Disappointing...

I shouldn't get too wrapped up in online discussions, particularly in comment threads on blogs.  But I often do, especially when the discussion is about actual ideas and not just a tired rehash of pop culture or ossified political positions.

Which is why I was especially disappointed this afternoon to see that an earlier comment I posted on an oft-visited blog had been unceremoniously removed after remaining online for several hours today.

Let me say first that I firmly believe in the "my house, my rules" philosophy of blog hosting.  The blog owner has every right to edit or censor any of the content posted there.

However, on a personal level I have always admired this particular blogger for his relatively even handed and open minded approach to discussions.  His comment threads are often interesting and informative, with a number of different points of view represented, quite often in opposition to his own original posts.

Which is why this particular act is so puzzling, and troubling.  It was the third comment I had posted in the thread (the first two comments still remain as of this writing).  It was on topic, polite, not obscene in any way -- it simply expressed a different opinion to that of the author of the post.  The topic of the article apparently had the author fairly agitated, based on his responses to my first couple of comments.  I can only assume that perhaps he was on a rather shorter fuse than usual today, and was in no mood to have his ideas challenged.

Again, his house, his rules, so I'm not arguing that he's under any obligation whatsoever to give access to anyone in particular.  Nor is he obligated to use his own site's bandwidth to publish views that are contrary to his own.

But as a "consumer" of his site, this makes me wonder what other content he's censored in the past on other topics.  It makes me wonder what future content he may censor on a whim.  I had assumed from my perception that his forum is generally open, that there was a certain integrity to the conversation -- that polite and relevant comments would be welcomed without regard to the ideas one expressed.  That appears not to be the case, which means that I must question the integrity of every conversation on the site.

And, perhaps naively, I am very disappointed to lose so much respect for someone whom I had never met, but had certainly admired.

Comments

[Jack Bog]

I politely asked you not to belabor the point you had already made, and you refused.

It's supposed to be a conversation, not an argument.

[David B. Wright]

Well, you did say please... so I guess that makes it polite to call it a ridiculous pile of manure. :-D But that's fine, it's your opinion and you're entitled to it.

The deleted comment was a direct response to your second remark in that bit, about the jurisdiction question. It was a completely different point from the one you asked me not to belabor.

If you mean that your comment threads are not supposed to be an "argument" in the sense of "heated fight", that's fine but that's not what I was doing. If you mean they're not supposed to be an "argument" in the sense of "discussion of opposing ideas"... well, that's the kind of "conversation" that has been going on for quite a while on your site.

I guess that's the part that was most surprising to me... the comment you removed was not at all out of place compared to countless other comments that I and others have made in the past.

Again, obviously you can remove content for any reason (or no reason) at all, that's up to you. As a consumer in the marketplace of ideas, now that I know what kinds of content you will remove, that has an impact on how I view the quality of your blogging "brand". I will view your future offerings in a different light. And, I thought that information might be of interest to other blog consumers.