Wednesday, February 15, 2012

A Comment on Comments

Little Merry Sunshine received a new comment today on a post I wrote almost three years ago and was in no way controversial. It wasn't about politics, sex, religion, or even the combination of all three.

The anonymous commenter simply said that I need "alot of professional help." His or her misspelling, not mine.

Here at Little Merry Sunshine, I welcome the dialogue that intelligent comments bring. Heck, even the unintelligent comments often bring some value. And I'm very open to letting all political or religious views be expressed. I think we all have something to offer and although I can't say that any comments I disagreed with have ever changed my mind, Little Merry Sunshine readers often give me something to think about. I welcome that.

But here's where I draw the line: Bullying.

I'm a huge fan of the First Amendment. I hate censorship. I also hate censorship on my blog. I hate being that person who doesn't let people speak their mind. But if you want to be a bully and make personal attacks against me or my readers or if you want to threaten me, then I'm not going to let your words see the light of day.

If you want to be a bully, you'll have to go play in someone else's sandbox because you're not welcome here. Haven't you read the description under the title of Little Merry Sunshine? It talks about that I believe in building others up and celebrating what's good in the world. Sometimes that good is David Beckham in his tighty whities (oh, Lord, is THAT good!). Sometimes that's about equal pay for women.

Here's what it's not: It's not telling me I need professional help while hiding behind the name "anonymous." If someone has something to say to me, about me personally, have a backbone and use your name and say it to me.

I read a lot of blogs. Sometimes I disagree with what the authors say and I may leave a comment sharing my point of view. But you know what I never do? I never personally attack a writer. Why? Because it's mean spirited and 12-year-old girlish. And I sure as heck never do it under that handle of "anonymous."

I don't really have a lot of rules on my blog. In fact, I don't think I have any rules. But now I do, so here they are:

1. Play nice
2. See #1

Disagree with me if you want. Let's have a dialogue. Just play nice.

If you can't follow the rules, please don't come here.

1 comment:

  1. There is something going around lately, unfortunately. I have a friend who has a family-friendly blog (she blogs about her kids, farm life, exercise, kid-friendly activities, and such) and she's been getting some "bullying" e-mails lately.

    I don't get it.

    And to hide behind "anonymous"? Not right.

    I like your new LMS rules, by the way.

    ReplyDelete

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