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August 20, 2012 8:05 pm

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A quick note to all commenters (and would be commenters) on LabourList posts. I have taken the decision to change the way in which LabourList comments are moderated. From now on – all comments will be pre-moderated. This will of course slow the pace of debate on LabourList, but if the aim is to have a genuine debate on the site, rather than just arguments and off topic discussions as is sometimes the case, then I believe that this is neccessary.

Please bear with us.

Some commenters will be given the right to post unmoderated – but only if they are regular commenters who have shown themselves willing to behave according to our comments policy. Anyone who breaks the comments policy on a regular basis can expect to see themselves banned from the site.

If you believe that a comment breaks our comments policy you can “flag” it for the attention of the moderator (usually me), who can take appropriate action.

In addition, I have also made the decision that only those registered with Disqus will be able to comment on LabourList from now on. Disqus can link up with many different forms of log-in (Twitter, Facebook etc) so I hope this does not cause undue hassle for commentsers – however it is the only reliable way of ensuring that we have some idea of who is posting on LabourList.

Any questions about the new moderation format, do not hesitate to email me (mark@labourlist.org).

Thanks for your patience – balancing a fast past and active comments section with a reasonable debate is difficult, but hopefully something we’re striving to achieve.

Mark

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  • http://www.facebook.com/ian.robathan.5 Ian Robathan

    about time too Mark. I know some on the right will decry this as censorship but this site is about LABOUR and frankly I do not want to discuss with tories about them. I have other places to do that.

    If this works I will certainly be posting more like I used to.

    • AlanGiles

       To be fair, Ian, some of the Tory posters are pleasant enough, and they make no bones about where they stand. Some do it with a certain amount of grace and humour. I think Mark’s decision is perfectly right and fair. I and several other posters have been accused of dishonesty, criminality etc – by a Labour supporter.

      I certainly have no objection to my identity being known to Mark (as it is). I have no objection to posters using pseudonyms (many, unlike me are not retired, and need to have a degree of anominity), but in 99% of these cases that is the only reason they do so, they do not hide their identity so that  they can make outrageous and scabrous accusations against other posters.

      Let’s hope you and many others come back.

  • http://twitter.com/FireballDarren Darren Burgoyne

    fair dos

  • Brumanuensis

    Mark, I think this is a very sensible set of reforms. It is sad it has come to this and I think all of us, including myself, should reflect on how this happened.

  • PeterBarnard

    Well done, Mark.
     

  • John Ruddy

    Is this going to get rid of the right wing trolls, who seem to have plenty of time to spend on a Labour grass roots website?

  • PeterBarnard

    Well done, Mark.

  • markfergusonuk

    There’s space for right wingers who are willing to debate seriously and sensibly – but trolls won’t last long.

    • http://www.facebook.com/ian.robathan.5 Ian Robathan

      indeed Mark … think we all agree with that

    • John Ruddy

       I know, but there seems to have been an infestation on many sites, including here… I have no problems with the moderation policy, and perhaps the delay might make some think more about what they say…

    • John Ruddy

       I know, but there seems to have been an infestation on many sites, including here… I have no problems with the moderation policy, and perhaps the delay might make some think more about what they say…

    • John Ruddy

       I know, but there seems to have been an infestation on many sites, including here… I have no problems with the moderation policy, and perhaps the delay might make some think more about what they say…

  • Brumanuensis

    It would be a shame if Jamie went and ‘Quiet Sceptic’, ‘Konrad Baxter’ and ‘Dave’ all have good points to make, at times. What we need at this website is robust discussion, but it’s also fair to say that this is, primarily, a Labour website where Labour Party members can chat amongst ourselves. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. We should be open to non-Labour people, but they’re not the main clientele of this website.

    • jaime taurosangastre candelas

      That’s kind, Brum.  I have no intention of going, so long as Mark is prepared to let me post, and I try to behave myself, 90% of the time I hope successfully.  If not (and “the editor’s word is final”), well I would wish you all on LL well, and (mostly) to see what you wish for come true.

