(Click any image below in order to enlarge it.)

What's "off-topic"? What is "#groupthink"? "Off-topic" is any comment or comment thread that deviates from the subject matter in the post at hand. Obviously, conversations evolve and take turns, which is more than fine by us. What aren't acceptable are comments that come out of the blue and have nothing to do with the subject matter laid out in the post, or comments that denigrate, disrespect or dismiss the post topic by shifting focus elsewhere. Which leads us to... #groupthink, the Jezebel reader forum that is open 24/7 and serves as a repository for starting conversations or continuing conversations that have strayed off topic in comments on posts on the blog itself. (Commenting rules still apply here.)

Take a look at this:

(Click to enlarge.) As you'll see, directly below the "skyline" of featured stories is a submission field where you can send us tips or post to the #groupthink page simply by typing in your submission and adding a hashtag phrase (for tips, follow up your tip with #tips; to add to the open forum, follow up your missive with #groupthink). If you want to go directly to the tips or groupthink pages, you can also simply click on the #tips or #groupthink links to the right of the submission box.

Here's a glance at the #groupthink page, as it looked at 5:38pm last night:
(Click to enlarge.) As you'll see, #groupthink is full of lively discussions on everything from dating to delicious meals. And it's always open for business.

Earlier: The Craft: Commenting On, Contributing To Jezebel

The commenters on Gawker Media's stable of properties are known for their smarts, savvy, wit, breadth of knowledge and curiosity, but great online communities always need a set of rules and regulations to keep the discourse high and humming along.

If you're a relatively new reader to Jezebel: Welcome! We're thrilled to have you. As you may have figured out, commenting privileges on the site are not open to everyone, which means that we are able to maintain a higher caliber of contributions than those found on other, open and unmoderated websites. Want to become a commenter? You'll need to audition (a how-to here.) In addition, you'll probably want to take a look at our commenting policies, where are outlined here, here, here, here and here. (Lifehacker's old, but still good, post on how to comment on weblogs is also worth a look.)

Whether you're a brand-new reader or a commenting veteran, we ask that you take time to craft your comments, and that includes close attention to spelling, grammar, capitalization and punctuation: these basic requirements go a long way towards making us all look better. Make friends with your 'Shift' key. (Did you notice a mistake in your comment? Just click on the pencil icon next to your published comment and you will be given the opportunity to make edits.) Another good rule of thumb when commenting is to stay on-topic - editors and moderators may caution readers when a thread has gone off-topic - or to take your off-topic contributions to our vibrant reader forum, #groupthink, which we will discuss in more detail in a separate post later today. Notice a spelling or other sort of error in a post? Leaving this information in the comment of the post is strongly discouraged: editors do not always have the time to read the comments on their posts thoroughly so please, take a minute to email the editor in question or send the entire staff a heads-up by contacting us at tips@jezebel.com.

Many readers have already discovered how to make their voices really stand out via our #tips page, where you can share breaking news and tips, links of interest, timely video, or anything and everything else you think might be useful to Jezebel editors. (If you need a primer on how to use our hashtag system, go here.) Plus, if you give us some substantive explanation as to why we should follow up on your tip, your contribution might be promoted or featured on the front page. At #tips, quality contributors have the spotlight.

As always, when commenting on Jezebel, keep in mind that personal attacks, inappropriate behavior and off-topic rants are subject to bans, disemvoweling and deletion. Courtesy is of utmost importance: There are real people involved here, both on the front-end (writers/editors) and the back (commenters); ignore or disrespect this fact at your peril. (Starred commenters should be aware that their privileges are not guaranteed, which means they should be careful in the comments they approve and promote: do not feed the trolls! If you're an unstarred commenter, don't despair: there's an army of us on the lookout for the best and the brightest contributions.) We want the community to be the best it can be.

Questions? Leave them in the comments or email our beloved moderator, Hortense, at commenters@jezebel.com.

Earlier: Our New Look: Let Your Fingers Do The Talking
Extreme Makeovers: Update Edition
The Girl's Guide To Commenting On Jezebel: Version 1.2
A Message From Hortense, Our Commenter Moderator
The Girl's Guide To Commenting On Jezebel
Comment FAQ

Related: Geek To Live: Lifehacker's Guide To Weblog Comments [Lifehacker]

I wasn't able to get around to doing a follow-up post on the new site design, and, after reading all your comments in our post about it, I realized that I need about three uninterrupted hours in order to craft one. Promise: Come Monday, I'll have all the answers. Until then, feel free to send bugs to us at tips@jezebel.com, or leave your problems/questions in the comments below.

