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Shut the Door

I don't mean to be an unsympathetic jerk here, but I've decided to disable anonymous comments on this blog. Why? I've had enough of the random visitors who leave poorly-written, typo-filled cheapshots under the generic name of 'anonymous.' Why did I enable the option in the first place? So non-Blogger users could comment. I like open dialogue, so I didn't want people to feel like they had to be Blogger member in order to comment. Well, after one-too-many catty, nonsensical comments, the option gets the heave-ho.

My previous post on anonymous comments generated some great comments from regular readers. Some of them used their real names and some didn't. I have no problem with people who use usernames, but I've had enough of the comments that simply say, 'anonymous.' Why? Well, as jonofdeath put it best:
What they are saying is completely disposable.

I agree. Thinking about it, and this may sound extreme, but these kinds of comments are about on par with spam. I don't think it's a sense of punishment to those who regularly post comments. Rather, I think this is a sense of relief for me and the regular readers.

What was the final straw? This comment directed at Jeff's comments on Fergie's "London Bridge":
Ok. 1st of all. Fergie has not even said WHAT the song is about. I love it. cool beat and all. Just now, about 5 minutes ago, I heard that "Fergie won't say what she's singing about in this song." So you cant go off and assume its about skanks and crap. holla

This person has every right to speak his or her mind on this topic, but to leave a comment anonymously is cheap and suspect. The typos and poor use of grammar are ripe for ridicule, but I've lost my taste for this. I get the feeling that plenty of other bloggers and readers have too. But at what cost?

I always hated it in school whenever an entire classroom of students would get fussed at because of a few bad apples. As much as I appreciated Fugazi addressing crowd surfers and rough dancing in concert, I felt like I was back in school when they would stop a song to address this. I don't think I'm trying to regulate morality by making this decision, but I hope you understand.

Comments

fuzzbuzz said…
It's an interesting topic and I'm kind of torn about the whole anonymity thing but if you have an opinion why not stand by it? Wear it proudly? We live in a society where too many people fear having their own voice and persona. It's a bit disheartening to think that if there were some wrong in the world most people would anonymously turn their heads and not say a word for fear of what someone would think about them. Piss people off, be yourself, live your life because you only get to do it once.
8:14 AM
Anonymous said…
if you don't want to hear their opinions thats cool.But who cares about their writing skills.I personally make more typos,misspellings & grammatical errors than anyone i know.I am not a writer.Does that make my opinion less valid? Sorry sir but those comments reek of a superiority complex.If you read what kids are writing nowadays they have their own "hip hop" vocab where mispelled ghetto language is the norm.Notice how that comment said holla at the end.Thats the correct spelling in that world.
I just think most people don't want to take the 2 minutes to create an account.
Now i finally heard that damn London Bridge song.Actually saw it onsome music show.Who is Fergie? Was she the white chick rapping?Is she in the Black Eyed Peas? Does she have a solo album? Typical mindless booty tune.Now rap artists need to put records out with the title Songs About Fucking!!! Yeah not my bag.Like i always say modern hip hop is all about the bitches & the ho's.Talk about the dumbing down of society.Lets see we'll make up our own language to show people how cool we are only it will makes us look less educated.Bling,crunk,homeboy,crib & on & on.Do i sound like i have a superiority complex? Because i do!!!!
Anyways i say let the no names do what they want.That's the price you pay for being a highly intelligent opinionated person.
And quit judging people on their writing skills.Hey i don't judge you on your hamburger skills:)
10:34 AM
Mr Atrocity said…
If a conversation or comment is to be as universally understandable as possible, its author would serve his or her cause best to write it in a form that is most widely understood. Writing for a specific audience is something most of us do, either because that way of writing will have added impact for the intended recipient or because it is quicker to do so. Legalese and much technical talk can be catergorised as such. For all other forms of discourse, attention to spelling and sentence construction seem vitally important to me. I don't see the emphasis on good writing as superiority, quite the opposite in fact, I see it as a democratising influence where the author's arguments are as comprehensible to as many people as possible.

I have read many posts and comments around the internet which are so carelessly written that even with repeated readings their meaning is utterly lost. That person's opinion is rendered invalid because they either aren't able to construct intelligable prose or choose not to check that what they have written is sensible and thus they cannot communicate their ideas to others. That is a great loss in a medium such as this which is primarily text-based.
8:16 AM
Eric Grubbs said…
All good comments and Mr. Atrocity, you really nailed this one on the head. Right on!
10:38 AM
Anonymous said…
It's gotta be tough to be a good writer in a text message based world!!!:)
8:49 PM
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