Folks,
These are grim times for many of us. Things are tense. I get it.
But take a breath. You may not agree with everybody who posts here, but try to remember that, in the end, there are real people behind those comments - especially the ones from people who have gone to the trouble of registering an account here. Disagree with what they say? Have at it, but try to disagree with what they say and not get all expletive-y and ad-hominemish. Imagine if that person were sitting right across from you.
You do that and I'll do my best to keep hitting the delete key on the really vile stuff anon posters keep trying to sneak through (like the ones I'm sure will be quickly posted here, but my official motto these days is "I Don't Care" and after I mutter that, flick, there goes the check in that little old delete box). And I'll try to remember to count to ten, also.
Thanks.
Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!
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Comments
cool
By Scumquistador
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 8:33pm
nice brag about your math ability
Brag? Oh, you flatter me ...
By adamg
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 9:04pm
If there's one thing reporters are known for, it's an inability to do math :-).
I have to take my shoes off to count to 20!
By anon
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 9:20pm
Thanks Adam.
I'm a long time listener and frequent roving photo contributor. I appreciate you leaving the anon line open.
I'm also glad you called out the registered posters.
I've seen first responses just say F you or other vulgarities that rightfully would never make it past your anon filter.
I also see repeated calls to censor or ban certain posters. I fully disagree with the content of most of these posts but would rather see them if they're not blatantly obscene.
Thanks for not making UHub an echo chamber.
Wait...
By u-hub-fan
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 11:33pm
You have nineteen fingers?
Adam
By anon
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 9:57am
Maybe it should start with YOU. Maybe stop calling people you disagree with Nazi's.
Which UHub commenter have I called a Nazi?
By adamg
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 10:47am
If you mean that guy down in Washington, well, a) He's not posting here (that I know of) and b) He's a Nazi.
Hear, hear!
By Tim McCormack
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 8:35pm
I fully support and endorse your deleting crap according to whatever metric you see fit to use in keeping things civil. :-)
agreed. adam is right.
By SoBo-Yuppie
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 8:42am
this will be my last post as the SoBo yuppie and i am retiring the term SoBo from my vocabulary.
- A member of the South Boston Community.
NOOOOOOOO!!!!
By Marco
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 9:38am
Whatever will we do with out your brilliant out-of-towner newb musings about our fair city?!?!
Somewhere, a conflict-free, fair trade, free range chicken weeps into its organic feed trough!
BYE
Nice try, but that trick never works
By Jeff F
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 10:04am
Although I like to imagine the real SBY doing a spit-take in his mimosa at Aura when he read that.
Agreed!!!
By Smart Arse
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 12:26pm
I fully endorse it too...especially with my own posts. I consider every deleted-by-Adam-before-anyone-else-can-see-it post to be a badge of honor!!
That way it's like I sent Adam a private wiseass remark. I know he appreciates my bullcrap more than anyone else on here.
Thanks Adam for all you do (for real).
Since you
By cybah
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 8:36pm
Since you can't up vote an article, and can only up vote a comment under articles on here....
I'll just insert an image of a Facebook "like" hand since I agree (and most others probably do too):
[img]http://blackdaisydesign.com/wp-content/uploads/201...
(And yes I'm just as guilty of getting into screaming bitchfests on here.. just agreeing with Adam tho. We all should take a breath before replying sometimes. I know I have in the past few months, both on here and elsewhere in the interwebs)
Actually...
By Suldog
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 11:44pm
... and I have to admit to noticing this only recently... there is a "like" button for articles. You have to click onto the comments in order to get the "like" button for the article, however, so it's easy to miss.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Re-reading Adam's post
By cybah
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 12:15am
Re-reading Adam's post and the comments above and below made me think of this:
[img]http://voiceofbyron.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016...
I do alot of the two last lines A TON lately. Except with Uhub its simply done by closing the window. And similar to what Adam said, I usually say "I don't care" while I do it.
Amazingly enough it works every single time... well almost :-)
(and funny aside, because I do this so often now, it's why you see less and less of my posts here these days.. )
"A STRANGE GAME
By u-hub-fan
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 12:35am
"THE ONLY WINNING MOVE IS NOT TO PLAY."
Outstanding reference!
By crispino
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 8:45am
Masterfully done. And so apropos - sadly.
