Blog Gods and Mortals
I received a comment from Zenek M. today that consisted, basically, of this message:
Love lurking on the ATF because of the many kind souls, but I cannot stand the unwillingness or inability of the main mod to think…
I deleted some stuff that was less thoughtful and more direct.
This comment was intended to be attached to my post about swearing-off forums. I’m going to post the comment (in abbreviated form) here in order to address the issue of commenting (in general) on this blog.
Blogs are not forums. A blogger is expected to be more of a self-centered ego-maniac than the kindly old grampa who moderates a forum. This is an internet fiction, but, in most cases, successful forums require a “light touch” in the moderation department. The Airfix Tribute Forum is the exception that proves the rule. They moderate like they were guarding state secrets and that’s that. I find this to be interesting.
But let’s keep in mind that in reality all forums and blogs run by the same rules–the golden rule–i.e. “he with the gold makes the rules.” I pay for this blog and I run it in the manner of King Henry VIII of England.
No back-talk.
I am God-Emperor here. My quirks and peculiarities are put on display for the amusement of all, but this is not a group activity. It’s my thing. The fact that forums are also run with absolute authority by the admins is cleverly hidden away, but it’s still the truth. The difference between me and the forum admins is that I admit that I am running the show.
And so do the admins at The Airfix Tribute Forum. They don’t’ pretend to be democratic–and neither do I. I may give the impression that I’m inviting everyone to pitch in and help me trash the mean-old world of forums, but I am doing no such thing. Anyone who decides to go negative and attack someone using my blog comments as a forum will be canned.
No, not “caned.” I can’t do that. I said “canned” meaning banned or thrown out or dismissed. Even if you sent me a particularly good story about somebody I don’t like, trying to post it as a comment would bug me because I choose my words carefully when I attack people. I try to be fair and truthful.
No, really.
So it’s not a team sport. I can’t screen or vouch for your accuracy, and as much as I’d like to hear that story about how one time old so-and-so did something dumb, you’ll need to ask permission (in a comment) and then I’ll email you if I want you to send it.
Why? I work in mysterious ways, my wonders to perform.
Also, I’m getting a LOT of email spam recently and although I’m not pointing any fingers, I do wonder about certain people.
Certain.
People.
See? That was a zinger. No profanity. Like that. Do that and your comments get approved.