I’ve seen a number of ‘Comment Policies’ on blogs and they often leave me feeling like the bloggers that have written them are taking themselves far too seriously.The policies usually consist of the blogger in question reading the riot act to their readers.
They’re generally about making you feel that your comment is about to be put under the spotlight and if that comment crosses the line you’re likely to have several well dressed gentlemen in dark glasses arrive at your workplace to escort you to a quiet quarry outside the metropolitan area to have you officially ‘disappeared’.
Of course I do understand the need for a policy, especially where posts may be of a more controversial nature.
So …. I’ve decided to come up with my own policy. You’ll find it by clicking the words ‘Comment Policy’ at the top of the page. Easy enough I guess but I thought I’d make your initial reading of the policy even easier by including it in this post.
The policy is pretty much this, I want you to leave comments – lots of them.
My measure of success as a blogger is not whether I write lots of posts but whether what I write interests you enough to have your say.
I simply want you to comment and comment often. Comment on what I’ve written, comment on what others have said – please just comment. I’d love to see some real conversations develop in the comments section of my posts.
I suppose it does get a bit more complicated than that. I don’t like spam. The stuff in the can is OK, though I’d never buy it, but the internet type doesn’t thrill me. I’ll remove anything that looks or smells like spam.
“Why can’t we all just get along?” Well actually, I think we can. I don’t mind if you disagree with what I say or other commenters say. You’re welcome to leave comments with alternative points of view but just show some respect when doing so. I’ll admit that it’d be nice if everyone just agreed with me but it’d get boring pretty quickly, so go on … tell me what you really think. Just say it with respect. Remember what your mum told you about playing nice? No name calling or hair pulling please.
It’d be great if you could make family friendly comments. By that I simply mean that you should use the kind of language that you’d use if women and children were present. Of course if you generally use nasty language when women and children are present, try using the kind of language you imagine I might use with women and kids around. It’s the old respect thing again and I know that you’re smart enough to know what I mean.
In the end, as I said in the beginning, I want you to leave comments – lots of them. Just remember that as this is my blog I’m ultimately responsible for what gets published on my domain so please don’t write stuff that I have to remove.
Thanks.
Rodney
So there you have it. Now you can get down to commenting. 🙂
What do you think of comment policies? Do you have one for your blog? Does a comment policy encourage you to comment or discourage you from leaving your opinion?
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My policy is ‘comments? What are they? Can a have some?’ 🙂
A few blogs i read moderate their blogs – often the blogger replies to their comment straight after the text of the comment- makes for interesting reading.
Thanks Paula. Over the past few weeks I’ve tried to reply to each comment that people leave hear. I really do want to get the word out that I want to create a greater sense of community.
As for moderation, I’ve set things up so that the first couple of times someone comments it goes to moderation but once I’ve approved them their comments appear immediately. That way I don’t have to use ‘capthchas’ or other kinds of verification each time a person leaves a comment. It’s a great way of making commenting easier but stopping spam.
I feel this post is too controversial!
Well, Matt, if that’s you attitude I’ll just have to delete your comment. 🙂
(I’ll send the boys around to sort you out later.)
Hi Rodney.
The comment policy is a good idea and one I may think about apdopting. It gives a clear message about what is expected from people in regards to what you allow to be posted.
Unfortunately other sites, including my own, have no choice but to moderate our comments. Over the past few years you get the same old ‘crowd’ who think the comments section is a place to vent anger and make personal comments about myself, or people I know, directly for no other reason aside from not liking me.
It’s just one of those things as an owner of a blog you have to accept.
Well done on trying a different approach
Comments are great. Personally I do not have a policy, but don’t mind yours, Rodney.
I get the occasional belligerent atheist wanting to insult me and engage me with long-winded, rambling sophistry. I’ve found that a lot of them just want to debate against Christians, not really caring about their methods or the original topic. My comments policy is just for them. I usually allow them one or two posts, but if it’s clear that the conversation has gone way off topic, has resorted to insults, and/or is simply going nowhere, I delete their posts or just ignore them. I think that others may also want to comment on the topic and I want to converse with them too, so I have no problem with ending a conversation abruptly if it is hogging the comments.
Blogs have inherent weaknesses in regards to conversation when compared to online forums.