"HOW ABOUT A NICE GAME OF CHESS?"
Anyhoo, thanks for that.
- Chris
there's a joke here....
By John-W
Fri, 01/27/2017 - 9:33am
...about "pissing on a sparkplug" and our new President, but I'll let someone else lego that one together.
"Pissing on a sparkplug?"
By roadman
Fri, 01/27/2017 - 2:57pm
Don't you mean not whizzing on an electric fence?
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bme0JpXQUg[/youtube]
I still think an up/down option would belay negativity spirals
By Jeff F
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 9:54am
I suspect that many people would avoid submitting increasingly nasty reaction-posts if given the option of simply thumbs-downing comments they didn't agree with.
Since the only way to currently show disagreement with a comment is to write a reply, the forum sees a lot of back-and-forths with escalating emotion and decreasing usefullness.
Yes
By anon
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 10:40am
While it can lead to censoring (of a sort) something like slashdot where you can set your threshold for how many down votes will render a post unviewable would be cool. So if someone makes a particularly unpopular comment then you don't have to view it unless you want to. Alternately the ignore feature can be good where you can see that a commenter has posted something but don't have to view their content without clicking on it.
It's a bit of a slippery slope to the echo chamber but it does allow users to adjust their experience.
It's a weird phenomenon - I go to a few different forums related to cars and outdoor activities. The car one is pretty much free of politics entirely, one of the outdoor ones is totally rife with needless political comments (global warming, etc...) and then other outdoor forum seems to be free of it. And of course the forum with lots of political comments is then further littered with threads about how the mods are trying ruin everything or something. I don't go there often now.
Like
By Anony- Mouse
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 8:38pm
(or thumbs-up)
Re: "Imagine if that person were sitting right across from you".
By Belmont
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 8:40pm
Dear Sir,
I appreciate your attempt at maintaining civility. That said, people will be people and if particular persons were sitting right across from me, I don't doubt the insults would fly anyway. Some days are better than others. It seems to me that some of the "viler" registered types have either stopped posting or have been quietly banned by you, which is appreciated.
The ability to instantaneously reply to a comment that I disagree with can make it challenging to do the "count to 10". Mostly these days, I just don't bother with a reply. The trolls want attention and they often get it.
Regardless, keep up the good work and thanks for your efforts as always.
Thanks, Adam, and also everyone
By Ben_Quahog
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 8:52pm
The internet comment section might be the worst forum for exchanging ideas humanity has ever devised. UHub is one of a few sites where I can stand to read the comments. And UHub is the only one where I regularly learn something from other commenters. So thanks, Adam and everyone else, for rising above.
ur welcom
By Scumquistador
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 9:21pm
ur welcom
LOL!
By Gary C
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 8:12am
I don't think they meant YOU, but if you took it that way, that's cool.
Thanks Adam
By Darryl
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 8:58pm
enough said.
Thank you!
By mg
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 9:13pm
Like Ben_Quahog, this is one of the only sites where I read comments. Having been a moderator, I appreciate how much work it is and how unpleasant it is to have to read the hateful vile posts you save us from.
As Obama put it: If you’re
By anon
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 9:13pm
As Obama put it: If you’re tired of arguing with strangers on the Internet, try talking with one of them in real life.
Agreed
By anon
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 9:16pm
and sorry for the post I made earlier which was, perhaps, more personal slight against someone than debate point.
I value the option to comment here without it being a typical comment section but also without it being a groupthink circle jerk. The occasional alt-facts poster is worth tolerating to preserve that.
Don't know if this platform has the technology...
By markk
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 9:21pm
but if you could make this post a "sticky" so it sits up top for a while, it might be helpful.
Agreed with others
By cybah
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 9:26pm
Like Ben and mg above.. I only read the comments here also. I actually come here for the comments (and the uber hyperlocal news, of course). I may disagree with many posters on here, but at least many of them try to be intelligent when replying. Far better than some comments I read on some other *ahem* news sites and social media.
I gotta give uhubbers alot of credit.. they certainly do keep you on your toes. I sucked at debating in school, but coming here over the past 5+ years has really helped improve my debate skills. It certainly has come in handy over the past year on social media...
Couldn't agree more
By Scauma
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 8:49am
Also pretty cool to learn something new from time to time from people you think you could never agree with.
