Comment police — Are you an enforcer?
Posted by Theda K. on 17 Oct 2007 | Tagged as: Blogging
Now that Crayon Writer is getting more comments, I’m finding myself becoming a comment police officer. All comments from new people are moderated, and I don’t even check the spam box anymore.
When I get moderated comments, I painstakingly check each person’s website to see if it’s okay.
But then I started getting bogged down by my own self-imposed “rules” that I keep changing.
At first I thought only bloggers should leave comments, but then I realized there’s nothing wrong with static site owners who leave comments.
Then I thought the site had to be related to mine somehow. But that’s too much work and unnecessary too.
And I carefully read the comment to see if it makes sense (I will correct for grammar and spelling if there’s an obvious typo, but I leave it alone if it looks like the person meant to make a grammar faux pas).
Now I’m thinking I may be spending way too much time worrying about it.
I should probably approve most comments, and just keep an eye on those that make it through without moderation (so I don’t get inundated with spammers who were approved for the first message).
Am I making this too complicated? How do you handle comments?
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Thats something you have to deal with once you become a ‘dofollow’ blogger. I don’t really think it’s too big a deal if someone links to another unrelated site in their comment as long as they make a usefull/related comment. Jusy my 2 pennies.
Hi Cortez,
Thanks for your 2 pennies :). I think you’re right. As a “do follow” blogger, I have to be on the lookout for obvious spam, but otherwise a related comment is fine from anyone.
Drop by again!
I encourage comments from anyone and am sometimes surprised that I get comments from people I wouldn’t think would be interested in what I have to say.
I moderate comments the first time only, then commenters can comment as much as they without moderation. Of course, if I ever had a problem with a commenter, I would delete the comment and put them back in a moderated status, but that has never happened. I have a comments policy spelled out on my about page, and I also recently wrote a post about some things I’m doing to making commenting more user-friendly. I believe lots of comments is a sign of a great blog, and I enjoy the conversations that sometimes develop in my blog’s comments.
One of the things I’ve done is add two plugins, which I needed here and now: preview comments and edit comments.
I saw three typos as soon as I posted the comment.
The corrected sentences follow:
I moderate comments the first time only, then commenters can comment as much as they want without moderation.
…and I also recently wrote a post about some things I’m doing to make commenting more user-friendly.
I believe lots of comments are a sign of a great blog,
Hi Lillie,
I kept meaning to respond on your site. I like your two new plugins, and I will get them soon too. And I haven’t read your comment policy yet (I will soon), but that’s a great idea too! That way folks know what the deal is.
Thanks for reminding me to head over to your site (of course I read your feed all the time, though).
I do encourage comments but I make it very clear that my blog is my “home” and there are things I won’t accept. If someone is agressive (which hardly ever happens) I have the right to block the comment and/or the poster. I’ll tell a poster when I don’t like their tone. Apart from that, I think it’s a good thing if poster come from different horizons (non bloggers, non-related websites…).
Oh and I don’t proofread their posts, if they can’t write, it’s their problem that everyone can see it!
Hi Marie,
It is important to make your blog your home. I think I once received a comment that I thought was not very nice, and I didn’t post it. I never did tell the person (I didn’t want a confrontation or argument, since I don’t know the person in real life or even in blog life).
I recently corrected someone when they meant to say one poster’s name, but accidentally said another’s, but in the future I’ll be asking them first (or using the cool plugin that Lillie uses so they can fix it themselves).
I’m still at that stage where I am fully enjoying getting comments (not getting much yet on my “young” blog). I have edited a few obvious typos but will probably not do so much in the future. I welcome comments from everybody…
Hi again MarysMom. I read your comment and decided to immediately go comment on your “young” blog. I love the pictures! Maybe I’ll start using my camera more and add some photos to my site too!
I’ve been reading this blog a while now and probably wouldn’t have responded to any of your other topics had you not made this one. I felt it was necessary to speak up for your other silent readers who might share my opinion. My blog has absolutely nothing in common with yours, but I enjoy your content. You’d probably have a heart attack at my grammatical savagery.
