How To Avoid Second Life Drama In Blog Comments

"How do you avoid drama?" was one of the big questions during my SLCC 09 panel on Second Life Blogging last weekend, and that's no surprise. As with any Net-based community, emotionally overwrought, publicly vindictive interpersonal conflict is a recurring issue among many in the Second Life community -- though in my experience, it happens less in-world, where we share an immersive space, and much more on SL-related websites, especially blogs. While I'm far from an expert, here's some advice I generally follow and recommend -- specifically for curbing conflict in blog comment threads, which all too often can devolve into snakepits:

• Moderate Comments Like You'd Host a Cocktail Party in Your Home: As I say in my reader comment guidelines, "[I]ntelligent and productive comments encouraged, with disagreement also encouraged-- as long as it's civil and constructive." This to me is an important distinction: debate and controversy isn't drama per se, and when the stakes are high, it's to be encouraged, even fostered. But that also means maintaining the focus on the topic, and away from personal rancor. As the blog owner, that means removing personal attacks and general boorishness, quietly and often without warning.
• Reader Comments (Mostly) Reflect Your Own Tone: Drama attracts drama, so if you find your readers regularly engaging in personal attacks, bitter snark, and unfair accusations in Comments, it is often due to the editorial tone you yourself establish in posts, or in your own comments.
• Highlight Great Reader Comments: A great way to discourage flamewars in Comments is to encourage the exact opposite: Go out of your way to publicly praise readers who take the time to make smart, productive, and thought-provoking Comments, and you help create a virtuous circle that produces more of the same -- and less of the negative kind. This is actually advice I need to practice more myself, so in closing, I recommend these fascinating comments on avatar immersion by Extropia Dasilva, and Pavig Lok's brilliant suggestions on how the new LLMedia AP can be used.

I'm always interested in learning from other SL bloggers -- how do you keep your blog relatively drama-free, if you have?

Comments

[ArminasX Saiman]

When presented with hysterical comments, I simply state the facts as I understand them, and readers can quickly make their own decision about who's right. Never resort to name-calling.

[Nalates Urriah]

So far not a problem on my blog.

I have moderated forums. Some key things; One is understanding personal attacks. The Wikipedia is a good example of a rational policy on personal attacks. At times the issue in discussion does depend on someone's personality and discussing and attacking it is valid. Personality of politicians is important. In others (Apple vs Windows) it is not and removing those posts or editing them quickly is important. Tell them to take it to PM's. Post the policy on personal attacks.

Another is a matter of protecting the health of a community. Removing poisonous people sounds harsh. Google Surviving Poisonous People (PP). It is a Google Tech Video and PP is probably not what you first think. There are several good ideas for any online community.

Tolerating complaints, libel and misinformation creates problems too. Make people support their claims with links to reputable sources. Anyone can make a web page that says anything. Suspend a post/comment making claims until they can supply good links. (Think Neil Life and Gwyneth).

Disagreement is great. Complaints without some positive solution are just sickening. A basic rule is to complain to one that can do something about it, or don’t complain. If one does complain to one that can do something about it, offer a solution with the complaint or don’t bother.

[Ann Otoole]

How to avoid drama 101:

Primary Rule: Behave like the adult you are supposed to be.

Secondary Rule: Know you can be sued for Libel and Defamation and that your anonymity on the internet is not guaranteed at all.

Third Rule: Type it but don't send it. Delete it. You will feel better.

[Crap Mariner]

Don't want drama in comments?

Easily done: don't have comments.

-ls/cm

[Tateru Nino]

Drama in comments and in SL is much lower than drama offline, at least.

[Anonymous commenter]

Ban notorious trolls, whiners and not-constructive commenters, and delete their comments.

Start from the ones that abuse your commenting system to promote their agenda and shout their current thoughts to everybody, even whey they're obviously off-topic. You have an heavy example of that here, Hamlet.