Here, Here!!
By The Fox 915
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 9:37pm
Adam, You're a Class Act!
Adam, stop being a hypocrite.
By BigBird
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 10:13pm
Adam, stop being a hypocrite. You bait people on with your carefully worded headlines. You keep using the term Trumpland. Your response to comments can be condescending and kinda douchey. Now you are telling people to calm down. Time to do some self reflection. Maybe shut the site down for a day or two and go back and take a look.
Maybe I am a hypocrite, but that's not what I'm talking about
By adamg
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 10:26pm
You don't like my headlines? You think I'm being all baby-finger-baity? Fine, that's your right. And go ahead and write what you did. What I'm talking about is taking that several steps further down into the basement and telling people to STFU and using your fingers to scream at somebody, maybe even flicking bits of your virtual spit on them as you furiously pound the keys.
I admit it, I'm far from perfect, yeah, I need to count to 10 sometimes and yes, damnit, I'm one of them there liberals and I'm not about to change that, but if you can't see the difference between an opinion and an ad-hominem attack or just a crazed rant, if you really think I'm beyond hope, well, I'm sure there are other Web sites that will suit you better.
Google "toxoplasma of rage"
By anon
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 10:31pm
Google "toxoplasma of rage" read the blog, and then reflect upon your role in building a comments section that even you find toxic.
If I really found it toxic ...
By adamg
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 10:54pm
I could take one of two steps:
Immediately ban all anonymous posts. Although of late I've seen some folks with logins get ad-hominey, in general, people who do register for accounts are far more respectful than anons.
Or I could just do what some sites have done and ban all comments completely.
Don't mistake a simple request for civility in a stressful time as me renting my garments and wailing to the gods in repentance for some horrible thing I've done.
-- a stressful time as me
By capecoddah
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 12:23am
-- a stressful time as me renting my garments --
Okay.. Tosh 2.0 style......
I would imagine it is even more stressful if they are all torn.
My grandma wants to know if she can get your dickie for a few hours.
That is rendered, genius.
I won't judge you until I have walked a mile in your shoes.. and got my security deposit back.
Will there be surge pricing on your vulva hat rentals during the next chick march?
A good troll to ban, yes?
By anonism
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 6:53am
N/t
Other explanation
By erik g
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 8:09am
I remember MY first beer.
</Steve Martin>
Rendered?
By Sock_Puppet
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 7:22am
Pixel by pixel? Polygon by polygon? Vector? Oils? How many ways can you render jeans and a flannel shirt?
Or are you saying you think his clothes are really greasy and might make a good broth?
Oh, right. Got it. You're trying to be smart, and failing. The word you want is rend, not render.
-- Oh, right. Got it. You're
By capecoddah
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 7:58am
-- Oh, right. Got it. You're trying to be smart, and failing. The word you want is rend --
Tosh.0 is a TV cable show that often incorporates self-deprecating humor. The first Tosh-style entry in my mini-barrage shows I know the word is supposed to be rend. Adding the word "genius" doubles down on the self-deprecation flavor of that particular entry.
LURK MOAR
By erik g
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 8:09am
n/t
I was just trying out some
By capecoddah
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 2:01pm
I was just trying out some humor, is all. Some bigger kids put me up to it and I wanted to be a big shot. Sorry. I did not mean to make you angry.
Don't Quit Your Day Job.
By APB
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 10:07pm
Don't try out any more humor. It isn't working for you. Really.
-- Don't try out any more
By capecoddah
Fri, 01/27/2017 - 12:37am
-- Don't try out any more humor. It isn't working for you. Really. --
I am African-American and used to hearing that I am not good enough to keep trying things, but this is America, where even an unfunny minority with an impossible to spell Dutch last name can make it on the amateur comedy circuit with not much more than a positive attitude and the moxie to stand up to those who feel better when they tell others to quit. The African country of my birth had those who would tell my parents to "go home", even though I was born there. I eventually had enough of feeling like I was not welcome there and moved to the USA. Well, I am tired of running. Comedy is my calling and no amount of negativity is going to stop me from being the next Kees Van Kooten or God willing, Riaad Moosa.