Earlier: Our New Look: Let Your Fingers Do The Talking

Before we get into the whys of the resdesign, lets get into the hows.

On this screenshot of the homepage (click it to enlarge), you'll see a number of changes. Up top, new navigation tabs, a login prompt, and search field. Directly below that: the biggest change: A hybrid commenting/submission form. And below that, the site's posts, ordered, as usual, from most recent to oldest, but with subject headers (subheads) incorporating Twitter-style hashtags. ("Hashtags" are a fancy internet term for the "#" symbol.)


The profile login remains the same, as does the site-specific search function (both are at top right). What's new are the navigation tabs (top left). There are four in all: "Jezebel" (to show all posts); "celebrity" (which will aggregate celebrity/entertainment-related posts); "sex" (self-explanatory); and "fashion" (if you have to ask...). Clicking on any one of these navigation tabs will allow you to customize the content you see, should you wish to do so.


Onto the commenting/submission box. This, obviously, is the biggest change...and the most revolutionary. The default message (or "prompt") in this box reads, "Let your fingers do the talking." Consider this an invitation to send us tips, comment on posts, or create new subject matter specific to your needs. In its "normal" state, the submission box looks like the one above. If you want to send a tip, comment, or create new content, click on "Share" and the submission box will automatically expand. What do you do now? Keeping in mind that this new feature is based on Twitter-style hashtags, any content that you type into the box will automatically be categorized - as long as you use an accompanying hashtag below the submission. So, to submit, say, a story tip, type in your tip, then include the hashtag #tips (conveniently, it's also the default hashtag) directly beneath it, and it will show up here. An example - based on a fantasy we'd love to see come true - below. (You can also use your own tags. Got something to say about Megan Fox? Send it to the #meganfox page.)


After you're done completing your submission, just click on "share" and your information - we're talking text, images or video - is good to go.


Next up: Reply notifications. We know that many of you have been waiting for this feature for some time, and we're thrilled to announce that it's finally in effect. What this means: When you're signed into your commenter profile, a notification will appear above the top post alerting you to any and all replies to your comments. Bellissima! You'll also notice that most replied to comments are not appearing to the right of posts; this is on purpose, because these sorts of comments will be featured within the flow of the site (meaning: in between editors' posts) throughout the day.

Now that you know the hows - and there's lots of other tricks and tips we'll get into in a post later today - here's the whys: Gawker Media's stable of websites is moving towards a more "open forum" format: In addition to allowing readers to post tips, sightings, gossip, photographs, videos and other content via our new submission form, we're also essentially hosting 24/7 open threads - the name of our primary forum is "groupthink" (#groupthink) - where contributors can, well, hash out ideas, chat, vent and otherwise engage themselves outside of the daily roster of posts on the homepage. (No more weekend-only open threads.) Featured/unfeatured commenting will continue, as will our open tips line via email, still the safest and most secure manner in which to send in gossip/ideas anonymously. (Note: If you're not an approved commenter, your posting has to be approved by an editor, moderator, or star commenter and the two-tier system applies to these tag pages, too. In addition, previous commenting rules still apply to all comments, whether on blog posts and hashtag pages.)

Obviously, change on this scale will take some getting used to. (Here's Nick Denton's particularly-dramatic take on the situation.) We encourage you to send us feedback - and technical problems/bugs you're noticing - via email (tips@jezebel.com) or in the comment thread of this post; we'll work on helping to get any problems fixed.

The video starts off a bit slow, but once the song kicks in, it gets funnier and funnier. See for yourself:


Yo Comments Are Whack! [Mental Floss]

Change is hard, and a fair number of people are feeling miffed over the change in commenting structure. Thing is, the system has been implemented across all of the Gawker sites, and it won't be changing in any significant way anytime soon. That said, many of you had questions and concerns - technical and otherwise - that we want to address.

1. Who will be the commenter/moderators?
We are happy to announce that 5 commenters will be taking on some moderator responsibilities: AndBegorrah, BrutallyHonestBabes, MorningGloria, Khruschev, and BabyJane will be helping out when they can with account approvals, comment promotions/demotions and other assorted and sundry activities. Please give them a warm welcome.

