Does Your Blog Have a Comment Policy?
September 5, 2009 by Deb
Filed under Comments and Discussion
I find myself having to defend my comment policy from time to time. I’ve been accused of editing comments so only the rosy ones come through, or being biased about who is allowed to comment at the FWJ network. None of that is true. I have a comment policy in place and like to abide by that policy, it’s really nothing personal. I just don’t feel rudeness or personal attacks have a place in an intelligent discussion.
Here’s the thing, some commentators don’t know how to disagree respectfully. Instead they throw in barbs and digs and downright nastiness. I don’t feel this is necessary for getting one’s point across. The nastiness that sometimes comes through in the comments turns off other members of the community and some leave for good. So yes, I think for a community of this size, a comment policy is necessary.
Why should you have a comment policy?
- It’s a good troll repellent
- It keeps your community happy
- It keeps discussions on topic
- The crankypants who insist on ruining a conversation for everyone will (hopefully) crawl back into their holes
- If there’s too much controversy, folks stay away. When folks stay away, advertisers stay away. Free for all comments are bad for business.
What should you consider when creating a comment policy?
- Your community comes first, if rudeness or vulgarity makes them uncomfortable, ban the offending parties from your discussions.
- Disagreement isn’t the same as abuse or attacks. Folks should be able to disagree all they want as long as it’s kept respectful.
- It’s your blog and your community and you can manage it as you see fit. If others don’t like the way you control your comments, they’re welcome to go elsewhere. If you feel you need to moderate a comment, that’s your prerogative.
- Contrary to what some disgruntleds will have you believe, comment moderation is not censorship. Your blog is not the government, it’s your blog. You’re welcome to keep your comments positive if that’s what you choose to do. You’re also welcome to keep your comments unmoderated, if that’s what you choose to do. To remove an abusive comment isn’t censorship, it’s good blogging.
Some things I do here at FWJ:
- The first comment for any new community member is held in moderation. Once that is approved he is free to comment as he likes. This helps the deter hit and run trolls or the folks who like to post hateful comments using proxies. I do note IP’s and user names of various repeat offenders so their negative comments can’t get through any more.
- Anyone with a history of negativity or abuse is entered into the moderation panel. They are no longer allowed to take part in a discussion without having every comment approved first. Harsh? Perhaps but I like it a lot better than name calling and meanspiritedness, and so does this community.
- I make mention of FWJ’s comment policy every time a discussion starts heading towards a bad place. The reminder gets everyone back on track
On the other hand…
Someone once told me FWJ has a “hostile” community. I disagree. I don’t believe every comment has to be a happy “ I so agree with your greatness, oh Writing Guru” comment and I appreciate all sides of the coin. If one of the FWJ bloggers posts something a commentator doesn’t agree with, that person is also welcome to present his point of view, respectfully. To disagree doesn’t make one hostile. To be passionate doesn’t make one hostile. I have never seen a more helpful community. The writers and bloggers that visit this network are so quick to help with advice, tips and commiseration. The comments here are much more than “I agree” or “I disagree”.
I also feel it’s hard to convey tone sometimes. Sometimes we take something the wrong way, but it wasn’t meant to be negative. That isn’t an excuse for everyone else to pile on, and again I’ll try to steer the conversation to a happy place. However, once a comment resorts to name calling, abuses, attacks or trolling, I have to draw the line. Disagreement doesn’t make a hostile environment, but mean people do. Thankfully, there are very few mean people here.
Tell us about your community’s comment policy. Do you moderate? If so, what sort of rules do you have in place?
Discuss…
Yes, I do have a comment policy, even though it’s not publicly posted. I agree with you, I do not allow comments through that are mean or hateful, although I rarely get those (at least not on my business blogs). Instead, I get more spam type comments with links back to spam sites. Those I do not let through – as I’m not going to provide ‘link love’ to spammers.
I have all of my blogs set so I must moderate all first time commenters. This will prevent trolls and spammers from getting their foot in the door on a blog post of any age (no matter how buried in the archives), because if they’ve never had a comment approved, or I suspect something amiss, then I don’t approve them.
