Tidying up the website today, I’d like to make three requests to readers:
1. Please do not accuse anybody of a crime in your comments, even if you’re joking. For instance, on the thread about Pope Francis, one reader called him a pedophile and another a child rapist. While priests have indeed been convicted of those crimes, there’s no evidence that the Pope himself is a criminal. Remember that making such accusations, unless you have facts to back them up, can be an offense for which you (and I) can be sued. If you want to criticize people, there are other ways to do it.
2. I’m getting so many emails that they’re beginning to get lost. Some readers send me items several times a day, and I don’t think that I can keep up with that volume of email. Since I often use readers’ suggestions for posts, and don’t want to lose them, could you accumulate all the items you want to send me on a given day and put them into just a single email? Thanks.
3. I’ve found that some people are reposting my pieces, sometimes in their entirety, on their own websites. I’d like this to stop, as the material is in effect copyrighted and it’s both illegal and unethical to put someone’s work up on your own site. It’s okay to post snippets with links, and if you want to post more you can email me to ask. I’ll formulate a policy about “fair use” in the next week, and post it as a “page” on the left margin, along with Da Roolz.
The downsides of being so popular…I’ve no clue how you could keep up with your email, let alone find time to write the posts, and write books and teach classes and travel the world and…
…say, anybody know if the rumors are true that Jerry has a secret cloning project going on at an undisclosed location on the UoC campus, adjacent to the biology lab?
b&
Hmmm… it seems the only people who have the ability to do all this stuff is either santa or god. I wonder if we may be uncovering Mr. Coyne’s true identity.
This reminds me of the Michael Keaton comedy “Multiplicity”.
It boggles the mind–I can’t even keep up here myself!
No joke…over 150 new posts just since last night…didn’t even do more than glance at most….
b&
” I don’t think that I can keep up with that volume of email. ”
You might be able to find a volunteer or two here that could help you separate the wheat from chaff, or at least help present them in a format easier to scan. People like “Dear Abby” have a staff that handles the volume of requests.
I am hoping fair use includes re-blogging?
Ditto
Sorry if I’m being ignorant, but I thought reposting and re-blogging were the same thing?
No. A reblog, in the way that WordPress implements it, simply posts a short snippet on the reblogger’s site from the start of the reblogged post with a “read more” link that takes readers to the original site. The reblogger may add additional comments, but that is not required. Traffic is not taken away from the original site and, obviously, credit is given. Reblogging does not copy the entire post.
Glad to finally understand that! I had always thought it meant reposting the whole shebang.
The concept of “re-blogging” has always puzzled me. Why would one do it (as oppose to quoting *parts* of a post and adding commentary, or as oppose to putting a *link* to an article on your site)?
Adding a commentary or reviewing a post is an entirely different activity. Reblogging, when I use it, means I think this post is worth read, but rather than a simple link the start of the post is shown, so the reader gets some more indication of the topic than just a URL or title. I do not think that it detracts anything from the original post.
It can also act as signal boosting when readerships don’t normally overlap and offers a ‘teaser’ snippet with link at the press of a button. It’s good in the event you have nothing to add or can’t add much due to time or location but want to spread the post now rather than waiting until you have a chance to comment on it.
There are times some reblog and add their commentary. The group I don’t understand are those whose blogs are reblogs.
Actually, I used to do that just for myself, to have a “link collection” to the posts which I’d like to revisit later. I’ve used a non-public blog for that.
Since this site publishes so much every week, this seemed a good idea. But I’ve stopped that long ago … after all so much new material keeps coming that I don’t have to dwell in the past.
Maybe at the next CoyneCon we need a panel on ways to reduce the burden on PCC, but the schedule is already pretty packed.
The open threads have been good for posting links to things. That’s an option for sharing.
Well said.
+1
I’m not trying to tell you what to do, but to reassure you a bit, I believe that although someone might be able to sue you for what commenters have written here (because anyone can sue for basically anything), you would win such a suit, given the way federal law is written, based on what I’ve read, although I’m not a lawyer. Certainly a suit, successful or not would be a nuisance, of course.
As to #1, I agree with a single crucial caveat:
If some night when the moon is full over San Clemente, when the ocean is at mean high tide and the coyotes call down from the San Onofre Mountains, an undead Richard Millhouse Nixon again befouls this earth, I renege. I accused Nixon of all manner of high-crimes and misdemeanors (some of which was true, and most of those he committed before noon everyday in the Oval Office) right up until they gave him that bizarre “Age of Nixon” quasi-state send-off. It wouldn’t feel right now to stop if through some black-mass act of transubstantiation he were to reanimate in zombie form (Although a commitment to naturalism means I generally forswear such nonsense, Nixon’s the One for whom I cannot quite shake such nagging residual suspicions.)
Are you channelling Hunter S Thompson or Philip K. Dick? Hard to tell. They had quite distinct voices for the most part, but on Nixon they’re unanimous.
I was tempted to send an email noting that I haven’t been sending emails.
I think in the good ol’ US of A, at least, you, as blogger, are protected against any defamation your commenter’s make, even if you just lest them sit. Not that I’m saying this is a good idea or recommended. To preserve honesty and reputation, it’s a very good idea not to allow any defamatory thing to appear or remain on your site.