Comments on: How Does Your Comment Policy Affect Your Readership?

By: mortgage rates

mortgage rates — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:37:09 +0000

I agree in some way, but I really think a lot more can be said on the subject. Anyway, I appreciate you post. I usualy don’t bother commenting on other people’s posts, but time wasn’t pressuring me and I had a good felling on this site. Thanks!

By: 1001 noisy cameras

1001 noisy cameras — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:51:47 +0000

My approach is to allow comments to post as they are written. I only turn on moderation if I have to (eg excessive human-spam or inappropriate/scorched-earth comments). I do monitor comments posted, so human-comment-spam gets deleted fairly quickly.

The thought behind it is that it’s more reader friendly and it encourages more discussion/comments if there’s no wait.

Of course the answer depends on various factors, eg subject matter, amount of traffic, type and volume of comments and commentators, etc, etc, etc.

By: Doyle Slayton

Doyle Slayton — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 02:08:33 +0000

I have been debating as to whether or not I need to approve comments before they are posted. I want to keep the site clean and professional. At the same time, I don’t want bloggers to have to wait for me to approve their post.

Which is better?

a. Approve all comments before they post
b. Allow comments to post immediately and risk having to cleanup any inappropriate messages on the back end

Thanks for the feedback!

Doyle Slayton
Executive Director & Sales Strategist
http://www.SalesBlogcast.com

By: Jenny

Jenny — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 02:48:18 +0000

it’s our choice what we let on our blogs. if i think it’s spam, it gets marked as such and if it’s a stupid comment or something inappropriate i delete it. it shouldn’t affect readership the commenters should just learn to behave.

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 19:31:45 +0000

It amazes me that commenters, or any reader for that matter, think that they have some inalienable, god or government given right to comment on my or any other blog. I invite comments to my posts, I moderate them, and I decide what’s worth letting through, sometimes based on language, sometimes based on content – but ultimately, I feel that any commentary is an integral part of my blog, and if what’s being posted doesn’t fit with how I want to present things to the online world, it’s not going up. If someone wants rights to post whatever they want, let them start their own blog, pay for it, and make their own decisions.

By: shuna fish lydon

shuna fish lydon — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 23:52:12 +0000

This is an intriguing and important discussion indeed– thanks for writing, Elise.

I think another side to this is that computers/ email have become the new best way to communicate, so the “unruly” class, as it were, are oftentimes merely being themselves because it’s rare that we have the opportunity to explain “what we really meant” by that sentence/ email/ post/ comment.

Blogs are authored by people as are comments, and both serve to help make us feel closer to those behind the typed words. Some are more needy than others– in wanting to be heard and seen and without an actual face or tone of voice being physically heard, we tend to sound different on screen.

It has been interesting to watch the ebb and flow of comments on my own blog. I thought in the beginning that I would keep all comments, regardless of how their opinions strayed from mine, but since then I have come to other conclusions.

Few people I know virtually or in person are capable of:

1. having an argument about a subject without turning it into a lobby of personal insults.

2. taking responsibility for their actions and inactions.

3. thinking about the consequence(s) of their words and actions before publishing them.

My blog is me, and I’m pretty tough, but you’re right about something I have forgotten– if I allow the ickies to take over my house there won’t be room for the lovelies.

By: Elise

Elise — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 04:52:30 +0000

That James Braush site seems pretty spammy doesn’t it?

But the commenter casaflora does bring up an interesting issue.

As long as a commenter on my site is leaving a useful comment, something that is adding value to the site, then I’m happy to drive traffic to their site.

The thing that truly drives me nuts is when people leave the name of their blog in the “name” field of the comment, and then add the link to their blog in the comment itself. This seems to me to be disrespectful self promotion. It’s disrespectful of me, because if I have to email this commenter for any reason, or if I need to respond to them in the comments, I don’t have a real name to use. I have to refer to them as “CrunchyCooking.com” or “FabulousChef” or something inane like that. It’s demeaning to have to refer to someone directly like that. Also, blogs don’t leave comments, people do. This behavior comes across as a blatant plug for their own blog. I give people a place to put their URL, and that should be enough.

By: John Beaty

John Beaty — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 23:23:21 +0000

So I went to James Braush’s website and all I saw was an advertisement for a $100 CD. Looks like casaflora’s post was just driving traffic.

