Jeff's Jots: Hey, why did my comment get deleted?

There is probably nothing else on the BayToday website that ignites the passions of readers the way the comments section does!

Readers tell me they love it, others say they hate it. Not surprising, the people who love it are usually blue-collar and feel they have been robbed of an opportunity to voice their opinions. Just look at city council.

Those that hate it are usually the ones in power, and feel they shouldn't be held accountable by minions on the comment section that are calling them out. A lot of politicians fall into this group.

It's not scientific, mind you, just my experience.

I have a foot in both camps based on my eight years with BayToday. In a town where you can be banned by the mayor from speaking your opinion at a city council meeting for saying you feel staff is misleading council, it's nice to have another avenue to express yourself, and politicians are the authors of their own misfortune when it comes to that. Zoom meetings have made this much worse, as politicians are hiding behind these virtual meetings.

We often get leads for stories from the comment section. Police get tips. We've had incidents where missing people have used the comment section to tell relatives they are ok and to leave them alone. It also acts as a kind of "community square" so it has a lot of value. BayToday has one of the most active comments sections you can find, and that's great.

The comment section has also been described as a cesspool of negativity, and I can't disagree with that.

I'm often discouraged by what I read. Keyboard warriors show no respect and resort to name-calling and bullying. The minority that do that are ruining it for the majority that generally respect the rules. It's the reason that some websites have shut down comments sections, and it may be the future for the BayToday comments.

Many of these people think they have a right to say what they want and spew the venom as they see fit. They scream about freedom of speech.

But it's not so.

Your BayToday account is a privilege, not a right. It's a private website that can publish or delete what it likes, much as you do on your Facebook page. 

If a comment is deleted or flagged, the anger turns toward us, and believe me, I've had to deal with some pretty angry and disrespectful people over this.

Simply put, read and follow the guidelines and you won't have a problem.

If you reply to a poster, and we later take the original comment down, yours will disappear also. It's not because you broke the rules, it's just your comment makes no sense if the original disappears.

Here's a myth...we read all the comments. We don't. There are far too many and we are far too busy, although we often do a quick scan.

Our commenting platform is moderated by a program that filters comments based on tone, which encourages healthy debate and discussions. Rude, disrespectful, and unreasonable comments are automatically sent to moderation via this tool. 

We actually have a couple of them in place. One looks for inappropriate words (vulgarities, racism, etc.), while another tries to assess each comment based on its tone. When it comes to tone, what we are trying to avoid are comments that come across as unnecessarily angry or over-the-top, which makes the comments section an unfriendly place for people with more thoughtful opinions. Neither system takes politics into account in any way.

Comments are also moderated by the community of readers and staff. This approach aims to elevate the tone of conversations. If a problematic comment slips through moderation, users can alert our moderators by flagging the comment.

We welcome your feedback and encourage you to share your thoughts, but we ask that you be respectful of others and their points of view, refrain from personal attacks, and stay on topic. To learn about our commenting policies and how we moderate read our Community Guidelines.

If you have been flagged or your comment has been deleted, or worst-case scenario, you've been banned, sending me angry emails will only make it worse. I'm happy to help you out if you've asked for an explanation in a calm, respectful manner. But I instantly delete emails that are disrespectful or bullying and you won't even get a reply.

The online community at BayToday exists to provide a platform for people to express their views on the stories making news headlines in our community. This community is shaped by the people who have a voice here. It is everyone’s responsibility to make it a place for intelligent, insightful, and entertaining conversation. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, so please debate the issues fairly and be constructive.

In short, no profanity, no insults.

Certain subjects — race, immigration, religion, and sexual identity among them — unfortunately, attract a high number of offensive and abusive comments that could be potentially libellous. For these reasons, we may choose to close comments preemptively.

Additionally, all comments posted overnight will not appear on the site immediately and will require moderation, so as to prevent inappropriate comments from being posted while our moderation team is unavailable.

When and why are comments closed?

• Legal reasons: If comments breach a publication ban when the story involves a trial, crime or other legal case, or when comments contain information that could put us at legal risk, comments will not be opened at the time the story is posted. An accompanying message will also be posted explaining why comments have been closed.
• Abuse: If comments regarding a particularly contentious issue are offensive, vulgar, racist and/or libelous, comments will be closed. An accompanying message will be posted explaining that comments on the story "have been closed because an overwhelming number of readers were making statements that could be considered offensive, libelous, untrue or vulgar."

What kinds of comments are removed?

• Personal attacks: Name-calling, threats and verbal abuse directed at another individual will not be tolerated. Comments will be removed. The offending commenter may be banned from commenting in the future.
• Profanity: Keep it clean. Opinions can be expressed without foul language.
• Trolling: Commenters will be banned if there is an attempt to derail a conversation or post inflammatory comments. Please stay relevant and on topic.
• Misinformation
• Racism, sexism and other discrimination: Attacking an individual or group of people for their gender, gender identity or expression, race, culture or belief(s) will not be tolerated.
• Illegal activities: Libellous statements or comments that include false or unsubstantiated allegations will be removed.
• Offensive usernames: If your username includes words that are offensive or abusive, your account will be blocked.