      Who knows – I may even vote Labour next election, for the 4th of 5 GEs in my time in the UK.  It will be difficult for me to vote LD again in 2015, but they are very slowly re-establishing themselves to my mind, and I could be persuaded to vote UKIP because if you strip away the golf course tory senseless comments, they do have some sensible things to say about Europe and our future relations with it, which is important to me.  I may possibly be the most left wing potential supporter of UKIP in the entire country, which (“left wing”) description may well cause both Mike Homfray and Peter Barnard to do the “double take” and declare my insanity in such a proposition.

      But LL is a very comfortable place to post, and I feel that I have got to know some of you “digitally”, and I am very grateful for the discomfort I feel when I advance an opinion and it attracts both sensible and reasoned rebuttall, as well as mud-flinging.  Both are a reality check, and we all need that.

  • rekrab

    Good stuff @Mark.

    • rekrab

      Not sure what happened hear? When I logged on to the site my name and password was missing, I couldn’t remember my password, so had to send an e-mail for clarification, I had to re-enter a new password and my name changed from “Derek” to “rekrab”, I may have used this moniker when the site changed but truthfully I can’t remember.Well it seems I’m now on full moderation? maybe really good news for some, I dunno? pretty pointless going through the motions so I say a found farewell to all. Ciao! 

      • markfergusonuk

        All will be on full moderation for at least a few days, when it will ease off for those who stick to the comments policy (which is hardly a stringent document).
        I hope that’s not a problem for most but if it is I’m just afraid that’s how it has to be. –
        Mark Ferguson
        Editor – LabourList
        Email: mark@labourlist.org
        Mobile: 07545312954
        Twitter: @markfergusonuk
        Skype: markandrewferguson

      • PeterBarnard

        It’s frustrating I know, Derek (I’m on full moderation, which has dispirited me somewhat, and has slowed me down in making comments, as well), but I’ll give it a few shots.

        In the event that your ”Ciao” becomes permanent, I wish you all the very best and sincerely thank you for the merry chat that we have had for the last two years or so.

  • http://twitter.com/_DaveTalbot David Talbot

    Very sensible. It had become a tad scary to wonder below the comment line at times this year

  • http://twitter.com/RF_McCarthy Roger McCarthy

    Have you considered dropping comments altogether?

    One of the most successful of all political blogs  is Andrew Sullivan’s Daily Dish which has no comments section at all but does encourage readers to e-mail the author and regularly publishes some of the best responses and seriously engages with them.

    Comments really are a ridiculous time sink for everyone concerned -  I’d much rather have whichever poor soul is moderating for you reading a few e-mails from people who’ve seriously thought about the article and responded to it properly in their own name and then reproduce the best of them as a linked response post.

    • markfergusonuk

      A fair point and something I’ve considered, but I worry it might make LL seem aloof and distant from the Labour community – which it exists to serve.

      The poor soul moderating these comments – alas – is me…

      • http://twitter.com/RF_McCarthy Roger McCarthy

        Which is my point – someone of your talent should not be moderating every comment any subset of 24/7 just because some of us commenters are assholes.

        If people down here  really want traditional comments then we really need to volunteer our own time so you can have a proper roster of moderators.

        • Alexwilliamz

          Indeed how easy is it to set up other moderators. Might be a sensible idea. Some of the repetitive stuff was really quite depressing.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/JNCTPY54L5PWVMREGWZ7GXGRLY stuart

    Debate will be far less lively under full censorship.
    I’ve had comments modded-out before.
    Sometimes it was the profanity aimed at tedious in-fighting – fair enough, I suppose.
    But I was disappointed to see a particularly pithy contribution cut.

    • markfergusonuk

      It’s not “full censorship”. If I was I retested in censorship of stuff I didn’t agree with I’d never publish half f what appears above the fold!
      –
      Mark Ferguson

  • http://twitter.com/rob_marchant Rob Marchant

    Good move, Mark. I think the point is rightly about style of debate, rather than trying to silence dissenting voices.

