I’ve decided that commenting on blogs is indeed an art form.
One that requires sensitivity, honesty, humor, gentleness and most of all respect and understanding.
Comments have the power to either attract others to your blog or turn them off completely. If you Let your blog become a free for all for everyone else’s opinions or advertising links you may find that your genuine readers will decline to post comments at all.
Good comments speak for themselves and can generate further thoughts and additional comments by others seeking to explore or understand the same issues.
Good comments also speak loudly for your blog.
They show that you are an authentic blogger who is genuinely interested in exploring issues respectfully and with integrity.
Bad comments on the other hand often mean that not only you, but your readers as well, will be forced to wade through endlessly irrelevant words that add nothing to the thoughts contained within your original post.
This can greatly dissuade other readers from commenting.
I don’t know about you, but often, if I have a comment that I would like to make on another’s post, but find that there are already 20 or so previous comments that have taken the issue off track, I will choose not to post a response.
Your blog readers may be as tired as you are of dealing with those who don’t think, or are abusing your comments section either intentionally or unintentionally.
Your reader’s time is as precious to them as yours is to you. So why make your readers have to wade through innocuous or irrelevant comments?
Especially when many readers won’t comment immediately after a superfluous or derogatory comment.
Bloggers are discerning readers and they deserve to be able to read a comment thread that is free of abusive language and obtuse or rude comments.
One very important reason to keep your blog’s comments section clear and respectful is that the better the content of the comments, the more integrity your blog has.
As such, the way in which you tend to your comments reflects you as a blogger.
So how do you keep your comments section clear and concise?
Creating a Commenting Policy
According to http://www.blogherald.com/2007/08/16/time-wasting-blog-comments-comments-policies-and-comment-etiquette/ commenting is an art form that you can encourage your readers to engage in thoughtfully by creating a Commenting Policy.
A commenting policy lists the conditions you expect commenters to abide by on your site.
So here are the top 3 things I would like commenters to abide by on my site.
Firstly please take the time to read and understand the full blog post before commenting.
Please stay on topic. Even if you disagree with something I’ve written and would like to give examples of counter opinions please do try to stay on track. I find comments that wander off into other areas confusing.
Please try to be respectful of others experiences and views at all times.
Commenting No No’s
Please do not leave comments that are filled with personal links.
I cannot stress this enough, so please do not fill the space I give you for your comments with links to your own blog site. Readers will be able to see who you are by your blog name when you make a comment and they will decide for themselves by the quality of your comment whether or not they wish to look you up.
To be perfectly clear on this, my blog is the genuine expression of my own experiences and views. I would really appreciate it if you would treat is as such.
Top 3 things that may see your comment deleted.
Attacking other bloggers. Please do not use my site to attack other bloggers.
By all means question my content if you feel the need too, but I will not tolerate attacks on either myself or other bloggers.
Being overtly hostile toward or denigrating my views will also prevent me from posting your views.
Respect is a two-way street and there are a multitude of appropriate ways to challenge my perspectives. Being rude is not one of them.
To all those wonderful bloggers who regularly take the time to comment on my posts, please know that I welcome, appreciate and value your views.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this = )
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Wonderfully written, may I reblog this?
Thank you so much and yes I’m happy for you to re-blog this post.
No thank you!
will do, well said.
by the way ‘stuff I said’ is non existent by the looks of it, try to link to them….
Thank you Cherry Berry Bear for the kind words and the re-blog …… I can link to ‘stuff I said’ or ‘stuffredsaid’ with no problems……if you are still having problems let me know and I’ll post the link for you = )
I really liked the way you deal with these issues, I wish I had thought of this a long time ago. In fact, i would like to copy your commenting policy for use on my own blog if you don’t mind. I completely understand if you would rather I didn’t.
Thank you Kira…. I’m glad this post resonates with you although I wish we didn’t have to think of such things. I am happy for you to copy it and use it on your own post. The only thing I ask is that you reference it as my original work. Cheers 7th
Thank you so much, I will make sure I post this as a reblog so that it links right back to you.