STOP SAYING AD-HOMINY
By Smart Arse
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 12:31pm
You're making me think of commercials advertising grits. And I'm on a diet!
well not exactly
By bshep
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 12:07am
As Adam and others have pointed out, almost all comment sections become toxic. As others have pointed out, Adam has played a role in building one of the least toxic comment sections, usually one that is even worth reading, and his request here is part of that effort. So like, what you said, except the opposite.
He is right Adam. I am all
By anon
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 7:52am
He is right Adam. I am all for you trying to make your site great again but you should go back and read some of your comments.. you can come across as a fussy jerk
Adam, I did you a favor. Here
By BigBird
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 8:10am
Adam, I did you a favor. Here is a perfect example of one of your douchey responses in the comment section:
"It's a voluntary program that suburban communities participate in so their lily-white student bodies can interact with the actual minority students their town zoning bylaws effectively keep out."
How does saying lily-white help the context of your article and comment. All it does is piss some people off and raise the level of tension in the comment section. I guess if you can't, or refuse, to self reflect on your own writing, then this conversation is al for not.
Douchey, maybe
By adamg
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 9:05am
I didn't say I'm perfect. That comment also isn't directed at the original poster's appearance, intelligence or anything like that.
Yes, I need to count to ten. Perhaps especially when responding to the Xth same comment on a particular topic over a couple of weeks (in this case, the idea that Metco exists solely for the benefit of minority Boston kids, when the fact is the suburban communities that participate do so because they feel they're getting benefits from participating as well).
Any white person
By fefu
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 9:30am
who gets pissed off at the use of the term "lily-white," needs to grow up already. Geez, white people so fragile. (And yes, I'm white.)
Oh, go f off...
By whyaduck
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 10:27am
(Note: Only used by way of an example per Adam's post as something you should not do). You understand the difference, right? I am just trying to do you a favor).
Have a nice day :)!
If that statement offends you
By erik g
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 10:40am
the problem is squarely with you. Speaking as reliably the whitest dude in the room, if your ego is so fragile that it can't even withstand someone pointing out that some of the western suburbs are privileged white folk (which is to say, people like you and me, I don't even begin to know how to help you.
question
By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 12:48pm
Did going to your safe space help you after you read that?
(note that I am a fan of actual safe spaces ... but some people may not realize that they need one, too)
So...
By lbb
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 8:40am
"STFU" set you off, but "libtard" and "chick march" and the like don't. Maybe because you consider yourself a chick-marching libtard and you're bending over backwards?
Don't think that I'm trying to say you have to be the arbiter of perfect justice, I'm not. But maybe think about what your own triggers are. The shit that you tolerate is also aimed at some of us.
I'm not going to do this, but ...
By adamg
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 9:22am
It might be interesting to let people like you see the unfiltered anon comments I merrily delete. They're full of crap like that, and worse. And if I had a nickle for all the "libtard" posts I've deleted I'd probably have a much nicer retirement fund.
Obviously, at least to folks like you, with accounts, there's no similar approval queue for stuff you want to say - you hit Submit and your comment goes public immediately. I've found over the years that you folks are generally more responsible with their posting when they go to the bother of registering an account, and I really am trying to foster open discussion, without letting this devolve into an open screaming match consisting of three angry men, which is what would happen with no moderation at all.
But I have deleted the odd post from a registered user that goes too far off the deep end and long timers know I've even suspended a couple of accounts altogether. And, yes, I admit I start paying more attention when I get e-mail from people complaining about comments.
Fair enough
By lbb
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 10:02am
I'm not second-guessing what you do, and I wouldn't want to do it myself. And I know there's no magic pill to make people stop and wake up and start treating others like human beings. But I admit that when someone speaks to or about me in dehumanizing terms, it is beyond me to treat them as other than a painfully misguided idiot at best, and a consciously and deliberately antisocial pathogen at worst. No, I don't believe in "When they go low, we go high" -- not as a blanket policy, I think it's self-defeating to respond to a baseball bat with a kind caress. But it's your site and your rules and I'll take my own advice and STFU here when the bigoted assholes manifest their inherent stink.
What do you mean
By erik g
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 10:41am
"people like you"?!?!
Thanks for the example of an ad hominem attack
By Daan
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 7:37am
Ad hominen fallacy is one where to make an argument the debater attacks the speaker rather than arguing against the premise or conclusion. Calling a person a hypocrite is a good example of an ad hominem attack.