By: casaflora

casaflora — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 21:43:14 +0000

So, what do you think about Blog Commenting as a way to drive traffic to your own blog vs. Spam? James D. Brausch has a good post on this (http://www.jamesbrausch.com/?p=836), He says they are NOT one-in-the-same. I’m wondering how others feel about this…

By: chloe

chloe — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 01:43:29 +0000

comment moderation is really important. i got lots of comment spams on my blog

By: Colin King

Colin King — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:40:22 +0000

A timely post… Just this week I put up a comments policy, but it wasn’t because of bad comments it was because some were trying to take advantage of the dofollow linking that went back to err… unsavoury places.

By: dukeofweb.com

dukeofweb.com — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:36:25 +0000

I often contemplate the aftermath of posting something that I know will provoke emotion on either end of a spectrum. I think it even causes me to hold back a little at times, which in retrospect is not always a bad thing. I think savvy bloggers have a certain level of sophistication, or at least I’d like to think they do. I notice that the core audience of a particular blog kind of sets the tone for the comments to some degree. If you go to Perez Hilton and look at the comments, it’s like walking into a high school cafeteria.

By: Sue

Sue — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:08:06 +0000

@ James Chartrand re. “Another question I’d raise: Would you ever hold a comment in moderation and email the commentator to work out the issue if you felt you could turn the situation around?”

Yes, I’ve done this: basically a commenter had made a good point, but in with it had made a very personal comment about a named individual who would have no opportunity to respond to the comment. I mailed the commenter and told them I couldn’t publish the comment as it stood, but if they wanted to make it less personal, I would post it. They edited; I posted. And the comment was a much better one, after he’d taken all the personal vitriol out of it too.

By: RobG

RobG — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 21:16:49 +0000

Most of the people who comment on my page I know somewhat. I fight a little spam at times but otherwise I have not had problems…I can’t wait until that starts happening.

By: Art

Art — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 20:57:06 +0000

Not sure that it matters much for a recipe blog. But, in my experience, opinion blogs become a dog’s lunch when comments are moderated. They’ll almost invariably ignore bad language and rule-breaking by those they agree with.

Eventually, it becomes boring and there is little real debate and the blog becomes VERY top-heavy with people of one particular viewpoint.

But, I’m a Troll so….

By: sam

sam — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 20:24:38 +0000

I am someone who had a a comment deleted by Elise way back when and I also received an email explaining why my comment was not welcome at her site and we had a lively conversation about it and we didn’t fall out over it or anything silly like that. I love Elise, I really adore her. She is a personal friend.

The comment I left was a little bit cheeky and British just like me. It was my personality, it was my way and it was certainly something I would have said to her face. Elise explained her reasons for removing it and that was that.

Even so, and here is the rub, I admit the incident still scars me today, over a year and a half later, I felt like a naughty child being scalded, and I don’t think I have dared to or felt comfortable leaving a comment on her blog again since.

From the pro-blogger point of view, Elise still has 70,000 readers a day so I am not any great loss to her. But to all the pros out there, be aware, you have the power and power can hurt, even your friends. Use it wisely.

By: Wendy Piersall

Wendy Piersall — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 19:10:06 +0000

Anyone who has been on the front page of Digg will surely know that they need a comment policy – and fast.

I miss your business posts on your blog, Elise – it’s so great to get to read them here! Excellent and well written advice, as always! :)

By: Stefania/CityMama

Stefania/CityMama — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:44:06 +0000

(Saw this linked on ruhlman.com)

Right on, Elise! Totally agree. Just thought I’d share the comment policy we have on Kimchi Mamas. Our blog is our baby–we don’t want jerks “spitting on” (love that) our baby!

COMMENT POLICY

We love comments, but several recent comments have been racist, irrelevant, and/or just plain bizarre. We are not Dear Abby, nor are we Match.com. We’re just a community of mothers writing about Korean identity, race, culture, and parenting. Please keep your comments respectful and on-topic…or fear the wrath of the Korean mother-in-law.

By: Marc Fiszman

Marc Fiszman — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:06:48 +0000

Checking if I’m still banned for making an “inappropriate” comment..

By: James Chartrand - JCM Enterprises

James Chartrand - JCM Enterprises — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 11:30:46 +0000

@ David – no, not that kind of editing. A commentator named Ray (whose comment I have yet to see show up here but it’s still in my email – also, half of these comments are here but NOT in my email…) said that he freely edits words and sentences – ie, what he doesn’t feel appropriate – out of comments and then posts them.

Does anyone here do that? Cut out the three sentences that complain about the blog but post the two that discuss something relevant?