I view bog commenting as something that should add value to the conversation. I can tell when someone is trying to get a comment approved (just for the link back to their site) with a comment that really doesn’t add value or even a true opinion on the topic. A two or three word ‘I agree’ or ‘Interesting’, and that’s it, is not joining in the conversation. Tell me why you ‘agree’, tell me what’s so ‘interesting’ about the post – put some thought into your comment so I can see that you’ve actually read the post!, then I’ll let your comment through – even if you don’t agree.
I have no issues with folks not agreeing with me, or objecting to any or all of what I’ve said, if they can articulate their opposing view in a civil manner, without foul language and name calling.
Hello Deb,
I agree, a comment policy is a great idea. I still haven’t gotten around to putting one on my own sites, but will probably do so in the relatively near future.
I think it is important to set a comment policy which is as responsible and respectful of the readers who wish to comment, as the comments themselves should be. Placing too many restrictions or adding too many requirements will only stifle conversation and insult the intelligence of legitimate participants.
I like the FWJ comment policy. It’s clear, to the point, and doesn’t require or prohibit a laundry list of things.
Great post Deb!
I totally agree with you. Comment Policy on my blog appears with the comment box so that people can make sure their comment pass through.
I do not allow hate words and the use of keywords instead of Name.
I believe in an almost free for all comment policy, and it’s worked very well for me. My rules are simple:
1. Don’t spam my blog.
2. Don’t insult my other readers.
3. If you want to insult me, that’s fine, but you’re required to post your full name and take credit for your words (no anonymous venom allowed).
4. If you say something ignorant or stupid because you didn’t bother to read the post before commenting, I’ll point out that ignorance once. If they proceed without reading, their comments will no longer be allowed.
I’m all for open communication, but I will not play the role of babysitter.
I take comments based on their merit, and go from there. If someone posts something abusive, it won’t matter if they are using a handle or a “real name,” I will judge whether to moderate the comment based on what is said. Besides, you have the IP address of anyone who visits your site, which is far more identifying than whatever name someone fabricates for use in a comment form.
The comment policy at newslancers.com is part of the overall site policies new members read when registering. For a community, the key is involvement – positive or negative. Just as solely negative comments are banned from public discussions, so are comments that too frequently are of the fawning variety. (Members are free to speak their minds in private e-mail, though.)
I don’t have a published comment policy, mainly because I don’t have enough blog readers but I do moderate the first comment of any one who does comment. I don’t let spam through and sometimes I edit out extraneous links of people who are only commenting to leave a link. For example, if they leave a link in the website field and then two more links after their comment, the extra links get deleted. Sorry.
I’ve also corrected the grammar/spelling of a commenter. I’m not sure if they were typing so fast that they didn’t realize they made the mistakes or if English wasn’t their mother tongue but I just couldn’t let them roll out on my blog with an illiterate comment.
There are comment policies on the blogs I write for. Generally, we delete the spam comments. A few months ago I did have to delete a comment I thought was a personal attack. I let one comment go through, but then when I got an even worse one from the same person, I couldn’t take it anymore and deleted it. And of course, that person was anonymous. I did lose sleep over the first comment, but I didn’t lose any sleep at all after deleting the second one. Hopefully that person will never come back!
One thing I think important, is to avoid deleting comments simply because you don’t agree with the point being made. While I may not like everything people may say, I do not delete comments which disagree with my own point of view. Even of the comment is strongly worded, so long as it is relatively free of personal attack or vulgarity I will let it through.
Differing opinion is not an attack, it is an opportunity!
I think that is also the same in this situation. ,
One of my friends had a really offensive troll. She is a sexual assault survivor and he would make crude sexual comments. She activated comment moderation but could still see parts of his sick comments when going through and choosing which comments were legit and should be published and which were his and should be flushed. She tried the I.P. blocking but this sick pig literally went to different Internet cafes all over Mumbai so he could keep harassing her because his I.P. kept changing that way. She eventually ended up eliminating her main blog and making her auxiliary blogs hidden. It’s tragic when morons like this make the possibility of enjoyable interaction difficult for others.