When I first started this newest iteration of liznorell.com and started blogging right here on this site, I was pretty excited about the ability to have conversations on the page. Because I actively don’t want fame — I dread it, in fact — I never anticipated that the comments on my blog would become hotbeds of frenetic discussion or controversy; however, I also know that I have many, many wise friends with perspectives worth sharing, and I thought they might occasionally chime in. They have! But alas, they aren’t the most common people who pop up in my comments section.
It’s something of an internet truism these days, and has been for a while: You should never, ever read the comments. Ever. Some major media outlets have even done away with comments, because they’re just wastelands of dead brain cells and — even worse — trolls too insecure to own their opinions by putting their names and reputations on the line. There’s even a Twitter account to remind us to never read the comments:
So my blog was just bopping along, in relative obscurity, a place for me to collect my thoughts and, when I felt the need, to share them with friends. There’s a reason my Facebook page is (mostly) locked down; I selectively choose to share things publicly, but most of my posts are restricted to a narrow range of friends. I share my blog posts with you, but I don’t aspire to share them more broadly. (If you do — great! I won’t, though.)
And then … “Bob Vila” came along. At first, Fakey McFakerston started slowly, leaving a comment some time ago on a post about going to the gym and advocating for myself. More recently, Cowardly Asshole has been stepping up the frequency of his (I assume it’s a he, based on the vile things he’s tried to get me to publish on my own web site … seriously?!) comments.
So I did what I honestly should have done from the beginning: I’ve effectively shut down comments on my blogs. If you have something to contribute, please do so with the decency to share your identity. I have no desire to listen to people who hide behind aliases and fake email addresses and truly cruel comments. I stand by what I write. If you don’t? I’m not listening.