2. Is the culling of the stars over?
No. It's a work in progress, and always will be. That said, it will probably wind down a bit in the next few weeks. If commenters want to alert us to readers they feel provide consistently excellent contributions and may benefit from "featured commenter" status, they can email us and let us know, but again, we are currently in the process of reducing – not increasing – the number of starred commenters. A few notes for those who already have stars: Using your status to indiscriminately, "democratically" promote any comment that rises above the level of "troll" is strongly frowned upon and may result in the removal of a star. In addition, everyone should know that starred commenters are not above having their comments demoted to the "unfeatured comments" page: the featured comments are supposed to provide a snapshot of the best conversations relevant to the post at hand, and, although I don't think that commenters should refrain from engaging in mildly off-topic conversational and or/jokey threads, those types of contributions don't really belong on the featured comments page. Shorter: Every commenter - starred or unstarred - has the opportunity to be "featured" and "unfeatured", depending on the nature of the contribution. (If your comment is demoted, please, don't take it personally. It's impossible for every commenter to bring her A-game 100% of the time, and the "featured" comments should only be the best/funniest/most insightful/most interesting.)

3. Who decides who and why some commenters get a star and others don't?
The decisions regarding stars are made by our "moderators": the site's editors and the five commenters we have given additional administrative access to. Decisions are based on any number of factors, including but not limited to: longevity (people who have made a ‘name' for themselves with an established comment history are yes, going to be trusted more than those who have not); quality of contributions; and use or abuse of commenting privileges. Quantity of comments is not of particular concern: there are many starred commenters who, although they comment infrequently, comment intelligently and responsibly when they do. Obviously, our judgments are subjective; it would be impossible for them not to be.

4. Why do only a few selected people get to decide what is "good"?
We run the site.

5. Isn't the star/non-star system just a popularity contest?
Nope. Comparing the current commenting structure to a "popularity contest" or complaining about its supposed resemblance to "high school" is your prerogative, but, in my opinion, both over the top and self-serving. In fact, the previous star system – which was based on number of followers – was more a "popularity contest" than the current structure, which, as I outlined above, will change and grow over time and allows everyone a chance at composing a featured comment. Again: Quantity of comments and number of followers is NOT a prerequisite for becoming a starred commenter.

6. Are the stars good across the Gawker network?
No. They are specific to each site. Meaning: A star can be awarded, or rescinded, on one site without it affecting the commenter's status on another.

7. Is there a way to change settings so that, by default, all comments are visible? Can the "show all comments" link be at the top rather than at the bottom of the first page of featured comments?
Yes, the first option will be available later this week. As for the link to "show all comments," it will remain at the bottom of the featured comment thread.

8. Is it possible for you to have the unfeatured comments show up in black text rather than grey?
There are no plans to implement this.

9. Will we eventually be able to collapse and expand all the individual thread discussions?
You can do that right now. Just click on the plus sign associated with each thread divide.

10. Will we see the return of links that control the chronological order of the comments or enable us to sort them by "newest", "oldest" and "most popular"?
There will be no return of clearly marked sorting functions/links, but there will be another method in order to view the comments in few different ways; we'll share that info in the Help section at some point in the not-too-distant future.

11. What happened to the "next" navigation arrows/links in the posts?
They're gone, sadly.

12. What happened to the permalinks to specific threads or comments, and how do I respond to more than one person at once in a comment?
The permalinks to specific comments/threads will be back shortly. As for responding to more than one person, you can type out an "@" sign before a commenter name or you can simply write a separate comment for each response.

13. When I click "show all comments" is it showing all the comments, both featured and non, on that page of comments, or all the comments overall?
The former.

14. Can you explain the point of the new system? It seems very [insert "unegalitarian", "Orwellian," "antifeminist," "censoring", other descriptor here].
The new system – which is, again, active on all Gawker Media sites – was created to give editors and moderators the ability to curate and highlight the best and most relevant comments on any given post by designating them as "featured comments", thereby providing a snapshot of the most interesting, engaging ideas/discussions currently going on. No comment system that includes auditions and moderation for quality control can ever be truly democratic or egalitarian; in fact, with regards to the comments on Gawker Media sites, egalitarianism was never the point. There are plenty of sites on the web with unmoderated comments, if that's what floats your boat.

15. The open threads are difficult to navigate with this tiered system; can anything be done about it?
One solution is to "view all comments" when participating in open threads. (See #5, above.)

