From Trumwill:
Handling commenting policy is hard and it’s one of those things that you don’t realize how hard it is until you try to do it. Historically, the editors at Ordinary Times have tried to handle it by committee, basically. This has the upshot of trying to find a consensus on where the lines are, but the downside of slow reaction times to offensive comments, and sometimes arbitrary-seeming enforcement depending on the person who sees the comment in question first.
So we’re going to try something new. Instead of trying to handle everything together, we are going to have one person that we trust entirely and allow them to operate with autonomy. This will allow for quicker and more consistent enforcement.
We are thrilled to announce that our new Community Editor will be Maribou. The official start date is tomorrow, September 1st, but start listening to her today. Do not challenge her authority solely for the sake of challenging it. Do not push boundaries solely for the sake of pushing them. And please, please help her by making use of the Report button because she simply cannot be expected to be everywhere at once.
We are very fortunate that she has agreed to do this. It is, as I said, a difficult and thankless job. We have every confidence in her ability to do it fairly.
From Maribou:
I have a large amount of experience with managing communities where some people don’t treat other people with respect. And being patient for too long with someone who has those problems and can’t rein them leads to much bigger problems. Problems the site as a whole has been experiencing. Problems which include people in general being nastier to each other, people leaving, people feeling like their “home” doesn’t have room for them anymore…
This will never be a “safe space” in the pejorative sense of the term and I wouldn’t want it to be. But it does need to be a safe *enough* space, not a space where a couple of people for whatever reasons – empathizable or less so – make it hard for a large part of the community to enjoy themselves. We’re not the town square, here. I don’t have to worry about what should or shouldn’t be legal. I just have to worry about what does or doesn’t make this an acceptable place for most people to feel welcome to speak their piece, to listen to other commenters, and to engage in conversations that push their Overton windows *wider*, not to one side or another.
I’m also doing my best to avoid a chilling effect. I know it’s extremely disheartening when people you aren’t bothered by get booted from commenting because other people are really bothered by them. There are websites I won’t ever leave a comment on because of that. There are a few websites (left and right and not really either) I’ve been banned from for taking up for the wrong side over the years, and Jaybird makes my “banned” record look paltry.
If I seem blunt with people when I’m moderating, it’s because I generally appreciate people being blunt with me: “This is what you’re doing, this is how I perceive it, you’ll stop or you’ll eventually leave, I don’t care which.” When people talk to me that way, I can regulate what I’m doing (even if I grouse about it for a week). As with the people I have to ask to leave my workplace and not come back a few times every year, having a great deal of empathy for folks in that situation won’t keep me from making the decision I feel is best for the community as a whole. Not a *good* decision or one I would ideally make in an ideal world, but the best possible bad decision.
I actually think any action taken by a moderator on any comment, here or on other sites, should be the best possible bad decision. But not taking any action can be far from the best possible choice…
I hope that helps y’all understand where I’m coming from, even if you think any, some, or all of my moderator actions are bad decisions.
Image by HowardLake 
This seems like a positive and long-overdue change.Report
Thanks, @alan-scottReport
Oh, I thought the announcement would be that the comments section is having puppies.Report
A puppy comment section would be the worst. Would chew through *everything*.Report
They’re good comments, Bill.Report
13/10, would pet.Report
This is the closest I can get, since @jaybird won’t let me have a dog till he’s dead…Report
I’m obese! I have high blood pressure! It could be any day now!Report
Don’t even joke about that!!!Report
Till the dog’s dead?Report
@mike-schilling HA! We actually do have a couple of stuffed-teddy-bear-sized handcrafted dogs made with real cowskin with the hair still on that a friend gave me to console me a long time ago. A sculpted pug and a sculpted lab. They should possibly be creepy or morbid but I’m quite fond of them.
I’ll have to ask about the taxidermied version though. It could live in the library with the bison vertebrae or in the computer with the cat skull…. nah, if it was in the computer room the cats would pee on it. Library it is. Though having someone else’s beloved pet in my sanctuary room might be kinda weird. [When your training is organismal biology and an artist dies, you end up with animal parts. We have cow skulls on the back porch too.]Report
I for one welcome our Maritimer Over Lady strictly on principle. *passes a bottle of Nova Scotian maple syrup under the table*Report
@north I didn’t thank you sooner because I was busy glugging it straight from the bottle… Cheers, mate!Report
I welcome Maribou, even though the job looks a lot like herding cats.Report
@joe-sal Hey, I’m the one who deals with our house-call vet appointments. Ie, I’ve *literally* herded cats. And thanks.Report
If Maribou continues to handle herself remotely as well as she did today (I have little doubt she will), FISH YEAH!!!Report
Cheers, @switters. Skepticism is always appropriate.Report
Damn. I was trying to express the absence of any real skepticism. I tell my children all the time I want them to be kind before i want them to be anything else. When they can understand whats going on around here, I think i’ll just give up and point them at your comments. They always drip with empathy. And I really dig that.Report
@switters Aw, thank you.Report
Thanks. I’ve noticed the comments have been slipping. Even though I don’t comment much, I’m on the site daily. This is the only site that I read all of the comments and I truly enjoy this community’s rapport. There are a few bad apples, but almost everyone comments in good faith and good argument.Report
@fortytwo It’s good to know that and good to see you commenting more.Report
Hail Maribou Ordinaria, First of Her Name, Moderatrix Augusta of the Comment Sections, Scourge of Trolls, Disenvoweler Caesaria, Wielder of the Banhammer, and First Friend of Felines.Report
@kolohe 1) this was really funny. 2) the one thing I can promise I will never ever do is disenvowel. it goes against my grain as a copy-editor. *shudders*Report
Somehow I suspect that by the 30th when I’m down to the Springs, I’ll owe you (and @jaybird for suffering through) the adult beverage rather than the other way round :^)Report
@michael-cain Sadly my meds don’t combine well with adult beverages…. but I’m sure I can find consoling non-alcoholic options.Report
Maribou, you’re crazy! And congratulations to being added to the masthead.
I’ve never really had any problems with the commenters here, but I take anything I read on the internet with a huge grain of salt. I have no idea what goes on behind the scenes here, though I imagine it involves more than a little bit of facepalming. So, Godspeed, Mari!Report
Heh. Thanks Slade. Though fwiw I’ve been an associate editor for several years now. This is a shift in how we do things, def. not a promotion …Report
Good luck, Maribou! I like all your comments and trust to your fairness.
I also realize that while I haven’t been one of the leading offenders, I’ve done my share to make certain commenters feel unwelcome, choosing to attack instead of listen or ignore. I obviously have to work on that. And while that’s my problem, and not yours, I realize that might mean you’ll have to correct me from time to time. I’ll promise to respect what you say.Report
Gabriel, IMO your one of the more sensible heads here at OT.Report
@gabriel-conroy I appreciate that and I appreciate you. You should post more!Report
Best of luck.Report
Thank you.Report