Thank you Kira. I so appreciate your support = )
I am glad to support people like yourself who do so much good for so any.
Reblogged this on Just a thought… and commented:
This is wonderfully written and something all bloggers should think about.
I’m sorry to hear that there are negative people commenting on your blog. Why people would do that– especially on your blog that seeks answers and understanding– is beyond me. These guidelines are very fair, and you’re right, when we read blogs, we don’t want to read or to be held back by pointless and mean-spirited comments.
Thank you for your kind words. Unfortunately some in the Autism community spend too much of their time arguing over syntax and not enough time looking at the genuine issues. I’m so glad you think my guidelines are fair. I must admit that I feel better for having formalized them. Cheers 7th
Reblogged this on Kira Moore's Closet and commented:
Anyone who comments on a blog should read this. It is going to be the policy I use as well.
Well written!!!
Thank you B = )
That sounds like a sensible policy. As I mentioned earlier, I am loath to censor comments, but if people are being needlessly hostile or spammy, then they aren’t useful contributions. There are occasionally people who comment on my posts with overt references to their own blog . . . I can’t tell whether these or spammy or not, so I’ve left them there. There was a relatively recent one, and I’ve been mulling over it for days. You know, I should probably just go ahead and delete it; the person might never be coming to my blog again anyway, lol.
you’re the second person to have written about this today. must be something going on.
Maybe we’ve both been hit with the same blogging stick? If you”d be kind enough to post a link up I’ll go and have a read……
i can’t remember who else had written about it, but i can give it a shot.
That would be great = )
oh this is too silly. it was YOU who i had already read with this topic. your other post about comments. don’t i feel dumb now!?
lol…..I do that kind of thing all the time…… Smile….. it means you’re human = )
Reblogged this on Being Invisible and commented:
A policy to be read, understood and acted upon.
Reblogged this on cherryberrybear and commented:
A commenting policy one cannot fault.
great solution!
I have been thinking about writing something about comments but could not materialize anything.. comments are indeed a rich source of building rapport .. I always eagerly wait for bloggers to comment on my post and prefer to follow who are expressive and sensitive .. comments really are the mirrors of genuine reader.. You have documented it so well.
Thank you Neeraj. I too appreciate and look forward to comments and I agree with you that they provide a valuable reflection of issues and people.
You know, I think it’s kind of a shame that you even had to write this blog. People should respect each other enough to appreciate diversity and enjoy healthy debate; rather than making personal attacks. Particularly when most people blogging are young adults or adults who you would have thought understood that. I guess not. Excellent blog, well said. Couldn’t agree more with you.
Thank you Sacha. I agree with you that it’s a shame that we occasionally have to deal with this sort of thing. I do feel a lot better about it all now that I’ve decided on a course of action though = )
I am impressed and agree with everything you have said. It is both encouraging and inspiring in presenting some rules we all should live by. It is a reminder that the tongue can be an unruly member and we must learn to control it. I am glad you found my blog and I found yours. Hope to share future post with you.
BE NCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!
I don’t see an e-mail button to follow you and will have to remember to always check my reader. Sometimes I have senior moments and forget to look there. ( smile )
I love comments–it shows that my content has been read and appreciated–thank you for that and for your article.
I love comments too…. They are way more personal than likes = )
I like your commenting policy. So far, I have been very lucky with my commenters–hope it continues.
This is fantastically written.
I’ve never really considered having a commenting policy. Thankfully, I’ve been incredibly lucky with all comments I have received on my posts so far.
However, a commenting policy of my own is something I will definitely be looking into. If the rules are clearly defined from the outset, the possibility of any unwelcome comments can be minimised.
Thanks for this post
Y
You are so very welcome. I hope your run of positive comments continue = )
Great points! I personally have a lot of fun commenting on interesting posts, and just love it when my comment leads to a conversation… My experience has been super positive so far:). God Bless!
Thank you Nyparrot for taking the time to respond. I hope the positivity continues for you = )
Likewise! I am glad we’ve connected.
Lovely!