That's all, folks. We won't be putting up any more posts about the comments after this, but you can always email us at tips@jezebel.com regarding issues - particularly technical ones - we didn't address. Thanks for all your queries...and your patience.

[Image via lemonysarah's Flickr]

Jesse admits he was not expecting the response his article received (perhaps another clue that he doesn't read the site very often) and that he based his catty bitches reference on the fact that one of his articles for Scientific American was ripped apart by Dodai last month. It's a bit of a backhanded apology, as he does call you all humorless and refers to Dodai as "serpent-tongued," but in the end, he seems to genuinely like you guys, kinda sorta.

"Perhaps-just perhaps-I made a slight gaffe in directing readers to the Jezebel.com Web site in order to illustrate social aggression in reproductive aged females. It was a bit of a tongue-in-cheek rub at that Web site, I must admit, precipitated by a rather nasty editorial there on an earlier article of mine. But I didn't anticipate a humorless mob of "Jezebelers" commenting angrily in defense of their own tight-knit online community.

Until now, my only experience with Jezebel reflected exactly such maliciousness and cruelty-courtesy of the particularly vituperative and serpent-tongued editor who wrote the aforementioned piece about me. Having now read through some of the commentary threads on Jezebel.com, however, there is indeed a certain wit and clever sensibility permeating there that has gained my newfound respect. I apologize for painting the women (and men) of Jezebel with too broad a brush. I admire the site's incisively liberal bent; as a science writer with my own biases in this direction and one with little patience for bigotry, I suspect we're on the same page.

It's okay, Jesse. We're cool. Just be sure to wear pink on Wednesdays, and all will be forgiven.

Women Really Are More Socially Aggressive Than Men (With Apologies To Jezebel.com) [Scientific American]
Earlier: The Bitch Evolved: Why Girls Are So Cruel To Each Other
Science Scribe Writes Masturbatory Missive About Human Penises

We value the amazing community we have here, and look forward to reading what you have to say, even though we can't always talk to each one of you directly through e-mail or comments (Anna previously linked to this great post Andrew Sullivan had about how trying to spend 1 minute a month interacting with 10,000 readers would take forty hours a week.) Patrolling the comments is an overwhelming job, so let's also offer thanks to Hortense, who somehow, day after day, manages to keep things in line.

And for the newbies, let's remember: Commenting on this site, as we have said before, is a privilege and not a right. So please. Behave yourselves. Read the post, and the article which made the writer want to post in the first place. No threadjacking. No super-personal information. No feeding of trolls. No getting catty in Snap Judgments, which are not there as a "set up" but as fun, breathing room between text posts. (If you want to make comments about the weight and anatomy of women, there are PLENTY of places to do so; this is not one of them.)

The posts which went up earlier today will gradually have their comments turned back on, so feel free to go back and revisit — and comment — on the ones you liked! And here are some of the responses to our prank:
A blogger from another site (via IM):

oh my god
you are amazing
no comments
I'm so jealous

Our hero Sarah Haskins Twittered about the comments outage!

From someone at a law firm:

I am not sure why I am writing this as I undoubtedly have billable work to do but it saddens me that you think Jezebel needs silence to grow. While many of the comments were incendiary and/or ignorant, there were also many supportive and insightful comments that frankly made Jezebel more than just the blog you go to for snap judgments. I realize that the blog might not belong to the readers, the public or the commenters but disabling the comment section will cheapen the experience. I understand that moderating comments must take the time of two full time jobs, and I have to admit I thought it odd when the site implemented a comment moderator. This may seem to disagree with my earlier statement but comments should not be given the power to take over the site. As an adult, you choose what to read and how to respond. Readers can skip over comment threads they find distasteful (especially with the new feature which neatly held comments and responses together). I guess my point is it would be a shame to throw out the baby with the bathwater. I don't have a blog or comment that much on blogs but I always liked the fact that blogs were more about discourse than the traditional media outlets and I especially enjoyed the discourse at Jezebel. So just one of probably a million voices saying, I hope you change your mind.

From someone with a sense of entitlement:

As a loyal Jezebel reader, I just have to say that I think your doing away with comments is doing a disservice to the site and to your readers. Jezebel is a living and breathing organism and your loyal readers and commenters make up the tissue to the organs - especially the lungs and the vocal chords.

I think it's awesome that Anna had a moment of clarity in her "walkabout", but I don't believe that the application of her own personal epiphany is appropriate for the thousands of people that enjoy commenting on Jezebel.

