Wednesday, April 29, 2009

WISSUP's Blog Comment Censorship Policy

There have been a number of complaints that Ginny Maziarka over at WISSUP has been heavily moderating the comments left at her blog, essentially silencing voices who disagree with her, and only letting through complementary ones.

Of course, that's her prerogative, but I decided to ask her about it. I sent an e-mail asking: "why are you censoring comments on your blog?"

The reply:
I moderate ALL comments to:
(1) prevent the automatic posting of spam;
(2) prevent the automatic posting of comments made only for the purpose of link dropping;
(3) prevent the automatic posting of pingbacks made only for the purpose of link dropping;
(4) prevent the automatic posting of troll comments containing personal attacks, obscenities and threats;
(5) prevent the automatic posting of phony comments generated by software made only for the purpose of link dropping;
(6) prevent the automatic posting of off topic comments.

My thinking on this is that in my home I am a hostess and likewise on my blog I am a hostess. I do not allow any comments to be posted on my blog that I would not approve of or tolerate in my home.
Now, this is perfectly reasonable. However, I question how this comment that Maria Hanrahan submitted -- but didn't make it through Ginny's filter -- falls under the above policy. There is no spam, no link dropping, no personal attacks, nothing off topic. It is a level-headed response to some of Ginny's statements and accusations.

Ginny: why did you block that comment?

Oh, and if you thought that Ginny's comment policy seemed a little too polished for an amateur blogger (c'mon, using ALL CAPS and red text in your blog posts for emphasis? really?), so did I. I googled it, and it turns out she just cut & pasted it from this forum discussion. No attribution to the original author, of course.

And I wonder if Ginny is familiar with that person's position on gay marriage, Obama, reproductive rights, etc. Perhaps Ginny should be more careful who she plagiarizes....

// A quick update - I replied to Ginny's e-mail (that stated her policy) by pointing to this blog post of my reaction. Her single-line reply to me: "Sorry. I don't waste my time on unimportant information that is not pertinent to the issues."

Wow.

12 comments:

  1. Did you really expect anything different?

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  2. You're my favorite. As a local student I've been following this "crisis" very closely, and have been DISGUSTED at the hypocrisy and blatant use of spin by Ginny. It's refreshing to finally see people in the community who don't buy into her agenda.

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  3. It seems that Ginny has had a change of heart regarding her censoring of comments. See this post, which actually has comments critical of her.

    Of course, she hasn't addressed why Maria's comment wasn't allowed, or why she just stole her policy from another person without attribution.

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  4. This blog is one of personal attacks, obscenities!! We are no longer talking so much about the issues as getting out personal attacks to one's opinion!
    Beware for one day you stand accountable for every word and action - God is not pleased!

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    Replies
    1. Whether one is religious or not, your last statement is ridiculous. If you are religious, then you have no right to address whether God is pleased or not (He'll decide that, thank you!). And if one isn't religions, then your statement is an empty threat: how can a fictional being be pleased or not?

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  5. BTW, Seasoned Warrior, I checked out your profile, and too bad that after "4 years of collage" you didn't learn how to spell the word "college."

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    Replies
    1. Maybe Seasoned Warrior was an art major specializing in making collages.

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  6. A blog of personal attacks? Really! Why is it that Ginny and her fan club deem it appropriate to go after ANYONE that disagrees with them, and they do it with a ferociousness that is SO UNCHRISTLIKE, and then accuse others of personal attacks when they are called out by people who can think intelligently? Seasoned Warrior, such divine threats issued by a human being are absurd. Please! Sweep your own doorstep, put your own house in order lest you be caught unprepared when the thief comes in the middle of the night.

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  7. This issue is of interest elsewhere as well and we'll be keeping an eye out. If anyone has any information not making it into the media, please let me know. Our post at http://www.hahnathome.com is the last in a long series on Ginny.

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  8. P.S. I just have to say that one of your commenters is an interestin' one - has a direct line to God. Or at least her version of God. That's scary.

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  9. There is no spam, no link dropping, no personal attacks, nothing off topic.

    ReplyDelete