Moderation is for Sissies

OK, I think I have not had enough coffee yet.

My rant du jour today is about moderation, and no, I am not about to get up on my soapbox about Victorian England or rip apart Jane Austen.

Being a blogger, I write about things that interest me, about my experience or things that bug the crap out of me. I have chosen to do that to validate my own existence  to practice the craft of writing which I enjoy and the hope that somebody, somewhere will find what I post about interesting, relevant or they can somehow be helped by my experiences, in a what-not-to-do kind of way.

There are blogs for just about every topic under the sun and then some.  My blog is in no way unique, except that it is based on what is in my own mind and heart.  There are certainly catchier, craftier, zippier, more informative, better written blogs out of there.  I read a whole bunch of them.

In many ways I find a blog rather like an online diary but one that has the lock perpetually broken with a sign over it that says "Mom (or anyone else) find me and read me."  If you are blogging and putting what you write out there for public consumption than you must want people to read it.  I am no master of logic but this seems like a no brainer to me.

And for those of you who haven't figured out by my writing or who don't know me IRL, I am an opinionated b**ch.  You definitely cannot mistake me for being some little shrinking violet when it comes to my giving my opinion and IRL I have a very loud voice so usually I can outshout anyone in the room.  It's me.  And in cyberspace I am a commenter.

So one of the reasons I love blogging and hawk my blog on Facebook, Twitter and now Google+ is to get foot traffic to my blog but also to hear what people think about the subjects I write about, even if they disagree.  And likewise when I read someone else's blog it is very rare that I don't make a comment.  I do it because I want the writer to know I have been there, that I am reading their stuff.  Like I said I read bloggers whose insights and writing styles I admire and I like them to know that they have a fan in me.  If they didn't I wouldn't read their blogs.  I don't always agree with the content I read but still I am there, I could just as easily be harvesting tomatoes on Farmville (to all my FB friends that haven't figured this out, I stopped playing more than a year ago, so please stop sending me gifts and requests).

Lately though I have noticed that a few of my regular blogs have started to moderate their comments, which means that they want to approve the comments they get before having them appear on their blog.  Now most of the blogs I read get, based on the number of comments they have, significantly more readership than my little blog does, so maybe they get ugly comments from time to time that they would rather not see on their blogs but I must say I find the whole practice of moderating comments distasteful and against the spirit of blogging.   And, yeah, I get that it is their site and they can set it up in any way they choose and they might have reasons why they want to see the comments before they appear on their site to see if they want them out there in cyberspace along with their posts.  Fine, but you risk losing my readership if you do.

Didn't we get into blogging because we wanted to share our experiences, insight, (in)coherent jibber-jabber (in my case at least) with the rest of the world?  Huffington Post doesn't moderate their comments (although if anyone should, they should) but I have never seen the personal type of attacks on my BLB's (best loved blogs -and yes, I just made that shit up, let's see if it catches on).   I can't speak for all of cyberspace but the reason I want to comment is because I find your post interesting and relevant even if I disagree with it.  The words - your comment will be posted after moderation - just makes me feel like my opinion needs to go through a job interview.  And it is happening more and more.  Some of my favorite blogs are starting to work my nerves.

It's the equivalent of sitting in a bar or cafe or whatever and having a one-way discussion.  It's a lecture and how much frickin fun is it to sit and be lectured?

Please.

The way I see it, if I have taken the time out of my day to read your blog and comment on it, the least you could do is publish my comments, pronto.  Any blog site has the ability to delete comments so if I offend you, your family, your religion or you just don't like me and my opinionated self, then delete my comments (and I won't be offended at all) but don't make me audition them.

Then again, maybe I just need another cup of coffee.