I received a call today from a relatively new blog reader. This person had reached out to me via email yesterday and today we connected on the phone. I’ll call them Lamb.
“I’m new to blog reading,” Lamb told me.
Lamb is a long time Howard Countian, a little younger than me and certainly much more refined. Lamb was a little taken aback by the hostile tone of some anonymous comments in recent posts.
“Don’t some blogs disallow anonymous comments?” Lamb asked.
Yes, some do, but not this one. I went on to explain to Lamb that not all anonymous commenter’s are bad. I know for certain that a few well known locals have posted here anonymously that would not have commented otherwise. For the most part I think that it’s added to richness of the dialogue. Not allowing anonymous comments because of the poor manners of some would be akin to throwing the baby out with the bath water.
As I’ve said before, I tend to see this blog as the corner pub. It’s probably not the kind of joint the more genteel folk are used to frequenting but if they hang around a bit they’ll find this blog to be occasionally colorful but ultimately harmless.
Lamb seemed to understand this.
I hope Lamb continues to be a reader of Tales of Cities and even hope that someday Lamb may feel comfortable enough to enter the conversation.
Perhaps under they could even comment as “Lamb.”
Now that would be pretty cool.
Daily
19 hours ago
7 comments:
I didn't think we were that bad...!
Wow, I just wrote a great post about the meaning of "refined" and how it relates to education, the arts, engineering, history, politics, and just about everything.
Blogspot lost it.
The gist? I post as anon, because it is easier. I sign my anon posts often, "Bob O," because I want everyone to know who I am. I think all of your posts are interesting, and I think all of the comments are interesting. As blogging goes, both you and the commentators are pretty low key, actually, compared to the rest of the interweb.
I wrote about you and me. I think you are a very refined person, and I know I am. I mean, how could I be unrefined with an honors degree in English Literature and a membership at NPR?
So, I was surprised that you termed Lamb as being "more refined" than yourself. What does that mean?
Perhaps "Lamb" is just unfamiliar with the interwebs...or was he/she just shocked that people might hold different opinions than he/she might hold him/herself?
Welcome to the web. It's a whole new universe.
(REALLY--my first, but sadly lost, post was much more refined. I yoused biig vocabilliary.)
Shee-ite, this is a wine bar compared to most blogs. Let's listen to some Montovani and sip some merlot. I can see why you picked "Lamb" as a psuedonym.
Someone drank my wine!
Hey, try this local vintner's answer to Reisling:
Linganore Wineries Terrapin White.
Excellent in summertime. Very very light and refreshing, not too sweet or too tart.
I'm with Lamb! I enjoy a lively exchange of ideas but still don't understand the outright nastiness some writers feel free to express.
I can see where Lamb is coming from. Sometimes people get side-tracked from actual dialogue to name-calling and mini rants.
But, Lamb, that's all the more reason for you to join in and help guide the discussion in a more "civil" direction!
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