by site editor Rick McCharles
95% of people don’t read the comments on this site. They are “buried“. You must make a special effort to find them. Or to comment.
I like it this way. But the topic is controversial:
If you’ve been following the blogging and social media scene over the last five or more years, you know that there’s one heated debate that keeps on showing up: the debate about comments on blogs. Should blogs have comments? Should these comments be moderated? When has a comment gone too far? Judging from a couple of recent events, it’s once again time to rethink these issues.
Popular gadget site Engadget has recently shut down comments. It’s a temporary measure, it says, but the blog took it because the “tone in comments has really gotten out of hand.” …
The main purpose of comments on Gymnastics Coaching is to share information. Or, more often, to correct a mistake that’s been posted.
If you want to debate Nastia vs Shawn ad nauseum, head over to one of the gymnastics forums. If you want to get nasty about it, there are invitation only private forums. If you can find them.
20 comments ↓
well put! hear hear!!!!
I do enjoy reading the comments, and making comments, even though things do sometimes get a little heated!
Debate is good for society, it’s when it breaks down into hate that there’s a problem.
I comment on the blogs I read and appreciate due to the fact that I want you to know I’m reading and paying attention. What’s the purpose of writing if you can’t have feedback & opinions (both good & bad?)
No, I am not the most thoughtful commentator…and neither is that one guy who keeps getting blocked on Gym boards & blogs. But at least we take the time to type a sentence or two to show our care for your writing efforts.
I read the comments and enjoy it!
Totally read them.
Thanks MS. And everyone.
Actually I personally really appreciate people taking the time to comment on this site. I really do.
But the blog template is far inferior to the forum template for back-and-forth discussion. Perhaps one day I’ll add a forum to this site for the vocal minority that comment.
I always read the comments too
A good forum for coaches would certainly be a nice addition – but I think we would need to keep any discussions about particular gymnasts/teams out of it, and not allow fan postings, or parents etc, so as to have a forum with thread titles such as ‘Suggested Progressions for Jaeger’ or ‘The best warm-up games for pre-school children’, rather than tabloid stuff like ‘Who’s going to win the Olympics’ or ‘MAG is better than WAG’
I enjoy reading comments that were made to share more information. What annoyed me is that a few rabid fans of a certain gymnast always posted comments that belittled other gymnasts even when the topic in discussion was totally irrelevant to that gymnast. Hope we can figure out a way to stop these people from posting in gym blogs.
I read the comments!
Because I’d like to know what self-centered Western people think about.
Hey Tomoko, Don’t go starting trouble. Not all Western people are self-centered! I frankly not to toot my own horn, but watch both world news on an American channel, as well as The BBC, CNN, and I read a couple international newspapers, I donate to Lutheran World Relief, as well as two other service organizations and know there’s a world outside my computer. There are a lot of other people like me. So don’t stereotype!
Same day I slag comments on this blog, some illiterate sends in this:
“kiara ugly and coach rick, sdfu cuz u ugly and she ugly 2! i am WAY better then her, dont thik so go on youtube and look up angel rice! bitches the gurl has arrived and kiara parents r ugly! guess it runs in her family! l0l”
A perfect example of why comments should be moderated. Or at least “buried”.
Seems there’s some rivalry between West Coast cheer tumbler Kiara Nowlin and Georgia cheer tumbler Angel Rice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAg2HzdFc9o
As requested, I did go compare the two young cheer stars. There’s no comparison, Sarah.
For now I’ll not delete idiotic drivel like that comment left by Sarah. But one day I’ll have to get over my love of freedom of speech for the ignorant and hateful.
If you are going to run a forum the way IG does then don’t bother starting one. That place is worse then GGMB because it acts like it isn’t a Nastiafan101/ Kitty/ Martina dictatorship when it is exactly that.
Martina is very immature and she should not be moderating any forum. I personally had enough of her harassment that I quit the board and did not renew my subscription. I contacted IG’s owners several time and they didn’t care what the mods were doing so I just did not renew my subscription.
I would appreciate it you approved this message. If you want to take out the names fine but something needs to be done about the IG forum
I get really tired of seeing “Kiara Nowlin is the best!!!” plastered all over the comments on youtube. Who the hell decided to put that everywhere? When I saw your write up on little miss Nowlin I was quite perturbed. Thankfully, it was just a one-off thing. Now if you would just stop posting about MIOBI every five seconds.
Kiara Nowlin is the best … ??
I believe you can thank Don Eckert for that catch phrase. The first time I ever heard of her was via Don’s YouTube videos from Woodward.
When I finally met and even got to coach her there, I was won over.
She really is the best cheer tumbler for her age I’ve ever seen.
It’s the opinions that don’t get vented that can ultimately boil over and cause issues..
As an evil gym mom I am extremely grateful for this site, and Rick’s patience. The more parents know, the more they’ll understand to be able to support the coach and child.
Especially way down here where gymsports rarely rates a mention.
Dear coach Rick, I totally don’t understand what you were talking about…me????? Wow, your comment about me was totally ….. I’m speechless! One thing I’d like to let you know that would make yourself less “ignorant and hateful”: I’ve never heard of those tumblers, AND, what I meant to say was I really got tired of the endless comparison between Nastia and Shawn, not about any tumblers I don’t know about. You lost my respect for your rude comment about me. Period. Good luck, coach Rick.
Sarah (the author of post number 16), Rick quoted a comment left by somebody using the name “Sarah” on another post.
http://gymnasticscoaching.com/new/2007/07/kiara-nowlin-cheer-tumbling-prodigy/#comments
Scroll down to comment number 31.
Sarah is a common name but unless your IPs are the same, Rick wasn’t talking to you. Personally, I didn’t even notice that there was another Sarah posting in this thread. Maybe he didn’t either.
Sher is exactly right. My apologies, Sarah.
I was responding to a different Sarah from this post from Decembrer:
http://gymnasticscoaching.com/new/2009/12/kiara-nowlin-is-growing-up/
AND, … this is another example of how WEAK the blog platform is for comments.
I always read the comments on this site. & most other blogs too. I appreciate what people have to say on certain subjects. That’s why I read blogs to begin with.
I also read most of the comments. I do appreciate that they are hidden so I can read the main content easily.
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