During last week’s BCSSA conference, when I presented on Social Media: How District Leaders Can Build Community, I shared some of my personal thoughts about blog comments and some of the rules I have around them. Some tweets about this got some traction, so I want to revisit the topic in more detail.
One of the greatest fears teachers and administrators have who are looking to enter the blog world, is what people might say in a public space and how they might respond. We are not accustomed to being so ‘public’, and the technology and the openness are both very new. For many, the blogs that are most familiar are those which allow people to post anonymously, or who adopt difficult-to-track pseudonyms. One only need visit some news site blogs to see the nasty comments that can develop there.
In the education world, we need to model how we expect students to behave and engage, and this has led to some of my guidelines:
1) I do not allow anonymous comments on my blog. People identify themselves by name, or by an easily trackable identity. I realize there may be some issues people do not want to be identified with for fear of repercussions — so, a blog may not be the right venue to put their views out there.
2) I will also not engage in blogs that allow anonymous comments. There are some very interesting educational blogs that are okay with this and, as much as I want to contribute to the discussion, I don’t. It’s my way of protesting against, and not condoning, some of the nastiness that can develop in these spaces.
3) I allow more than 95 per cent of the comments on my blog to go through. I think there have been two, maybe three comments that have not been posted over the last year. It IS okay to disagree on an issue, but it’s not okay to use inappropriate language, or to make it personal. If one wants to make personal attacks — again, blogs are not the venue.
4) If someone is going to take the time to read my post and respond — and I do appreciate the time and thoughtfulness of all who do comment — I need to take the time to return a thoughtful comment. It is often said, the comments and discussions that ensue are the best part of a blog — they are what makes them so rich. Whether it is a compliment, question, or a challenge to an assumption, it is about the public conversation, and I make it a point to try to engage everyone who leaves a comment within 24-48 hours of the blog.
I always come back to what we want our students to do; how we want them to engage, be critical thinkers, but we also want them to be respectful, thoughtful citizens. A number of our principals are stepping into the blogosphere, and it is a great professional network, largely encouraging and supportive. So, as we all go forward into digital space and become part of that network, we will also be modelling for those who follow.
cultureofyes.ca 
Chris,
These are all great points and resonate with a talk that I have with the intermediate level (6, 7, 8) students at my school. I think that it could be a great starting point for a discussion with staff around digital citizenship.
I don’t understand why someone would want to be anonymous, unless they were posting something that they didn’t really believe or that doesn’t belong in an openly public forum. I think that the fear of being challenged in an open setting, such as a blog, does prevent some people from entering the “blogosphere”, and your post will certainly be helpful reading.
I really appreciate how your blog is a forum for frank debate through comments. Not everyone who comments agrees with your ideas and I think that as long as the debate is respectful, we all benefit from hearing different perspectives. This is just great leadership practice and thanks for modeling that here.
Shannon
Thanks Shannon – I think the fear of what others might say is the primary reason that many are nervous to enter the blog world. We are fine sharing our ideas, and also enjoy discussion and debate but worry of the permanence of one nasty comment – particularly one that has no ownership.
It is great to connect with you in this space – thanks for your encouragement and support.
Chris, I appreciate your transparency and openness in a high profile position. I think opening ourselves to the “world” ultimately builds trust and better relationships. I think managing our online connections as we would face to face connection is important. Respect and integrity are important no matter the mode of interaction. I am trying to focus on increasing my transparency this year.
Thanks Darcy. I have found the “world” is largely an extremely supportive community. So many people having similar conversations – wanting to do better for students and think about the future of our system. It is great to connect with you in this space.
Being more transparent means opening ourselves to criticism; a scary possibility for many of us. As teachers, however, we ask our students to be vulnerable and open to criticism (ours and their peers) every single day. Why then should we not be as brave as we as our students to be? This is why I finally started blogging; it made me uncomfortable, so therefore it is probably something I should explore. If we look at criticism as an opportunity for reflection and deeper thinking, then we stand to benefit. Also, the entire process builds resilience. Thanks for your guidelines, Chris. It’s always helpful to build from a thoughtful and sturdy framework.
