Silly Little Country

Greg Mankiw Closes Comments

I, getting maybe two comments a week, decided to moderate comments at one point. I understand why Greg, with his volumes, has no option but to close them.

He describes it perfectly.

The growth in the comments section was fine with me, as long as the discussion remained civil. Mostly it was, and I learned a lot from the comments. But unfortunately, a few (usually anonymous) commenters too often crossed the line.

I just don't have the time to police comments and enforce good behavior, especially since some posts were generating more than 100 comments. And I don't want to host a party in which a small vitriolic minority consistently tries to ruin the event for everyone else. So I decided to turn the comments feature off.

With my low volume I do have the time to police, and so I do.

But what I found hilarious is that the worst offenders, confronted with the new moderation policy. howled about free speech, as if I had an obligation to provide a forum for what I considered to be their rather useless commentary. (And anyone who reads this blog knows you can disagree with me and be heard!)

As Glenn Reynolds puts it so well, and as I told them,

Let 'em get their own blogs.

I even gave one of them detailed instructions on what to do. Still no blog.

posted by Alan Adamson @ 5:30 PM