Being able to comment not only gives us the ability to give feedback on items that the editors/writers/contributors post but it gives us the ability to bounce ideas and experiences off of one another so that we may see another side of the argument - that may not be yours or our own. It also gives us the opportunity to put the editors/writers/contributors in check every now and then - because eeeevery blue moon, you guys will go way out into left field and post something that was not well thought out.

And now what do you expect us to do? Just sit back and take what you say as law?

Well, yes, actually, because we work here? But. Moving on.

This person had a tone of resignation:

I'm sure you don't care for my opinion, but I feel like the comments add a lot to discussions and show different sides to an issue. As Jezebel has grown more and more popular, it's obvious that the more people read and post, the harsher some comments may be. This is just a reaction to growth.

This site was really refreshing to me because it isn't like PerezHilton.com or TMZ or even news websites where uneducated, constantly hateful people post insulting and demeaning comments, but nonetheless it's your choice.

This person was amused, yet frustrated:

That is one funny-ass April Fool's joke. And I, like so many others, am STEAMED that I can't sit down and say something hilarious about it! How perfect your prank is! It gets us all in the softest part of our underbelly, our weakness, our Achilles heel, our opiate and our downfall. Mad props Jez editors. Ah ha ha ha ha ha. (As a serious aside, it might actually be a good idea. For all the reasons, honest to God, that you wrote in the prank post, minus the odd Australian cliches.)

This person almost lost thousands of dollars:

You know, I was just about to toss my Mac out a window over this news, until I looked at the calendar.

VERY good one. And now I will ratchet my blood pressure back down. This site encompasses my entire social life. Which, if the content and commenters weren't as fab as they are, would be just sad.

From someone PISSED!:

It is arrogant to just silence your community without any notice ahead of time. It is, honestly, oppressive. You seem to want your voices and your brand of feminism to be the only voice heard. Is that really what Jezebel was started for?

From someone RUDE:

Do you guys honestly believe we read Jezebel for the posts? Seriously, I don't care if you guys are getting *~*married*~* and why do people still booty call me, and what dress should I wear and all that bullshit. I sift through those posts in order to read intelligent, funny commentary from other Jez commenters on stories that are important to me - stories that you post in between posting the self-indulgent bullshit and petty feuds with commenters that have been appearing more and more.

From someone pleased:

Finally, an end to the caterwauling by all those premenstrual nagging harpies.

Good show.

Haha, we love the wink behind that one!

From some passive-aggressive ill-mannered person:

Congrats on the engagements, but we don't care as much as you think we do.

This person was just nasty:

I am disgusted that the editorial staff would remove the commenting option so suddenly, and without debate. I find it very disturbing that the comments have been disallowed because of the editor's dislike over the lack of control over goings on. I feel as though when you invest in a site such as this, you do expect some kind of accountability on behalf of those who control it.

This woman will start talking to her pals again!

Love it. Frees up a lot of my time, too, as I often seem to end up in some kind of comment-reading quagmire where I want to stop reading but can't! If I like something enough to want to talk about it with my friends I will share on Facebook, or send an email or something. Keep up the good work.

From someone completely, hilariously unhinged:

TO WHOM IT MAY BACON:

SINCE I COULDN'T THREADJACK ABOUT BACON THIS YEAR I'M JUST BACON TO BACON YOUR BACON BACON. BACON BACON BACON AND BACON BACON THROUGH BACON YET BACON ARE BACON BACON. BACON BACON SAUSAGE BACON ZAC EFRON I AM BASICALLY JUST A PARODY OF MYSELF AT THIS POINT AND YOU GUYS PROBABLY WANT TO BANNINATE ME FOR GOOD. BACON BACON COCKS. I AM NEVER
POSTING AGAIN. BUTTS.
Love,
Tscheese.

From someone trying to bargain:

Last year, being bought by Conde Nast. This year, comments. Seriously, utterly genius April Fools jokes. I completely panicked and then remembered what day it is. So enjoy your comment-free day (relax ladies! Take a much-needed break!), and we'll be back talking tomorrow?

Well we're not taking a "break," as we are still putting something up every 10 or 15 minutes and short-staffed, but thanks?

From someone PSYCHED:

I know you may be getting some negative feedback, so I wanted to be sure to send some positive feedback as well. Definitely a bold, bold move, but I believe your assessment to be 100% accurate.

