Bill Donovan of Westerly is an early riser and a frequent commenter on The Day's website where, as required by our policy, he uses his real name, Michael Donovan.

"I get up at 3 in the morning," Donovan, 81, told me over the phone this week. "The first thing I do is read The Day. I've been a big fan of The Day. I'm a big fan of (columnist David) Collins."

Donovan and other online "posters," as he calls them, have created a community of their own, picking apart stories and debating issues with one another.

For months, he's been trying to arrange a gathering of commenters, which he had tentatively scheduled for Aug. 19 before the delta variant of the coronavirus reached the area.

Donovan said Friday that the gathering may have to be postponed, but he'll be making a decision after speaking with some restaurant owners. He's hoping to hold the gathering in New London, the paper's home city.

Approximately 20,000 subscribers are authorized to comment on Day content. Sometimes a new name shows up in the comment section, but a core group of a few dozen people tend to comment on a near-daily basis.

Donovan said everyone is welcome to his gathering, while listing some regulars he especially hopes to meet in person for conversation and beverages. He even wants to meet those who often disagree with him. He considers himself a "conservative liberal," saying that common sense has to prevail, but said he likes to hear what others think.

"I like to have conversation, and I like it pro and con," Donovan said. "I married a Canadian, and I found they sit around and talk about things. Here you can't do that anymore. You get into a fight. They discuss issues and I find it so refreshing to do that."

Though Donovan's gathering is not sponsored by The Day, Collins said he would try to stop by to say hello. Assistant managing editor Carlos Virgen and I also plan to attend if the timing is right, and we'll encourage other staffers to drop in.

We consider the comment section a great place to engage with our audience, get story ideas and hear viewpoints we may not have considered.

Sometimes the conversation veers toward the uncivil, and we have to remove comments.

That doesn't mean we delete comments we dislike. As a longtime reporter, I know firsthand how it stings when a poster slings an insult my way. But it's all part of the job, and reader feedback undoubtedly makes us better.

A few months ago, I attended a web event featuring Nancy Wartik, a writer and comment moderator for The New York Times. She said the Times gets about 12,000 reader comments a day and the company employs more than a dozen people to moderate them.

The Day is unable to devote anyone exclusively to moderate comments. Web developer Joe Ruggeri said he looks daily for comments that readers have flagged as abusive. A few other editors monitor them, too.

The Day previously allowed anonymous comments, but in September 2018 started requiring commenters to use their real names to encourage civility and transparency. (Here's the announcement of the new policy, and a list of frequently asked questions.) At that time, we opened up commenting on letters to the editor, whose writers always were required to use their real names.

Despite our extensive reporting on local issues, it's often the national stories that tend to garner the most comments.

The Times has found that men tend to comment on stories more than women and that stories about race, the Middle East, abortion, "cancel culture" and gun control generate the most inflammatory comments.

Wartik said attacks on subjects of articles or their authors aren't allowed, nor are insults, cruelty, name-calling or appearance shaming.

Respect is big, Wartik said. "I ask, if someone said this to me, how would it make me feel?"

Donovan said he'll decide soon on whether to hold the gathering. He said those interested in attending could email him at billdnvn2@gmail.com or call him at (401) 742-6089.

Karen Florin is The Day's engagement editor. She can be reached at k.florin@theday.com or (860) 701-4217.