– forums are easier to navigate and conversations are easier to keep track of
– there is an expectation that forum conversations may go for days, weeks or months, whereas the blogger and his audience will want to move on pretty quickly.
– Unlike with forums, people new to the conversation are hesitant to leave comments on old blog posts, because there’s less likelihood of the blogger and his usual audience responding
– only the blogger can initiate new conversations, either related or unrelated
– the blogger is the more powerful in the conversation/argument, as the threat to delete comments is always there
– individual comments are shorter than those on forums
– the fact that you are conversing on someone’s blog will mean dedicated readers are most likely to agree with you, thus limiting the range of viewpoints expressed through the comments
I’m sure you can think of more weaknesses.
I’m a fan of both the blogosphere and online forums. Both have strengths and weaknesses. I’ve set up the Aussie Christians forum in order to help grow and give greater visibility to the online Australian Christian community. Everyone, feel free to join.
Good luck with your own community building efforts, Rodney. You’ve got charisma and write about interesting stuff which I am sure will serve you well.
Thanks for your comments, David. I remember when you had to put that policy in place and start moderating everything. It’s sad that people can’t just live and let live. I’m sure that you don’t mind people having different opinions but personal attacks are another matter.
I’m certainly glad that the negative comments didn’t cause you to just give up. While I don’t comment on your blog as often as I should I always enjoy keeping up to date with your world.
Paul there are certainly many limitations to blogging when it comes to building community but thankfully it’s still possible.
Thanks for taking the time to leave such a detailed and thoughtful response to the topic of commenting.
I don’t mind if a few atheists drop in to share their point of view as long as it’s done respectfully. I won’t put up with atheists or Christians insulting other commenters or using my blog as a place to vent. I’ve seen some Christians engage in some pretty nasty mud throwing competitions. I’ve also seen many atheists or people of other faiths state their opinions with great respect.
I’ve just had a quick look at your forums and I’ll spend a bit more time poking around when I get a moment or two this week.
Johnny, if you’re ever in need of a policy, feel free to pinch mine. 🙂
I have never actually thought of a policy.
I suppose I have ideas in my head.
For example, if it’s not family friendly, it doesn’t get accepted.
If it’s a person trying to sell me something, it doens’t get accepted.
The rest are all welcome.
Forums, I agree, need a policy. Things can heat up in them.
🙂
Barb
I started my blog as a fun place to vent, be serious sometimes and talk about myself 🙂
It came as a bit of a shock when I realised how many people were reading it, and what variety of people were, and therefore that I needed to be a little bit more responsible about it all.
Part of that meant being clear about not wanting to provide a forum for overtly critical and mean spirited comments.
At the end of the day, the internet is free and freely available, but your little piece of it….is yours to look after as you wish to.
I agree with this all Rodney. In my profile and welcome new readers to my blog but also warn if they leave nasty or rude comments I’ll delete them. I don’t mind people dis agreeing with me either, it’s good to hear others’ point of view but not rude ones.
I like your policy.
Barbara, I had thought some time ago of writing a policy but all the examples I’d seen looked like they’d scare people off. That’s why I wrote the kind of casual policy that I did.
I wanted people to know that things are fairly casual around here but I will take action if I think it’s warranted.
Good point Mark. Our blogs are a piece of us. I love forums but they can end up being a free for all. I love the interaction of blogging. It’s not a case of wanting it to be ‘all about me’ but of finding a place in cyberspace to be yourself.
Java, I’m glad you like the policy. 🙂
I suppose we should apply some sort of test to the comments we leave. Would I say this kind of thing in this way if they’d invited me into their loungeroom?
In essence that’s a big part of what we’re doing. We’re inviting people into our world and differing points of view aren’t a problem – rudeness always is.
That policy works (though perhaps too long).
Mine just states that the first one will be moderated, that I don’t deal well with people using a keyword instead of their real name or real nickname, and that I use Akismet to capture spam (not that the spammers pay the remotest bit of attention). 😉 I make it clear that if you’re here just for the nofollow juice, you can forget it, though looking at yours I think I could rephrase it to be less formal and more fun.
(I came over from Problogger via your Entrecard.)
Linda, thanks for leaving your thoughts on my policy, especially since it meant that I got to check out your main blog. 🙂 Always nice to meet a fellow cat lover.
I like to ride bikes too, but the kind I ride don’t have motors.