It might be worth noting that this site is paid for by Adam. In other words he owns it. Therefore he can set whatever rules he wants so long as those rules are not breaking a law of course.
Personally I enjoy Adam's headlines. They are funny and catchy. Yes the term Trumpland itself does verge on being ad hominen if it was solely about a person. But Trump in terms of the current holder of the Presidential office is a public figure as well as indicating a public sentiment that supports that figure. In other words it does not refer to only a person but to a belief. Does the term indicate a bias? My guess is that it does; but again this is Adam's property. Adam is the host and anyone who offers a comment is a guest. But it bears repeating that the term refers to an idea more than just a person (or at least that is how I read it).
I see Universalhub as a place where I can visit; it is hosted by a fellow named Adam and I am a guest along with many other people. So my job is to remember how to respectfully engage with other guests. Since I enjoy a debate and have no qualms about calling out an alternative fact I have to be careful to not let my own passion get the better of me.
With all the dross on the Web Universal Hub proves that there are gems. I will do my best to help it stay bright and shiny.
"Trumpland"
By JonT
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 10:28am
The term "Trumpland" as Adam uses it certainly IS biased. The implication is that all Trump supporters are racist xenophobes. I personally think Donald Trump is likely to go down in history as one of our worst presidents, and I would not be surprised if he doesn't even manage to finish one term. But I have friends and relatives who support him, and they are good and decent people. So I tend to resent it when people imply that since racists like Trump, that all Trump supporters are racists.
Despite the above, I still feel that this site's good points far outweigh its bad points, and I thank Adam for this post in particular, and for all the hard work he puts in keeping this site going.
Voting for Trump
By erik g
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 10:42am
doesn't necessarily mean you're a horrible racist. But it does mean you're OK with horrible racists, which does not speak highly of your character. And pointing out that people have yelled pro-Trump things while (for example) beating on women and minorities doesn't exactly make Adam guilty of editorial bias.
They are not
By fefu
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 11:50am
They are not "good and decent" people. They are just not.
On the Saturday before the election, I was driving around the suburbs seeing way too many Trump signs. I said to my partner, "Now is when we will find out how many of our fellow Americans are decent people." Now we know. 62,000,000+ are not decent.
They may not spew hate themselves or even believe that white people are superior to people of color (they probably do, though, deep down), but they will be culpable when this regime starts to enact all the things THEY SAID THEY WERE GOING TO DO.
These friends of yours had the same access to information that I did, and they chose to not be decent people. Even if they aren't racist, sexist, etc., they are one thing that will cause so much harm to others. They are SELFISH. That's just as bad.
This comment is truly amazing...
By Doug1001
Fri, 01/27/2017 - 2:31am
They are good and decent people, and I don't even know them.... this is a strange concept and you may have trouble with it, but some people see the world differently than you and your partner do.... and it has absolutely nothing to do with the ridiculous assumptions you made. Everything you just said is mind-boggling.
I really do feel bad for you.
Not a Hypocrite
By Miaow
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 7:51am
I respectfully disagree with the assertion that Adam is a hypocrite.
I'm the king of
By Stephen Bickerton Sr
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 10:42pm
being deleted by you I ass u me.
I take pride in giving my name and not hiding behind anonymous. Treat it with respect. Please
No, you're far from the king of being deleted
By adamg
Wed, 01/25/2017 - 10:56pm
There are a couple of folks who surely recognize by now that I'm never going to post anything (OK, 99%) of what they write and yet still they write. I'm sure it gives them some satisfaction, hopefully way more than what I feel (which at this point is nothing much at all) on deleting their (generally race-baiting) comments.
Down junior, it's my self
By anon
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 7:20am
Down junior, it's my self-centered comments that get deleted more than yours. And I've been here a lot longer than you. I'm definitely the king of deleted comments. My self centered view upon the world is more self centered than yours. Go ahead, just ask me, I'll tell you all about myself, my beliefs and my political leanings. All of which could teach you many lessons in life.
Anon has lots of opinions
By erik g
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 10:44am
Great opinions. The best opinions. You wouldn't believe how good his opinions are. We're gonna listen to those opinions, and then build a wall to keep out the other comments.
I am the source of Alternative Facts!
By anon
Thu, 01/26/2017 - 11:06am
What would you like to hear? How much would you pay?
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