November 14, 2006

A Minor Annoyance

If you blog long enough and build a large enough audience and write about controversial things I can guarantee you you'll attract trolls - opponents who aren't content to argue issues and debate ideas in their comments, but who will launch personal attacks and try, relentlessly, to goad you into making an intemperate response that you will later regret. Regular readers of BillHobbs.com know that I allow and even encourage a wide-open discussion in the comments sections of my post, and that I don't ban commenters who disagree with me, nor censor their comments. I have just a few simple rules that boil down to "no personal attack, no foul language, and stay on-topic" - all of which serve to foster discussion, not stifle it.

In the five years I have been blogging I have banned just two commenters because they routinely violated those rules. Today, I add a third - a commenter who posts anonymously under a variety of names and apparently ficticious email addreses, and who mixes personal attack and name-calling and attacks the motives and intelligence of those who he disagrees with, rather than their ideas. This commenter posts here and on other Nashville conservative blogs under a variety of names, including Milton, MiltonFree, Demetrius, Roger T., Hamilton, Patrick Hamilton, Floyd, and Hamilton Lovecraft. His posts come from at least three IP addresses: 207.234.130.25, 207.234.209.125 and 172.20.72.34.

His comments will no longer be published here at BillHobbs.com.

Censorship? Of course not. The Troll is free to start his own blog - literally free, at Blogger.com - and write whatever he wants. I encourage him to do so, though trolls rarely have the guts to post under their real name. But this is my blog, and my bandwidth. I don't have to put up with it here.

Update: I just received - but will not publish - the single most vile and foul-mouthed comment I have ever received at this blog. The kind of comment that speaks volumes about the depth of depravity and shallowness of intellect on the part of the commenter. Judging from the IP address, it was posted by the same commenter who posted as "Jeffrey" to this post, although, of course, he didn't have the guts to sign his real name or use a real email address.