Sorry for the title but I thought it would get everyone's attention. Obviously the blog is a big part of our Rhetoric class but it seems to me that the purpose is becoming slighty altered and I can see it creating a negative atmosphere already between members of our class. I don't know about anyone else but I am pretty sure the point of the blog was to get our opinions out there (no matter what standpoint) and work on expressing our ideas through writing on the blog. I feel that there has been a sort of shift toward attacking other people personally concerning their blogging viewpoints. I think that if this is going to continue to be the case and escalate into a further problem, then why continue creating such a negative atmosphere in our class with this blog? Honestly, I don't feel like attending a class three times a week with people that are going to start taking attitudes towards others in the class simply because they don't see eye-to-eye on some of the blog topics! How ridiculous does that seem? And one large way you can tell that this blogging idea is starting to become a problem is because certain people are now choosing to make their blog post anonymous... which really wouldn't be necessary if we were simply expressing opinions not attacking personally. I think that if someone is willing to express such a strong point-of-view on a subject and they choose to blog about it, then you need to anticipate that others who feel completely different about your ideas are going to express their opinions right back, and you need to learn to cope and deal and just be okay with everyone's opinions. It is healthy for communication and rhetoric purposes to acknowledge differing viewpoints and opposing arguments so can we just leave it at that? I don't know how anyone else feels but I really hope we can learn to use the blog for its initial purposes! See you all in class... maybe we should bring cookies or candy or something to lighten the mood! Haha!
Hi, Courtney, thanks for raising this issue; we'll carve out a few minutes on Wednesday to talk about how best to resolve it. You're right that the blog is a space for intelligent discussion of current issues and events, to get your thoughts out there and engage with an audience composed of diverse viewpoints, some of which are in opposition to your own (and by "you" I mean each of you). However, personal attacks are unacceptable. In rhetoric and argumentation, they're known as a logical fallacy called ad hominem, which we'll be talking about a little later when we discuss the appendix in Writing Arguments on logical fallacies.
Obviously, I think this is a very interesting and vital discussion space, and I don't think we should cancel it, but there are a couple of things we can do to prevent these kinds of comments. I could be wrong, of course, but I've been under the impression that those who are leaving comments whose names we don't recognize are readers who aren't in our Rhetoric 1101 class. We can add a Posting Policy to the main page that says we'll delete any comments that we feel are inappropriate (and then define "inappropriate," which would be a great exercise in categorical/definition argument, actually). Another option would be to turn off comments entirely, so that if you want to reply to a classmate's post, you'd have to do it in a separate post rather than in a comment. As I said, we'll talk about this for some of the time on Wednesday, but if you'd like to respond here, please go ahead.
Posted by: Clancy at November 1, 2004 10:47 PMCourtney,
Thanks for bringing this issue to a point. I at first was hesitant to bring my opinion into the blog system, but then I thought that Chris was someone not in our class. I guess I got confused, because one time I received a very weird comment by someone that was not listed in our class. I feel that I was a little harsh, and am embarrassed now. I do however get offended when people put people down like that. It is hard to take. Sorry if I took offense to anyone. I will work on the cookies and candy for Wednesday!
I will get something to drink
I will get something to drink for wednesday class
i think that clancy has a good idea by getting rid of the comments because when you do that, then you have to log into the program to be able to leave a comment, i think it might be the best way to solve the problem, plus i think its better if we just have input from people in our class, we dont need random people from who knows where commenting on something that they might not even know anything about
Posted by: erin at November 2, 2004 09:29 AMFor your purpopses, a disclaimer or posting policy might make sense. Remember there are some bloggers outside of your class (Like me for example) who enjoy commenting and don't do it to be nasty. I hope you keep comments enabled.
Posted by: Berne at November 2, 2004 01:56 PMPersonally, I agree with Berne that there are some people out there who are interested in commenting on our posts, and who do not mean to be nasty. It might be kind of unfair to them if we stopped allowing public comments. At the same time, I can see the reasonablity in having the blog for our class only as Erin mentions. I feel that a posting policy is a good idea, and that everyone in our class should have the right to block/delete a comment they feel is mean/disrespectful/nasty...A lot of people out there do not know how to state their opinions without putting others down, and their comments are often mean or rude, and we should be allowed to delete those kinds of comments.
Posted by: Alia at November 2, 2004 05:27 PMberne, may i ask who you are, just so i know who i may be talking to? things like where are you from, age, school? you dont have to if you feel uncomfortable, i understand, but it would just be nice so people have alittle idea! oh and maybe can u say how you found this blog, i am really curious?!?
Posted by: erin at November 2, 2004 08:15 PMHey, Erin, I think I know how Berne found this blog. I have a link to this blog on my blog. Around the time we started the blog up, I asked in class one day if it was okay with everyone to link to this blog from my blog, and there were no objections. I know that Berne is a student at Bemidji State, and that his blog is here if you'd like to read a little more about him.
Another way that people are getting here is through the UThink blog directory.
Posted by: Clancy at November 2, 2004 09:19 PMYes, Erin, as Clancy said, I am a Student at Bemidji State, taking a class on Blogs and Wikis. Clancy's blog has been used in our class as an example. I read several of the UThink blogs on a regular basis. Feel free to visit/comment on my blog.
-Your friend in the North
Posted by: Berne at November 2, 2004 10:20 PMclancy, isnt that sweet that your blog has been used as an example in another university! i think that that is really awesome!
Posted by: erin at November 2, 2004 10:27 PMI don't think that any action should be taken to cancel the blog or to close the comments. After all, this is a Rhetoric class, which is the art of arguing. I think that the division of the class into separate parts is somewhat helpful and increases the competition.
Posted by: Olzhas Toleu at November 3, 2004 08:52 AM