Watch Your Blog Comments, Or Risk Getting Flagged - Olmec Skip to main content

Watch Your Blog Comments, Or Risk Getting Flagged

By April 29, 2017May 25th, 2021Technology News

If you participate in blog conversations, then you’ve probably heard of Disqus. It’s the largest and most well-known blog commenting software on the web today, used by a variety of news media sites and blogs of all shapes and sizes. Its user base numbers are in the hundreds of millions.

Unfortunately, since literally anyone can install Disqus commenting software on their blog, it has, in recent years, become associated with a variety of unsavory websites that make no effort to moderate their discussions or to keep a lid on trolls. This has had some effect on the company as a whole, damaging its brand as it becomes indirectly associated with hate speech and trolling on the internet.

Recently, the company has decided to take a more active stance, and is currently in the process of rolling out new tools that will allow users and moderators more control.
Users will soon be able to alert Disqus if conversations on a given blog are of a type that violate the Disqus terms of service. This flag brings the site to the attention of Disqus personnel who can then determine whether to continue to allow the blog in question to use their service.

Moderators will be able to issue “Shadow bans,” which make a poster’s comments invisible to everyone except the person he or she is responding to. They will also be able to issue “time out bans” of varying durations, depending on the nature of the infraction.

The goal here is not to limit free speech, but to ensure that hate speech is identified and dealt with in a responsible way. Kudos to the company for attempting to tackle this thorny issue, although it remains to be seen how much impact their new tools will ultimately have.

Jason Manteiga

Jason J. Manteiga, Vice President of Olmec Systems, has been part of the company for over the past 20 years. He believes that having a great work environment and supportive team, is the ultimate key to success. Since being in the IT realm for over 25 years, Jason, along with Olmec Systems, has been on the Inc. 5000 “List of America’s Fastest Growing Private Companies” and Channel Futures MSP 501 “Top Managed Service Providers in North America,” along with other awards and nominations. Jason earned his Bachelor Degree in Information Systems from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He also holds certifications in Microsoft MCSE, VMWare VCP, and Cisco CCNA. In his spare time, Jason is a contributor for The Center for Social & Legal Research (Privacy Exchange) and a member of the Morris County Chamber of Commerce. His hobbies include cycling and kayaking. He currently lives in New Jersey with his wife, two daughters and son.