Comment Policy

Comments are a great thing, and I absolutely love getting them; few things are as bad as writing content and giving the best tips you possibly can, and in response getting nothing but silence. Comments tell me that people actually are listening to me, and that I’m making an impact. Each comment inspires me more to keep going as a blogger. The posts I write tend to not be as good and less inspiring when I myself haven’t been inspired to write for a while.

Listen to my comment policy in audio format!

So while I wholeheartedly encourage you to comment, there has to be some sort of policy in place. I hate it, but most comments are just spam; at the moment I’ve approved 87 comments while I’ve deemed 918 comments spam. That’s certainly a problem, as well as just blatant attacks on me, my blog, and (worst of all) my family. I’m open to criticism, and actually welcome them, however, I have gotten several personal attacks on me over the past two or three months. Also, some people have sent their comment twice when they see it doesn’t go up immediately. I’m going to talk about that as well.

Spam

What is spam, exactly? It’s tough to draw an exact line, because everyone has a little bit of a different opinion. Certainly the comment has to be relevant to the post (most comment’s I receive are actually of this category). But do “Great post” comments count as spam if the person then says “hey, come check out my website” followed with a link, or is having a link spam at all? This is a touchy subject, and everyone has their own opinion. However, as I am the owner of this blog and have the ability to make the rules, here is mine:

First, if someone gives a relevant comment, I think they definitely have the right to leave a link to their site. Yes, they already can by leaving a link in their name, and personally, I don’t leave a link because I feel I’d be going a little above my pay grade as a commenter, I don’t have a real problem with other people doing it; they gave me their time, their thoughts, and a comment, I feel they have the right to leave a link where more people will click, and while I’d rather people didn’t, I won’t deem it spam.

If someone just says “great post, come check out my website (link),” many people think that is spam. It might be, but for that, I won’t delete a comment for that if I think the website is actually a pretty valuable website. If I feel the site is spammy and just has ads flashing all over the place, then I’ll edit the comment so that the link is taken out. While, yes, of course, I’d rather people give a constructive comment, if people have a good site that gives good tips, I’ll give them the respect of thinking they did read my post and aren’t just spamming me. I realize this opens me up to some spam, but there really isn’t much harm in “hey, great post,” at least in my view at this present time.

Personal Attacks/Defamation

It almost goes without saying, but I have to say it because I still get it a lot; personal attacks are not acceptable and will be deleted. I am fine with constructive criticism; if you criticize my work without giving a reason, that will be deleted, as it will not help the conversation, which is the goal of the comment’s section. Also, if your reasons and thoughts don’t make sense and are just outlandish, those will be deleted, as well, because, again, that won’t improve the conversation.

Editing

As the blog owner, I have the power to edit comments (if you want me to edit one of your comments for you, send me a note from the contact form). While this is a useful tool, it is also one that comes with much responsibility, and by leaving a comment, you are in a way putting trust into me that I won’t edit it and make you look bad.

I have to say that I would never edit someone’s comment to make them look bad. If you read this blog regularly, you will hopefully know that I am not the kind of person who would do that. In fact, it would be foolish for me to make you look bad because it makes me look bad if my readers look bad, and having a bad comment doesn’t add to the conversation, anyways, and it would just be a conversation between me and myself if I edited like that, which is obviously not the point of the comments section.

I will edit comments to improve their clarity, grammer, spelling, because this is a blog largely about writing, and I don’t want people making writing errors all over the place. Again, that would make me look bad. So if you post “Awzsum post, my man, lovve you content. GTG, see ya later!” I might edit it to “Awesome post, my man. I really love and enjoy your content. See you later, bye!” I think most people will agree that the second version is more proper and easier to understand,  while not changing what the comment is actually saying. If you feel that in editing your comment I changed what you were trying to say, just shoot me a message via the contact form and I’ll take care of it for you.

Moderation

Most people get it, but it seems like a few people are still confused by why their comments don’t go up immediately, because I often get people submitting their comments twice. It’s not that your submission didn’t work; it’s that I moderate all the comments before they go up, to catch any spam and delete any personal attacks. It’s kind of a pain to go through all the comment’s, but if I didn’t, my comment’s section would have a bunch of hater’s. I have a spam filter, but I go through all the comment’s there to make sure they really are spam, because I’ve seen a lot of good comment’s be thought of as spam. Just be patient; if your comment has something of value to offer and isn’t just full of links to porn sites (you won’t believe how many comment’s I get that are just that!) it will be approved eventually.

Reply

Many people don’t respond to the comment’s left on their site. I think that’s a big mistake; why would someone comment if they’re not even going to get anything in exchange? In the future, as the size of this site grows, I will probably change this, but right now, I have a reply to everything policy. If someone just says “great post,” I might reply “thanks, glad to help” or “thanks, I really appreciate it.” If someone asks a question, I will give an answer. If the conversation between me and disagreeing people becomes too heated, I’ll e-mail them, and I won’t approve comment’s that are just angry and mad. Certainly I will never engage in big fight’s or be defaming, mean, rude, or angry in anyway. I have not done anything like that before, and I am not someone who would do something like that.

After you comment once and get through, your comment’s will no longer need to go through moderation, and will appear immediately. However, I will still be checking all comment’s.

Final Say

While I certainly welcome you to question why I didn’t approve your comment, why I thought it was spam, or why I thought it was a defaming or mean comment, please be aware that even though I am certainly subject to change my mind based on an explanation from you, my say is final in all matters. There are many occasions in which I will change my mind, but if I do not, I will not engage in arguments after I have already made my decision.

I hope this policy isn’t too mean, tyrannical, or unreasonable, and I think it will better the experience of the comment’s section to have these rules in place so people understand what is happening. I reserve the power to change these rules at any time, or add new one’s. I’m sure to miss some, and no policy is perfect. Again, to contact me wondering why your comment hasn’t been approved, about this policy, or about anything, just send it over from the contact form.