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On Commenting and Our Community

Writing a brief post here because I'm concerned about the way some of the comment threads have been going lately--there's the usual quality and insight, respectful disagreements and discussions, and funny pics and jokes. That's all lovely and long may it continue. We've been fortunate to have such a smart and witty community, which is a point of pride for us as moderators and as members ourselves.

What's concerning, though, is the occasional tendency to pile on someone or something relentlessly, which I think we're all guilty of at times. That happened in the Kolo Toure thread, and while I initially did little to stop it, I made an error in not doing a better job of sticking up for one of our own, different opinion or not. Opinions were strong and very different, but that should never lead to the amount of vitriol that was directed by so many towards just one person. I didn't do enough to stop that--and in fact probably furthered it with my own comments, which I'll still defend the content of but not the timing--leaving us now in a situation where discussion threads doesn't feel welcoming.

Part of what makes this whole thing so fun for me is that it can be a place for people to talk about Liverpool and feel exactly the opposite of that. I started writing about the club back in 2008 and knew very, very little--less than I do now, if that's even possible. But what kept me coming back was the chance to engage with people who were interested in the club rather than points-scoring or posturing, and the growth we've experienced over the past five years thankfully hasn't cost us that tone.

At times it does, though, and that's discouraging for me and hopefully is for some of you as well. We can disagree and feel strongly and express those feelings directly, but it should never come at the cost of someone else feeling isolated or targeted. We should have done better earlier in the week, and I hope we will in the future.

Please make any posts here geared towards creating discussion. Any works that are copied and pasted from other sites will be deleted. This isn't a place to advertise services or your blog, it's an extension of our site. Please treat it as such.

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