Regarding yesterday’s post about closing down the comments, I am still receiving quite a few emails. Thank you all for the kind words of support and appreciation for the blog. Please feel free to continue to send me your thoughts. I read every one of them, though at this point, I won’t be able to respond to all of them.
Requiring everyone to register has been suggested many times and it was the overwhelming preferred option by those who emailed me. I’ve resisted this option on the grounds that there is a small but important group that leaves comments. They’re not the comic nerds like us. They don’t frequent here often – they come here haphazardly after a Google search. They have a favorite comic strip that is ending, or a story-line that has touched (or confused them) and they want to talk about it. Think of the conversations that sprang up here about the Funky Winkerbean cancer story-line, or the well-wishing that came after Big Top, Lucky Cow, Tumbleweeds and others came to an end. There are many not-nerds that wanted to let their favorite cartoonist know what they are thinking. Adding registration requirements places a higher burden or hurdle for those types of comic readers, and I don’t want to lose those kind of visitors.
So here’s the plan. The comments are going to remain open, but before submitting a comment, one will have to check a couple of boxes signifying agreement to the house rules. I’m opening up a registration system for the regulars so that they can easily by-pass the form-filling out process. The burden continues to rest with me to keep the rift-raft out. I hope to impress upon all visitors that the comment section is not a public bulletin board. Visitors are invited to contribute and be apart of the community, but will be asked to leave if one can’t obey the rules.
It will take me a couple more days to fully implement and test the new system. Again, I appreciate your candor, concern and support.
UPDATE: Based on my earlier emphasis of possibly becoming more exclusive toward “professional” cartoonists, I was asked if “professionals” would be treated differently than other commentators as some of the pros have acted badly in the comment section before. My response is no. The rules will be applied equally regardless of an individuals professional status.