Thanks Brooke. Yes, my heart beats a little faster each time I hit publish on my blog – worried that a word or sentence may unintentionally offend. More and more we are asking our students to publish for a public audience, be bold in their learning and take and give feedback from people beyond their teacher.
I am so glad you have entered the blog world – you are expanding your influence to a new audience.
I very much concur with the rules about anonymity. Some posters on some blogs simply use anonymity to be as mean-spirited as possible without having to be accountable for what they say.
Thanks Norm. I find that when someone sends an angry email or leaves an angry phone message it is always best to try to meet in person – humanize the relationship. It is very concerning how nasty some of the comments have become on some sites around education – we can be better models than this.
I wonder about the utility of anonymity. While it is clear that the ability to post comments essentially anonymously (like on YouTube, for example) has given rise to a whole class of trolls, I wonder what we lose when we force everyone to use their name?
Our society has some major power differentials, and these result in people losing the freedom to speak their minds openly. Not everyone is accepting of critique, nor as open to new ideas as you are Chris, and in quite a lot of places, the only way one can speak their mind safely is through anonymity.
Outside of the academic discourse that happens on our blogs, there are places where people are sharing stories of their lives and of abuse they have received, and in these spaces, the ability to share is critical for improving the quality of life of these individuals.
danah boyd has articulated these points more clearly than I ever have in this post: http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2011/08/04/real-names.html
Now, that doesn’t mean that YOU have to allow anonymous commenting on your blogs. Your district presumably has a mechanism in place so that anonymous reporting can happen, so that kids & parents are able to report signs of abuse without fear of retribution, but nothing requires your blog to follow the same set of rules.
However, we shouldn’t be too critical of blogs that allow for anonymous commenting. Even in academia, there are power struggles and abuses that occur.
Thanks Dave for the push and adding to the discussion. It is important to note that different communities may need to take a different approach. I stand by position that in education, and our community of bloggers in BC focussed on K-12 education we should not have the need to protect our identities. We have other ways to bring forward issues that require us to protect our identities free of publishing for the world on blogs. In my career, I have fielded anonymous call, emails, and messages through a third party to spur on investigations.
I find that I will not pay any attention to comments on a site like YouTube that allows anonymity and on news sites, if I am being completely honest – I am probably looking at the comments for the same reason we can’t help ourselves when we see a car crash – I am looking to see how harsh some of the comments might be.
Thanks for adding to the conversation David.
Great guidelines, Chris. For those of us trying to figure out how to best utilize these new resources, personally, AND teach/guide teens and tweens through this web world your comments are a huge help. I think we all can agree that, anonymous or full-disclosure, respect should be maintained throughout. Thanks for this posting.
Thanks. I think of all the messages we try to give students around Facebook and other tools we should be showing students through our own work that we are trying to model the way through tools that we are all just trying to figure out.
Nicely stated, Chris. Perhaps a greater degree of discussion and debate, enabled through blogs, together with transparency, will help public educators to be less defensive and move into a shared culture of continuous improvement.
Thanks Ken. I am already seeing many more educators in a variety of roles opening themselves up through blogs this fall. As a profession we are often so nervous to share what we are doing – it is nice the digital space is beginning to change this.
Completely agree, Chris. Allowing anonymous posts, IMHO, gives people carte blanche to say things they never would dare to if they were forced to identify themselves. It’s ok to disagree with a blogger or other commenters, but that doesn’t mean the conversation can’t be professional and civil; requiring people to leave their name in order to have their comments posted helps with that.
Thanks Mike for your thoughts. We work in a field in which there are very few things that are black and white. And while we can disagree, I believe that regardless of our role we all want a stronger education system. We need to encourage discussion – but as you describe – it must be professional and civil.