link to a number of local blogs and they link back to here - even when we have very different philosophies about politics or what makes a useful blog. Citizens can easily go from site to site and find what they want.
In 1995 I started this site and handcrafted it myself. This was four years before they concocted the name ‘blog’. This is one of the very oldest political websites in the world and I would like anyone to find one that is older. I thought many others would create blogs in the late 1990s but the rush did not come until about 2003. This site has evolved to what it is now. It will evolve more as I try some new ideas. The challenge is how to provide good reading with good information and easy search for older articles.
This site is not trying to maximize audience size. Those who like what is here will visit. I’m not competing for bragging rights. The modest revenue from the ads goes towards improvements and an annual beer and nachos meeting with writers.
Finally, the tag line at the top refers to governments - not this site. We want our city, county, state and national governments to be open and transparent for us citizens. This site seeks to make governments more open and accountable and understandable to us citizens.
- John Servais
Comments by Readers
John Servais
Nov 10, 2008The last sentence of the Terms of Service has been changed. It now reads:
“We reserve the right to remove, edit or move any messages if the terms of service are abused.”
My thanks to one of the registered commenters or suggesting this in a private email.
John Servais
Nov 10, 2008Mr. Karlberg has been invited to resume commenting if he wants.
John Lesow
Nov 10, 2008John Servais
Great !
I enjoy reading Mr. Karlberg’s perspectives
John Lesow