Hopefully this will encourage more edgy, thought-provoking articles - can't wait!

From someone relieved :

Thank you for removing the comments! Now I can read the stories & not feel irritated/offended by the commentary that follows. I love Jezebel & appreciate everything you girls do to promote tolerance & awareness as well as decrease ignorance on all sorts of subjects. I really have learned so much since I started to read Jezebel on a daily basis, so thank you!

Another fan:

I am so excited to go back to focusing on the stories, and not the commentary. I will miss Hortense's input and hope she continues to be a part of the site.

Someone with business advice:

Without comments your site will be out of business in less than 3 months. Not to be rude, but way to ruin a great site.

Gotta love this comment:

horrors! no comments! now i might actually have to... READ THE ARTICLES! GASPSHOCK
chill the fuck out everybody

A fan of the "new" format:

I actually thought to myself before I saw the post about why there were no comments that it was sort of a relief not to have them anymore. It was oddly liberating to NOT see 100 other points of view that may or may not be on-topic.

thanks

In addition, we saw utter MADNESS on Facebook threads, and a few awesome tumblr posts. Anyway, the comments are on in this post, so have at it — and happy April Fools Day!

(Voracious consumers of American television programming may also recognize the word from a famous episode of Lost and Tourism Australia's latest ad campaign. But I digress.)

You may notice that reader comments have not been showing up under posts today. The explanation is this: my two-week trip Down Under offered me the real-life time and spiritual space - a walkabout, if you will - to make an important decision I've been mulling for months: to disable the comments on Jezebel.

Our commenting community is robust and beloved by many, including myself. But I've had the nagging, growing sense that the readership as a whole - and the site's editors - might be better served without the anarchic yet insular echo chamber often on display in the comments every day. Managing the comments is an exhausting, full-time job that takes away from the editors' other work, a job that has also become impossible for our moderator/weekend editor, Hortense, to do as effectively as she'd like. Other blogs have disabled their commenting functions with little fanfare but much success, freeing writers to think out loud and speak their minds without having to worry about personal, nasty and/or other ad hominem attacks and negative energy from anonymous readers and trolls. And although I'm not convinced that the blackout will last forever, for the foreseeable future, the commenting function will cease to exist on Jezebel for the betterment of the larger community.

What this means for you: You can still post public and private messages to one another and your commenter accounts - while not active on the site's posts - are still enabled. Your identities will remain intact. We will still post about reader meetups. As for "reader roundups", they won't exist anymore, but those who want to share respectful reactions to published posts can email them to tips@jezebel.com; we'll post reader emails from time to time on the site's homepage.

Although I predict that many will react to this news with surprise, disappointment and anger, I ask that everyone take a moment to consider that, in addition to its editors, this site - although virtual - this site is a living and breathing organism that needs more opportunity for study, growth, self-reflection and reverie. In short, it needs silence.

Keep your eyes on the sun and you will not see the shadows.

-Aboriginal proverb








Update: click here for more information.

Blogging Through History [CBSNews]

Some of y'all need to stop. This blog is not a messageboard. (As for the repeated calls for "open threads so we can talk about what we want to talk about"? The short answer is "no".) And by the way, getting tough on threadjacks is for our benefit and yours: readers are giving out extremely personal information that should not be posted on any website. Take the commenter who recently announced that she was a) having a surgical procedure b) what day said procedure was taking place, and c) where the procedure was taking place. There are crazy, mean-spirited people out there who have no qualms about doing another person harm — even via the internet — and the naivete in the comment threads with regards to this reality is stunning and disturbing. It is important to remember that the commenters on Jezebel are a tiny (albeit vocal) percentage of our entire readership, and we (and you) have no idea who is reading the site on any given day. It pains me to say it, but this is not a "safe space" or a bubble immune to the harsh realities of the outside world. That said, if you have an anecdote to share about, say, the demise of a recent romance, that's fine; just do it in the thread of a post that is relevant to your personal story.

For those who feel compelled to share intimate and irrelevant (to the post at hand) dramas with the rest of the readership, I have three suggestions:

1. Start your own blog and share the address with your friends, virtual or otherwise.

2. Private message via your commenter account.

3. Therapy. (I kid, but seriously, I did it for twelve years. It's good stuff.)

Threadjacking is verboten for another reason: It directs attention away from posts and renders much or all of an editor's work moot by shifting the conversation completely. If you are tempted to type the words "Off topic, but…" you shouldn't be writing the comment at all. It's disrespectful to both editors and other readers.