You’d also be surprised at the variety of people who frequent your site. Getting into the practice of only allowing certain comments does a great disservice to you and your readers. When you choose not to accept a readers opinion, you’re devaluing their support of your website.
If someone has their comment edited or deleted, I believe they’re less likely to return. I’m pretty sure I’m on the liberal end of the spectrum when it comes to visitor comments. I consider every visitor who takes time out of their day to drop a comment a gift, even if they don’t have anything nice to say. There are literally millions of other websites out there, so if someone chooses YOUR site out of all the options, I don’t think they should be turned away.
Hi Sportaphile,
Thanks for giving me a lot of food for thought. I never thought about how many blogs there are, and that I was fortunate to have people choosing to comment on mine. Very good point.
I think if someone is rude/mean, I won’t post it (only happened once), but I may at least let them know. But I see your point about editing being a turn off.
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment. I’ll be looking at your site soon too. I appreciate the support, and I’m glad you enjoy the content.
Finally, I’m realizing that comments help bloggers feel like what they’re doing is worthwhile. All my commenters inspire me to write more!
Your title is very good and I have read about 300 blogs in the past 2 days…none have really touched upon this subject but rather threaten and harass those commenting on their blogs…if someone legitimately reads your blog post..and makes an educated, conversationally adding comment I see no reason to remove it.
Hi Matthew, thanks for the compliment about the title. I was feeling like I was going overboard with my policing, hence the title. Wow, that’s a lot of blogs to read! By the way, I saw your site, and I’m interested in gaming. I used to play D&D in the old days, and I always miss it. Maybe I’ll figure out how to play online.
Stop by again soon!
So far I’ve been lucky, but I would bet it depends on your niche; I bet some niches have more spam comments (spamments?) to sort through. I’ve thinned out a few which looked like they were paving the way for later spam, but most comments have been useful and helpful.
Hi. I think that checking the comment’s content and its relevance to your posts is enough. Plus the grammar check of course. Hope this helps.
I get way more spam comments than normal comments. Its pretty easy to tell though. It generally has nothing to do with the post and is selling something. I used to moderate comments. For instance recently I got a comment talking about how the media had created the housing mess at the instance of the FBI. And that was just the beginning of a very long comment. A year ago I would have deleted it. But today I figure it just makes my blog more interesting.
I’ve stayed pretty open with comments on both my blogs and its worked pretty well.
Akismet catches most of the spam although I check it once or twice a day for false positives.
I moderate comments that have a link in them and ones that have certain ‘bad’ words. I’ll usually let them through unless they’re spam.
I find comments often to be good inspiration for follow-up posts.
Well i have numerous blogs aswell. But i do allow DOFOLLOW links and allow people to comment often. The reason? it leads to more traffic which is a reason but i just feel that i need to reward my visitors for posting on my site. Since it is bringing more content for the SERPS to understand and it improves my site.
Rami
I think you are right on the spam part. That should be the biggest thing you try to weed out. However, I don’t think you should restrict you comments soley to bloggers or sites that discuss similar topics as yours. This will result in less traffic to your site, and isn’t that the point of having a blog? to share what you have to say with as many people as possible. Plus, the more traffic you get the more money you can make from advertising.
I like to comment as that is something that you can do that is interactive, and productive, it can be really constructive (as it beats just being disabled,and stagnant). It helps keep my mind sharp.
I think that people who worry too much about playing cop with the comment section should realize that interaction is what communication via computer is all about.
I also think that people who worry too much about it should just go back to no follow (or don’t have comments at all).
I do think spamming stinks though. Esp. when robots put in totally unrelated comments !
James
That’s quite a dilemna. I usually approve most comments unless they are obviously spam. Usually misspelled words, bad English and off-topic comments are sure tip-offs. In general, though, I’d rather have more comments than less. But, that’s just me. Others disagree.
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