Comment Guidelines

When I started writing the blog I didn’t know how long it would last or if anyone would read it, much less comment on it. At the time, I didn’t feel it was necessary to have any formal comment policy. Since readership has grown and there are more comments, I think it’s time to put up set of guidelines to keep the conversation civil.

First, anonymous comments are allowed. WordPress will ask you for name, email, and website automatically. If you want to comment anonymously, it is best if you choose a user name and comment under the same name each time. That makes it easier for others to respond to your comments. If you’d prefer to comment using your real name, that’s fine too.

Second, please be respectful and polite. Specifically, this means:

1. Argue for or against ideas, dispute facts, offer opinions, but don’t attack people.
2. Assume others’ factual errors are innocent mistakes, not attempts to mislead.
3. Assume others are smart and well meaning.
4. Don’t bait others; don’t put words in others’ mouths.
5. Don’t use hate speech.

Third, comments with two or more links are held for moderation. This is a default WordPress setting. It helps keep spam comments off the site. If one of your comments is held for moderation I’ll approve it as soon as possible, but it will usually be after business hours.

If necessary, I’ll edit or delete offensive comments.