  • http://www.stuartbruce.biz/ Stuart Bruce

    Great idea Mark. Moderation isn’t censorship and it should help improve the quality of the debate – less is more. One suggestion I’d make is to add a ‘Comments Policy’ tab to the About Us section with some guidelines/rules on what is and isn’t acceptable. The final rule should of course be “the editor’s decision is final”.

    • markfergusonuk

      Good idea Stuart – I’ll get something along those lines sorted ASAP

      –
      Mark Ferguson

  • Hamish Dewar

    The comments policy refers to centre-left views, but a number of earlier comments on this thread interpret that to mean Labour Party views.
    Does the use of the capital letter in Labour-minded carry the same implication?
    My political outlook is probably more radically left-wing than many here (more public ownership, fully progressive income tax, no tuition fees), but not conventional (no nukes, no pampering the elderly).
    I am not a member of the Labour party and will not vote for it as long as it opposes Scottish independence and supports imperialist military actions.
    Can I still post here?

    • markfergusonuk

      You’re still welcome Hamish – because I know you’ll take part in reasonable and rational debate
      –
      Mark Ferguson

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Homfray/510980099 Mike Homfray

    Fine by me – there’s been some really unnecessary stuff in the last few weeks

  • Brumanuensis

    This sudden outbreak of civility and goodwill is starting to worry me.

    Someone gratuitously insult me, please.

    • Daniel Speight

      OK.

      “I don’t wanna talk to you no more, you empty-headed animal food trough wiper. I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!”

      • Brumanuensis

        I knew Monty Python would be first ;)

        • Daniel Speight

          Glad to oblige. I was thinking of a Belgium joke but that put me a bit too close to Farage.

  • JoeDM

    Am I still allowed to comment here?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Graeme-Hancocks/1156294498 Graeme Hancocks

    I am glad to hear this. Reading some of the  comments left by “trolls” who seem to love posting offensive material – designed to cause offence not stimulate debate – has put me off even bothering to read comments at all. Which is a shame. This is a good move.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZPXYLRVP4XOIGGDJWAL6HUO7U4 David

    While I hugely welcome this change (particularly the ban on “guest” comments, which will stop the recent identity-cloning nonsense), I wonder if it would be too overtly cynical to add:

    Donkeys live a long time.  None of you have ever seen a dead donkey.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZPXYLRVP4XOIGGDJWAL6HUO7U4 David

    I fear my first ever comment under the new regime was barred after quoting (very topically to the news today, but perhaps too provocatively) George Orwell.

    I think this is a great development, though I fear for how long it can last: these same changes happened under the old system under Alex, and as they were gradually relaxed more and more “bad” comments got through.

    As an infrequent, but hopefully considerate, poster here I hope that my complicated relationship with political factions (I am neither classically left nor right wing, being a Hayekian 3rd sector worker) will not damage my ability to post.

    • Brumanuensis

      Hayek?

      • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZPXYLRVP4XOIGGDJWAL6HUO7U4 David

        As Facebook would say… “it’s complicated”, and perhaps made more so by a natural tendency to play devil’s advocate (and not just via the internet, as my work colleagues/family etc. will attest)

  • Brumanuensis

    Consider this, fellow anonymous LabourList-ers: Mark is Alfred to our Batman*

    Think about it. He knows our secret identities. He keeps the (Labour)cave in perfect operating condition. He ensures that we never have to worry about trivial technical matters, as we angrily comment beneath stories (and fight crime too, obviously).

    “Some men just want to watch the World burn”.

    *Or Batgirl. Or possibly even Robin. Where is this analogy going again?

  • http://twitter.com/kb32904 KathyB

    Hoorah !

    I have frequently complained about the pointless trolling here & it got to the stage that I & others would no longer venture below the line.

  • Brumanuensis

    If it’s Hayek the constitutional theorist, well, I have more time for that Hayek.

    If it’s Hayek the economist, I’m afraid I don’t rate him*.

    *With the exception of the work he did with Mises on the economic calculation problem.

  • LembitOpiksLovechild

    Mark,

    Your moderation policy has killed this site stone dead.

    it’as awful.

  • markfergusonuk

    You can’t please everyone…but it’s better than having the nonsense that was posted here before

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