You know, I’m easy in that regard, whenever I write something, I want comments, I mean, I love comments, the feedback, the sparring, the discussion that ensues. That’s the whole point about blogging in the first place, isn’t it ? To get a discussion going ?
Well, maybe this is not as universal a notion as I thought, because it would appear that over at Freethoughtblogs, John W Loftus does away with comments that disagree with him. Reader Echidna has sent me two screen shots with regards to this :
Compare that to this one :
Hm. So Loftus deleted a comment by someone who disagreed with him on his blog. Pathetic, mate. Get off the net if you can’t cope with having to defend your views. For shame.
Echidna was ignorant. I have a policy that ignorant people who are a waste of my time aren’t worth having. Sorry, but them’s the beans. He refused to even try to understand what I was saying and kept repeating ad nauseum the same objections without actually responding to what I said. DC is not a place for high schoolers in their thinking, again sorry.
Cheers
John, the first rule of holes seems to apply here. Echidna, who is female by the way, disagreed with you. I don’t see where she showed herself to be “ignorant” in any of the exchanges she had with you on your blog, seems to me she simply disagreed with you. And even if she was “ignorant”, there is simply no excuse for deleting or editing her comments. Either you want comments or not. And if you don’t, get off the net. Or at least, off Freethoughtblogs. You know, the glaring blatant contradiction to freethinking and all.
Who is Loftus and why should I care?
Either you want comments or not. And if you don’t, get off the net. Or at least, off Freethoughtblogs. You know, the glaring blatant contradiction to freethinking and all.
John W Loftus owes me a new irony meter.
Shame, shame, shame.
Thanks Martin for the post. John, you don’t say what I am ignorant of, and as Martin points out, I am not a high school boy. Very far from it.
You seem to be deleting my comments because they are not deferential. That makes you a small man.
John, Echidna accused you of deleting the posts of anyone who disagreed with you. By deleting her post you proved that she was right. By the simple act of not deleting her post you could have proved her wrong. Sorry, but I seem to get the impression that you are not very bright.
I used to follow Loftus’ blog some time ago. I found his thoughts to be hastily formed and I was non too welcome with dissent. He surrounded himself to the point where his page was merely an echo chamber.
Most of the commenters on my page are dissenting opinions. I have moderated comments only because of profanity and personal attacks, never for difference of opinion.
I remember a blog post of someone’s that I criticized for its ideas (not Loftus) garnered all kinds of blow back for daring to criticize this persons thoughts that were posted on her public blog. She now delets all my comments.
I guess some people only want pats on the back. So low Loftus. free thought indeed.
Even if Echidna was ignorant, so what? I’ve seen a bunch of ignorant posts at Pharyngula, B&W, Greta Christina’s Blog, and elsewhere. All of the blogmeisters at these blogs either allow people to post whatever they want or ban them, nothing in-between.
I don’t read Greg Laden’s blog because he was editing peoples’ posts and playing other silly games. I won’t be going to Loftus’s blog because he’s playing silly games.
Sili,
Why should you care about Loftus? Only in the sense that a blogger on free-thought blogs really ought to get their head around the fact that differing opinions exist. He somehow got it into his head that I was an adolescent boy, and censored comments about how arguments can be proven wrong by showing internal inconsistency. He shows very little understanding of logic, or the fact that there is a world outside the USA.
Such a small, petty behaviour does not belong on FTB. Martin is calling him out on it.
Wow. I had wondered if there was some kind of weird comment moderation gremlin software thing going on, but I see John has eliminated all doubt that he just deleted comments because he didn’t like them. Guess he’s joining Laden and ERV in the “blogs I refuse to give traffic to” group.
Carlie, John Morales also reported on some TET that he was blocked from posting there for a while. I just don’t get the mindset.
Actually, I had one posted comment vanish after the face, and one that didn’t even post.
(I got the hint, haven’t been back since — so I can’t say whether I remain blocked or not. Not my loss.)