A Note To Commenters

At Tech.pinions we value and encourage spirited debate in our comments. You can argue with our writers and you can argue with other commenters, even vociferously. But we have a very low tolerance for personal insults.

The fastest way for your comment to end up in the bit bucket us to call someone, or even a company, “gay.” In addition to making you sound like Eric Cartman, it gets your comment bounced. Avoid the use of “fanboy” or “fanboi” as well. Even if you are using it without accusing someone of being one, or in jest, it is going to trigger a filter and, at the least, delay posting of your comment until one of the moderators gets around to approving it.

Above all, just be civil to one another and behave like adults.

 

 

 

 

Published by

Steve Wildstrom

Steve Wildstrom is veteran technology reporter, writer, and analyst based in the Washington, D.C. area. He created and wrote BusinessWeek’s Technology & You column for 15 years. Since leaving BusinessWeek in the fall of 2009, he has written his own blog, Wildstrom on Tech and has contributed to corporate blogs, including those of Cisco and AMD and also consults for major technology companies.

20 thoughts on “A Note To Commenters”

  1. Wow. I would imagine (and hope) it was an isolated incident. I’ve been utterly impressed so far by the breadth and depth of the articles here, the “personalities” and, surprisingly, by the quality of the comments. Even on relatively expensive sites like SemiAccurate, the comments are a vast wasteland.

    TechPinions, along with Horace Deidu’s Asymco, are league above in quality of visitor comments. I would be very disappointed to find out that you have a “sux0rs” crowd and are spending your time cleaning up comments.

  2. It’s sad that that even needs to be said. I rarely read the commentary of tech sites b/c of all the silly emotional back & forth between platform loyalists. When people can be so vicious to each other over something as simple as a mobile OS(s), it makes the thought of ‘world peace’ ever being attained laughable.

  3. Some people should learn to behave themselves. Leave the schoolboy antics in the schoolyard. Do not get emotionally attached to corporations looking out for themselves, Apple, Google and all the rest just want your money.

  4. Bad title choice by Brian at the end. I’ll bring it up. My bad for not catching it. Shouldn’t have happened. Should have just been Stop Believing Apple Invents Stuff.

  5. Steve Wildstrom said “The fastest way for your comment to end up in the bit bucket” is to use two specific words and those words will “trigger a filter.” Yet Ian Davies used both those words 2 days ago and his comment is still here. The folks who run Tech Pinions have ignored a middle-finger response to their stated policy. Even the filter didn’t stop it.

    1. I let Davies’ comment stand because I read it as a joke, not an insult. The goal here is not to ban certain words because they might offend, but to maintain civility.

    2. The level of puffed-up indignation and lack of self-awareness from some commenters here is quite breathtaking. Thankfully Steve (who as author of this piece is ultimately the only person’s opinion I have to worry about) saw both the intent and meaning of my comment for what it was.

      Chill the frick out, people.

  6. Even a few sentences from Steves’ Do’s and Don’t regarding Fanboy are getting a lot of commentaries below…
    Trust me when I tell you Steve that it shan’t stop netizens to use derogatory words to incite arguments. Sometimes, netizens are just irrational. Sometimes, most of the time. 🙂

    1. I know, I know. But one of the things that makes me happiest about Tech.pinions is the generally high caliber of the comments. I try to do what I can to keep it that way.

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