The State Journal-Register’s online comment section has been a joke for quite a while. They’ve allowed way too many cranks and morons to post and now the place is way out of hand. In frustration, the online editor has announced a stand-down day.
…So, in celebration of the holiday spirit, here’s the plan: For one day — Wednesday — sj-r.com will host the first-ever “Peace and Goodwill Reader Comments Day.”
From 7 a.m. Wednesday through 7 a.m. Thursday, the only comments that will make it onto the site will be ones that follow that old saying from mom: “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”
That means no being critical, cynical, sarcastic, whiney or otherwise Scrooge-ish. We’ll still allow some debate on the issues, but you’re going to need to be really, really nice to each other. As always, the decisions of our screeners will be final.
Depending on how this goes, we may host more of these “Peace and Goodwill” comment days throughout the year. I’d be happy to hear your feedback — as long as you’re nice about it.
Question 1: Since they didn’t open comments on the declaration, I’ll let people comment here. What do you think of this idea?
Question 2: We’ve managed to run off most of the really strange ducks from our blog, but we still get pretty intense in debates. So, would you like to see a similar one-day event like this here?
…Let’s add another one.
Question 3: Should I delete more of the aggressive-type comments?