Let’s all play nice, now

Amazing what happens when people lose sight of the need for civility in blog comments, just as they might exhibit in a face-to-face business conversation.

For posts on someone else’s blog where I add a comment, or where I’m interested in following the discussion, I tag it in co.mments.com and subscribe to it in my feed reader — that means that I might see two versions of a comment if it is edited by the original author (if the site allows commenters to edit their comments). Imagine my surprise at seeing the following comment added sometime last night on a long conversation thread that had been very professional up to that point:

Unfortunately this post is based on a lack of understanding of the real requirements of [deleted] applications. I’ve posted a clarification as a response to curtail this wayward discussion:

[URL deleted]

Hope this helps clarify.

I was going to post a comment to ask the commenter (in a nice professional way) if he knew that he sounded like an arrogant jerk, but within a few hours, he had edited the comment to read:

I’ve posted a clarification:

[URL deleted]

Hope this helps clarify.

For those of you who tend to write off-the-cuff nasty comments on blog posts, keep in mind that the internet remembers everything, even if you change it. It also knows your IP address, so using a fake name doesn’t help much.

Source obfuscated to protect both the innocent and the guilty.

2 thoughts on “Let’s all play nice, now”

  1. this illustrates a failing of the “professional” which shows up in myriad ways in business practices and customer relations .. the interpretation of “professional” that removes the human from so many transactions.

    and what if the original comment had some truth in it? arrogance is in the eyes of the beholder just as often as beauty is.

    best to deal with the substance and ignore the tone. certainly text does not communicate tone of voice very well. he could have been thinking that he was wryly ironic, or being extra direct for the sake of emphasis.

    i think it is ok. but i will grant you that he had some remorse, which even adds to his sensitivity quotient. i would give him extra credit, just for that.

    enjoy, gregory lent

  2. I’m not saying that there wasn’t truth in it, but to take the view of “I’m going to curtail this wayward discussion” is more than a little patronizing, as if he has some sort of absolute lock on the truth.

    I thought the change in language was amusing, and likely was missed by most other people except the blog author if they have an auto email sent when a comment is added.

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