UAE Community Blog: Comment Moderation

18 April, 2007

Comment Moderation

We have been forced to temporarily enable comment moderation due to the behaviour of a former member of UAE Community blog, A Blessing in Tragedy (ABIT).

ABIT was removed as a member after posting hardcore pornography recently; fortunately it was removed quickly. Since then he has continued to post a range of abusive comments, ranging from insults and obscentities to threats of actual violence against members and their families including threats to rape 9 year old girls; he also did not hesitate to mention that he has a 3 digit numberplate.

While the comments intent appears to be of an annoying rather than a threatening nature; comment moderation has been enabled to prevent the comments from appearing. Enabling comment moderation means we can filter comments before they appear. Existing members will be able to comment without moderation. We ask visitors/non-members to be patient and we will approve your comments as quickly as we can.

14 comments:

B.D. said...: Realizing no one gets paid to moderate comments, it's commendable the effort the moderators do take and understandable when they have to impose such restrictions.; 19 April, 2007 00:08
Nader said...: lol big time, moderation?!

First, I must say that I didn't get this "including threats to rape 9 year old girls; he also did not hesitate to mention that he has a 3 digit numberplate." like what Dr. Phil says always, "what the hell were they thinking?"

Second, I should say that just this past week, people were complaining about Etisalat's censorship. Many of you didn't like it and now you guys are moderating. How ironic? Then why are you guys whining all the time about anything bad about the country?

Well, you should just remove the post once it gets posted as you did before.

Also, you have to consider the good well of the people or your fellow bloggers. At least that's what I learned from editing wikipedia. People do stupid things all the time, like for instance adding bullshit about a whole country.; 19 April, 2007 06:28
Anonymous said...: Suggest you to remove the motto: "Want to comment without moderation? Click here to become a member."

The whole thing became a silly joke!; 19 April, 2007 08:54
Anonymous said...: good that you did it too...i once read ABIT's quote about how he wanted to slash someone's face...he was a psycho!; 19 April, 2007 09:49
samuraisam said...: nader:

"I must say that I didn't get this "including threats to rape 9 year old girls; he also did not hesitate to mention that he has a 3 digit numberplate." like what Dr. Phil says always, "what the hell were they thinking?"
During ABIT's 'fit' he has made something like 51 comments spread over 3 days. Fortunately I was able to delete most comments rather quickly.

"Second, I should say that just this past week, people were complaining about Etisalat's censorship. Many of you didn't like it and now you guys are moderating. How ironic? Then why are you guys whining all the time about anything bad about the country?"
Ok.
State imposed internet censorship =/= moderation of comments directed towards raping 9 year old girls.
Perhaps you have very little experience in multi-member blogs/forums, moderation is a common practice. Censoring parts of a small or even huge website is very different to censoring parts of the internet.

There are also key differences between the way Etisalat censors and we 'censor' (as you like to put it); we've actually told you we will be moderating comments and explained why.; 19 April, 2007 10:30
rosh said...: Nader - I think there is more to it than Sam's likes/dislikes. I think the authorities view the community discussions etc all, hence moderation is needed to align with UAE's ethics.

Perhaps you missed the last storm re: the 7days article on an interview with Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed - and related discussions at the community?

I hope ABIT returns with much mature comments & less anger. I've read his blog - and he is quite talented, when calm : ); 19 April, 2007 10:31
Lirun said...: gotta do what you gotta do..

;)

a key element of a community is respecting its principles.. i think this community has amply stressed the issue of respectful participation..; 19 April, 2007 11:58
B.D. said...: Why moderate:

1) Repeated, senseless, cruel replies to posts or comments only serves to stifle real dialog. (And if real, sensibile dialog is to be sacraficed then the value of this blog is greatly diminished.)
2) The creators/moderators of this blog are liable for any posts or comments should the government at any point become involved. They have a right to protect their own skin.
3) A blog is meant to serve the purposes of its creators. It is not whatever anyone wants to make of it. The creators set the boundaries, those who join in do so out of agreement and anonymous commentors don't really have a say in the matter.
4) Finally, comment moderation would not be necassary if someone is able or willing to spend all their time monitoring what gets posted. The comment moderation function streamlines this chore, making the job of moderation a whole lot easier.

This need to moderate has nothing to do with the issue of censorship as regard to Etisalat.

Rosh, I think you were one of the few who had any toleration for ABIT. I'm afraid I can't separate the redeeming qualities of such a person when there are so many other vile and threatening things.; 19 April, 2007 14:10
Anonymous said...: Many people really can't understand and/or appreciate the amount of work it takes to moderate and contribute to an online community. Those who haven't been involved lack any understanding of what's involved. It's a full-time job. It is also a thankless one. At best, you will have people who will criticize everything you do, as if they pay you to do it.

No sensible person likes imposing rules. Trust me, the people running the UAE Community blog are very sensible folk. Imposing rules means more time spent doing things you don't want to do. It stops becoming a fun experience and people eventually start losing interest in the whole thing.

Good luck samuarism and co. you guys are doing a great job!; 19 April, 2007 17:49
Magnus Nystedt said...: Running a site where a lot of users get together, whether it's a blog or a forum or whatever, takes a lot of time and work. And to me it seems that you've got to balance the need of the individuals expressing themselves freely and openly, and the need for protecting the integrity of the community. Moderators/admin can make the decision to go either way, and it's not necessarily one right or wrong way to go, it depends on what the site is about, what the community is like and what the community expects. On EmiratesMac.com we have a system that scans each post (only for new users) for certain characteristics and holds the post in moderation if some things match. That's turned out to be pretty effective. But we also reinforce a pretty strict policy in other ways and will edit/delete posts by individuals if we think they are not appropriate for our community. That's the decisions we made and they seem to work for us. This is a diferent site so different decisions will have to be made. But in either case there is no way you can satisfy everyone. You just have to figure out what it is you think is most important based on what your regular users think, then set a policy and enforce it. That's my 2 cents ;-); 19 April, 2007 21:13
secretdubai said...: b.d. you have it exactly right - the trolling and flaming drowns out and stifles regular commenting/debate.

I now delete certain comments to my blog. I don't delete people that disagree with me or even that criticise me in a fair, balanced way.

I do delete people that drop by and fling personal insults, especially if they have no relevance to the post. I also delete spam.

Another strategy I use is delayed moderation. For example: if the first post is interesting but irrelevant, or relevant but nastily aggressive, I will moderate other comments first. Because I would rather regular commenters begin their own debate than spark off someone else's aggression, or someone else's tangent. Later on I moderate all the delayed comments, by which time any post-relevant debate will be well underway.; 19 April, 2007 21:43
Jassim said...: Kewl. Bleesings Tragedy or whatever his name is, is looking for attention, and Samy Sam in his infintie knowledge has just written a whole post dedicated to him.

*Slaps forhead and says 'doh!'*; 20 April, 2007 11:11
BuJ said...: lol jassem.. dammak 5afeef :); 20 April, 2007 19:38
Dubai Jazz said...: Sam,
Zapping this guy and his comments as they appeared was necessary and timely.
The only thing I don't understand is how a community named 'The UAE Community Blog' is on the other hand entreating Israeli members and their comments?
Thanks again for your efforts....and apologies to everyone offended by my comment...; 21 April, 2007 00:57