Yesterday I was threatened with a ban. For what you may ask – not for a personal attack, going off topic, posting dodgy links, or excessively disruptive comments – but for a breach of some policy about referring to the site rather than the author.
Their policy section is actually quite an amusing read (http://thestandard.org.nz/policy/). Especially the bit about computers being dumb – reminded me of the British comedy 'The I.T. Crowd'.
I've been meaning to limit my commenting on The Standard, but I must be a sucker for punishment & have been quite active lately. In spite of the occasional personal abuse, I quite like sparring with the lefties. It helps to explore my thinking on issues, and can occasionally results in a change in my opinion.
But alas, I'm taking a self-imposed break.
Active political blogs thrive on debate. As a far left blog The Standard attracts a lot of right wing trolls. My comments were often provocative, & argumentative, but I was never a troll. I think the moderators at The Standard would agree that an antagonist can make a comments thread more interesting. But if people like me are being shunned, then who exactly is welcomed?
Today The Standard has a post by QoT and she asks, "I'll wonder where all the good trolls have gone". I presume by trolls she means people with opposing opinions. The answer is they've probably been ban, abused, or threaten with a ban.
As an aside, QoT is one of the few Standard commenters who is very abusive in the comments section. Her rhetoric is so extreme I'm surprise even The Standard would go so low to offer her a guest spot. What the rulers at The Standard fail to realise is that such shrillness is actually counter productive to their cause. So while their posts succeed in making people on the right angry, non-partisan people would simply be turned off.
I put a fair bit of thought into my final comment. Actually made me quite sad writing it for some reason – I think in part because of the recent earthquake in Christchurch. I just wasn't in the mood to battle with my fellow countrymen.
Here's my post:
http://thestandard.org.nz/gaddafi-not-going-quietly/#comment-301441
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