Updated on 8/25/18:
All comments automatically go to moderation. Don’t freak out if I don’t get to them right away, sometimes I’m just not near a computer or notifications aren’t coming in.
I recently reread Anil Dash’s piece If your website’s full of assholes, it’s your fault and I’ve been on Twitter enough that my patience for bullshit has basically cratered since I originally made my comment policy. So it’s changed to this: I’ll approve your comment if you aren’t being an asshole. I’ll delete it if you are.
This is the thing: I’m not obligated to let you comment on my blog. I do not owe you a corner of my already-tiny platform so you can share your thoughts about whatever bug you have firmly planted in your ass. And I’m well aware that if you’re that kind of asshole, no matter what I do you’re going to declare victory and skip off with your opinions affirmed. And that’s kind of a freeing realization for me, you know?
A non-exhaustive list of things I’m likely to just delete because I have neither the time nor energy to be bothered: racism, ableism, anti-lgbtq stuff, political grandstanding pretending to be debate, your screed about how liberals are the real fascists, your keyboard-smashing description of how offended you are that I found something offensive because somehow I’m a snowflake and you aren’t. And so on.
Honestly, I don’t give a shit about your opinion if you’re a jerk. My time on earth is limited and I prefer to not waste it.
And to the First Amendmenteers out there: I am not the US government. I am allowed to kick you off my blog and delete your comments. If you whine about the First Amendment, I will do my best Bella Lugosi belly laugh while I ban you. If you want a platform from which to say the kind of shit that would compel me to ban you, get your own blog.