Joe Livernois: Wild Web deserves to be tamed

The sad reality of the brave new world is that, as long as info-based Web sites allow citizen comments, there is no realistic way to keep the racists, the mean-spirited and the vulgarians away.

A recent study confirmed what we all suspect: The anonymity afforded by the Internet emboldens people to spread their inner creepiness. The authors of the study, published by Euro RSCG Worldwide, even coined a new term, "cyberdisinhibition," to describe the phenomena.

The Herald uses a national comments posting company named Topix, which allows everyone the opportunity to comment on stories. Like Web commenting sites everywhere, the anonymity of the site does not require a person to possess basic courage of conviction before sharing their wisdom, wit or blather.

My personal opinion is that anonymous opinions are to useful discourse what dog droppings are to the Rec Trail. But that's just me.

In an effort to eliminate the anonymity of postings, I have been inclined recently to dump Topix in favor of a company that requires registration. My rationale was that the principles of meaningful debate are better served when your adversary isn't wearing a sack over his head.

This whole online comments thing got rather personal with me last year when a local city councilman, cowering under an assumed name, posted basic Monterey County court listings for every Livernois in the county on my Herald blog. A couple of the items were my speeding tickets, others were the outcome of the petty-crime and drug-fueled misfortunes of my son, and still others were citations issued to local Livernoises I've never even met. I assume the councilman posted this stuff in a clumsy effort to sully my reputation. I since invited the councilman to interview me, publicly and with all parties identified, about the records he posted. The discussion could have made for good public service.

The offer stands — I would post the the full transcript of his interview on my blog — but the councilman's anonymity, his diligent avoidance of face-to-face engagement and his political career are apparently more important. Politicians!

Despite that unfortunate experience, I have since been persuaded out of my inclination to dump Topix. Requiring registration would not stop the aliases, the anonymity and the ugliness.

We will continue to use Topix on montereyherald.com. However, we will attempt to apply more stringent standards and we will delete more postings. In addition to the racists, the haters and the vulgar, we will be going after the mean-spirited posts that add nothing useful to a conversation.

For instance, if someone with strong convictions has the courage to be identified in a story or in our letters to the editor, we see no reason why they should be vilified and savaged by those who are willing to spew their hate under an assumed name.

Also, our editors will be notified each time a comment is flagged by another user — and we will remove the flagged post if it doesn't meet basic standards of decency. Those standards are outlined in the Terms of Service section found at the bottom of every online article.

And if you don't agree with our standards, feel free to identify yourself when you pitch your fit. Otherwise, we won't bother with a response.

Joe Livernois is executive editor of The Herald. He can be reached at 646-4306 or jlivernois@montereyherald.com.

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