Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Troll Food

Although I'm sure my Cowardly Anon Nitwit does not wear a suit and tie

As of this moment I have published 44,842 comments spread out over 3,417 published posts over the past (almost) eight years.  I'm guessing that represents about a 99% publish rate even though I would also guess I disagreed with over 50% of those published.

The 1% I did not publish were beyond nasty, potentially libelous, or threatening to my family.

The first three years of operation I did not "moderate" comments so anyone could publish anything at anytime.  I could of course delete them if needed and can only remember maybe one or two times doing that.

But I can tell you I would lose sleep worrying someone would publish something wildly inappropriate moments after I went to bed, so the comment would stay up until the next morning. 

When someone hits the publish button on a comment I instantly get an email at my main AOL account showing the comment, and from within that email I can either publish, delete, or mark it as spam (which sends it to a folder for posterity sake).

So it takes only seconds per comment.  Yes I do (sort of) try to read comments -- unless I'm driving -- to make sure they are not libelous or threatening, but do so v-e-r-y quickly. 

I would like to think my readers come here for the main articles but I will also admit the ones that attract the highest page views are also the ones that generate the most comments.  So I'm sure people do come back just to read or make follow up comments, thus increasing overall page views.

Trolls are the bane of any Internet community.  The best way to deal with them is to simply ignore them and hope they go away.

Like this guy:





Now I will go back to ignoring him.  Well, after the 2 or 3 seconds it takes to dispose of each comment



12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I call them Creepers

Larry Kelley said...

Yeah, I can already tell he was greatly disappointed/pissed off hearing his comments are so inconsequential.

Trolls like to think they stir things up.

But if a comment falls in the forest and does not get published, then it doesn't make a sound.

Anonymous said...

I guess he really likes hot dogs? That, or an infatuation with penis shaped foods. Probably the latter.

DaveMB said...

I think you're doing more than "ignoring them and hoping they go away" because you're deleting the worst of them. That sends the message that there are some standards, which is important.

Anonymous said...

Is it technogically possible to eliminate the very option to post anonymously? Wouldn't doing that make your life easier? What's the percentage of people who use their real name?

Larry Kelley said...

Yes it's quite easy to nix Anon postings. And yes, about 95% of people post anonymously.

But it takes an a lot of coal to produce a diamond. So I don't mind wading through all the idiot comments to find those that are worthwhile.

We've already seen how the Amherst Public Schools can retaliate against employees, so guaranteeing anonymity is a MUST.

Why do you think my high-placed sources are so reliable?

They know that when they tell me something "off the record" North Koreans could hold a flamethrower to my head and I would never give them up.

Anonymous said...

Wasn't the towns website supposed to be fully functional by now? The page to report road and sidewalk issues isn't working.

Larry Kelley said...

Yeah the Amherst PD "arrests and call logs" have not worked since the new website revision.

Anonymous said...

Are you not biased, in any way?

Walter Graff said...

I do give him credit, I do know a lot about quality hot dogs.

Best I've ever had were Hebrew National #3's. These were the ones hand-made at the plant, much better than the ones you buy in the store, although those are good too. No two #3 was alike because it was hand made. Leo's Famous in NY had them. Leo Cohen, the owner long dead, but wow what a dog. He called them tube steaks and that was how you ordered them. He only had mustard. If you asked for any thing more on it his response was, you don't need anything else. He was right.

http://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/17/nyregion/sixth-avenue-journal-50-years-with-the-dogs-not-to-mention-the-buns.html

Anonymous said...

Easier to post anonymously than sign in!

Anonymous said...

I don't think "Larry Kelley" is his real name. lol. J/K Lar.