Flame wars, censorship: The worst Internet byproducts of all time

I love that I typically do not have a lot of user comments on any of my blog posts.

It must be because as a rule, I do not take objection when someone criticizes anything I write or calls into question one or more of my opinions as factually inaccurate; the fact is they are not (factually inaccurate) due to the fact the reader with the negative comment(s) has usually misread or misunderstood what it was I had written.

Having a history of not replying to comments that would waste the total numbers of remaining keystrokes this writer has in him demonstrates a willingness to own a site that would appear (on the surface) disengaged with its audience.

There may be studies that prove a blogger needs to have some level of engagement with readers who leave comments in order to improve the size of their audience.

There also (are?) may be self-proclaimed blogging experts who profess if bloggers do not respond to comments they are missing out on the potential for driving new traffic to the site. This is part of the phenomenon that is FOMO (Fear of Missing Out (for those less hip than I)).

And, if you have not already figured it out I’m not really worried about missing out on anything the masses already ascribe to.

Content is king

The reason SEO, FOMO and (insert any acronym you like) do not concern me is because while I tried to follow some of the recommendations of experts when I started this blogging endeavor, I’ve found that trying to jump on every trend that comes along to increase web traffic is kind of like timing the stock market; it is the action and behavior of a mad man (or one who is about to go mad).

A lot of blogs have come and gone since we started here.

We had the good sense to understand that the best way to create and maintain an audience is to have good content and to produce it on a regular basis–whatever that is timing- and release-wise.

Is all of the content found here worthy of everyone’s attention? Of course not. But by not limiting the pieces to any one subject or genre I’ve managed not to burn out writing exclusively about technology, relationships or business.

I tried replying to negative comments at times during the blog’s infancy. While it sometimes felt good to “win the argument” I soon understood that the real winner is the one who can stay online the longest and deliver the last comment.

What kind of winner is that?

Back then I always considered it a small victory not to resort to name-calling and insults–like some of the readers who left comments. And I have to say some of the negative comments clearly demonstrated the commentator really did not read the piece in its entirety.

If you don’t have anything nice to say…

Then don’t say anything?

You can say what you want online for the time being. What happens in the future in terms of censorship remains to be seen. I have heard from some who would speculate the days of the free web are numbered. Then there are others who claim that decentralizing and having more than one Facebook or Google, for example, will bring about the return of the free Internet.

I do not as yet have an opinion on the long-term outcome of governmental attempts to censor free speech.

What I do know for certain as much as anyone can know something is that getting into a comment flame war is exhausting, not to mention a ridiculous waste of time.

If I see anything hateful or truly offensive, I will remove the post from this site.

But, I have published all negative comments (save for spam)–including the ones where I, and what was written, were characterized in less than positive fashion.

You can believe I should have acted otherwise and at least removed the unflattering comments.

To me, that would be an example of censorship–an act consistent with the removal of freedom(s) and one perpetrated by the undiscerning ignorant.

And I would suggest keen intellect, discerning minds, and critical thinking always win out over slights birthed of ignorance.