We're going to be vigilant about this. Meaning: Disemvoweling and/or complete deletion of the original comment and replies to it. I really do not enjoy being a hardass about this but recent events have left me little choice in terms of getting this (previously outlined) message across.

Earlier: The Girl's Guide To Commenting On Jezebel
The Girl's Guide To Commenting On Jezebel: Version 1.2

We could have gone through thousands of comments to select the very best, but you bitches are too funny and too clever and it would have been an impossible task. However, there is one thing we can say for certain: our commenters can find something insanely funny or insightful to say about every post. And also: SOMETIMES THEY GET EXCITED AND LIKE TO YELL ABOUT IT.

And so, dear commenters, instead we've chosen to list the top 25 most prolific commenters of the year. These are the people who constantly contribute to the site, bringing their insights to each post. The number beside their name represents the number of comments they've made this year:

25. Westvillagegirl: 4,276
24. Charlotte Corday: 4,386
23. littlestripes: 4,482
22. Hamsterpants: 4,481
21. BlondeGrlz: 4,489
20. funnyface: 4,490
19. badmutha: 4,502
18. Political Party Girl: 4,557
17. brendastarlet: 4,650
16. BrutallyHonestBabes: 4,750
15. LaComtesse: 4,903
14. ceejeemcbeegee: 5,573
13. TruculentandUnreliable: 5,574
12. SisterMaryMartha: 5,826
11. SinisterRouge: 5,586
10. PilgrimSoul: 6,383
09. stacyinbean: 6,490
08. J.D. Regent: 6,651
07. braak: 7,544
06. SarahMC: 7,993
05. Your beloved moderator, me: 8,225
04. tscheese: 8,742
03. NefariousNewt: 8,893
02. ineffable.me: 9,103
01. Penny Plastic (Archetype): 14,315

Yet this list alone does not cover the awesomeness of the comments that were made this year. And so we're leaving it up to you to list your absolute favorites in the comments below. I would also like to give a shoutout (because it's 1997 and I'm on TRL, apparently) to Morninggloria, Es-ki-mo, andBegorrah, Sarah.of.a.lesser.god, and BabyJane for consistently making the search for a Bestie so damn easy.

So now it's your turn, doves! List your favorites below — this thread is for you, so have fun. From all of us, to all of you: thank you, have a great night tonight, and may 2009 be a CAPS WORTHY year.

Image via Oh My God! I Miss You!

The best comment, in reference to, Porno For Parsnips: "Do you think people beet off to that?" You say "Lettuce pray that they don't."

The worst comment, in response to Dirt Bag: "Why isn't Mia Farrow sitting in the front row at the funeral home with her grandbabies? Too busy in Sudan? Get to your own damn humanitarian crisis." We say: Woody, is that you?

[Image via Oh! My God! I Miss You.]

According to the Daily Mail, the new forum was set up by the Mumsnet Oldies, aka "the Moldies."

A handful of 'old school' Mumsnet veterans set up a private discussion board on the site and began emailing up to 200 other members, asking them to join. As the main site grew and attracted up to 400,000 users, they said they wanted a separate area where they could talk about issues surrounding older children, rather than babies and toddlers. But the move has triggered accusations that the Moldies have set up passwords, black-balled other members from joining their group, and have soured the democratic ethos of the website. While some mothers have taken a 'who cares?' attitude, others have accused the Moldies of betraying long-standing friendships, and one woman even said she had been reduced to tears by the row.

While some mums feel like the Moldies are having a fantastic party to which they were not invited, a poster called "Vinegartits" had this to say: "I am glad they started Moldies because most of the people I disliked and left a bad taste in my mouth when I first started here, all of the high and mighty 'I am so much better than you, I have been here forever and command your respect' have fucked off to there."

The nature of commenting forums is always cyclical in this way. The early adopters feel proprietary, and when newbies come in, they feel like their playground has been invaded. Then they "fuck off," as Vinegartits so eloquently noted, and a new batch of commenters begin to feel as if they are the chosen ones. And the internet seasons they go 'round and 'round. Just because these women are mothers does not mean they are immune to the immature rites of internet forum posturing.

It's Not Exactly Baby Talk As Mothers Go To War Over Rival Mumsnet Parenting Forums [Daily Mail]