I've had a frustrating day getting Rice Digital's comment section back in order. It obviously hasn't had a lot done with it for some time, so some drastic measures were necessary — effectively we had to nuke the existing comment section and replace it with a new one, but this also provided the opportunity to put some much-needed moderation and rules in place.
Naturally, putting those rules in place has upset a few people, who seem to think that the comments section belongs to them and not the site. Thankfully, I think we've made it pretty clear that we don't have any patience for their bullshit, and with any luck they will turn tail and leave before long. I don't care if they get angry at being "censored", I want Rice Digital to be a pleasant place for people to hang out, and while people like that are shitting up the comments, no-one else is going to want to participate.
I really don't understand this attitude; it absolutely reeks of entitlement. A website's comment section is not a free-for-all ground for people to post whatever they want; it is part of the website itself. That means if the comment section runs the risk of undoing the good work that the actual website's content does, steps need to be taken. And we were getting to that stage; I was getting numerous direct complaints about the behaviour of several prolific commenters, so they need shutting down decisively before they do any real damage.
So I think we've done that. I suspect our poor social media manager will have some fun messages to deal with tomorrow, but she's used to it, bless her, and she takes it all in her stride. Hopefully from here we can move on in a positive direction. I'm super proud of how Rice Digital is going and of the team of writers working with me, so I absolutely will not have random jerks who think they own the place stanking up every page with their hateful garbage.
I suspect these silly little boys haven't had people tell them "no" often enough in their lives. Well, they better get used to it!
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