Moderation in Moderation

There has been some discussion here about moderation lately, and it is something that I have to deal with every day, so I thought it might be useful to mention it again.

My approach to moderation has had to change somewhat over time. Because the volume of comments seems to be increasing, moderation needs more attention these days, and I have had to reevaluate my approach.

E-Cat World is a site that takes serously LENR in general, and the E-Cat specifically. I believe we are looking at an energy source that has vast potential for good, and I will not allow E-Cat World to become a venue where critics and mockers are given free rein. We assume here that cold fusion is an important topic, and one worthy of mature discussion.

That said, I do not delete skeptical and critical comments as a matter of course. I take into account the content, context, tone of comments before I make a decision about moderation. I also will look at whether a poster is repeatedly posting essentially the same thing. I often moderate posts that are mocking and ridiculing in nature.

Not every comment goes into moderation here on E-Cat World, but there are some that do. Anyone’s first post is held for moderation. Once your first post has been approved, then usually subsequent posts will be posted automatically. I have set my software to send posts directly into the moderation file based on ‘trigger’ keywords (some of which experienced posters have figured out), but those keywords can and do change over time. Just because something has been held for moderation, does not mean it is considered objectionable — comments held are usually, but not always approved.

There is also an automatic spam filter in place which I have no control over. Occasionally, and for reasons I don’t understand, perfectly innocuous comments end up in the spam filter. Since I rarely check the spam file, you may need to contact me to let me know if your posts are disappearing.

Since I am not always at my computer and I do sleep, sometimes moderation does not happen for some time after comments are posted.

Overall I feel happy with the approach I have taken, and I am very pleased with the very many comments that provide useful news, information and insights. I think you can get a pretty good E-Cat education on this site just from the comments posted here!

Moderation is a constant balancing act, and it’s a role I take seriously. I may sometimes err on the side of leniency, and at other times err on the side of severity, but I hope it balances out in the long run. I do try to be fair and I do want well intentioned readers to have their say.