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Dear HumbleDollar Community,
Last week there was a forum post penned by Dick Quinn on shopping carts. This post was an inappropriate and unkind rant/lament that had no place on HumbleDollar. We can all agree that this post should have been better moderated and that the comment thread which turned acrimonious should have been stopped.
Going forward, I kindly ask commentors take a mindful pause before commenting to prevent further igniting an already incendiary post. And I kindly ask those who pen forum posts to think carefully about the personal finance lessons or observations they are sharing. HumbleDollar provides a wealth of information from both its content and its community, so questions are always welcome.
My husband Jonathan often spoke to me about the overall kindness, civility and intelligence of the HumbleDollar community. Please do not prove him wrong.
One thing that bugs me is seeing all of the downvotes for Kathy’s comments, no matter how innocuous they are. There must be at least a couple of readers who downvote every comment of hers they see. If you’re who I’m talking about, maybe HumbleDollar isn’t the right place for you.
Thank you Randy, I appreciate the support. It’s gotten to where I just expect a few down votes and discount them.
Thank you Elaine. Last year, I posted something that Jonathan may not disagree. He politely suggested an idea that I still think he’s right.
There’s many other forums to rant/rave but let’s be civil in Humble Dollar. Do it in Jonathan’s memory.
“Maybe the ranters need to show more self-control.” -Jonathan Clements
Jonathan wrote this in September, the month he died, commenting on another HD thread to halt the fuss and thunder. He was incredibly caring and tolerant. He encouraged expression here across a wide range of viewpoints while working every day to keep politics and incivility at bay.
For HD to survive, it needs each of us to ask ourselves: Would Jonathan have posted this? If the answer is no, perhaps best to stick that post in a drawer.
Self-restraint is necessary but not sufficient for HD’s survival.
I’d like to amplify what BMORE said below: HD really needs a full-time editor, someone who can contribute an interesting new piece each week, can prod other writers to pick up the pen on a timely topic, edit such submissions brilliantly, and moderate threads when they get needlessly warm. Bogdan has a job which is beyond full-time. His help is needed and appreciated, but it’s not enough to keep this site relevant and growing.
On the internet there is no stasis, there’s just growth or decline. I know Jonathan would want the former with all his heart.
I agree that an editor would be valuable, but the need for active moderation is more urgent. As I posted on a similar thread, I was one of the volunteer moderators for a much larger site for over a decade. We checked the site multiple times a day (or warned our fellow moderators if we would be offline). The queue of items waiting for moderation was cleared in a few h