Comments on: Should You Moderate Your Comments?

By: Gerald Weber

Gerald Weber — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:30:42 +0000

Actually let me take that back. I will delete profanity on my blog but I usually will let’s trolling type comments stand to a point as long as they aren’t using profanity.

By: Gerald Weber

Gerald Weber — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:25:28 +0000

Let me first say I think Guy Kawasaki is an Oxymoron. Wait! no let’s just go with moron on that one.

OK now that we have that out of the way. Let me say I agree with you 100% in your point here. I agree with letting opposing views stand and even sometimes if they are even rude etc. In fact I’ll even put up w/ trolling to a certain point. But I think pointless meaningless comments that add nothing to the post not only have no value, but also take away from the user experience on your blog.

For example if someone says F*** you, you suck and here’s why…. and they give an explanation about why I suck I would let the comment stand and reply…

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:04:28 +0000

Im currently studying this exact topic and have personally come to two different conclusions..

Firstly I think personal blogs which belong to an individual who wishes to blog about their travels,work or just about any other topic – should be moderated. There is nothing less deterring then receiving a comment saying “f*&k you and your blog your an idiot who needs to get a better life” personal attacks are a no go.

However on the flip side of this you have companies to say “Oh we are such a transparent company and we want everyone to give us feedback, and yes come in and see how we operate our business” and then they moderate their blogs to “appear” that they accepting of two-way communication.

By: Laurie Cope

Laurie Cope — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:46:53 +0000

I found this while researching whether I should or should not moderate… I dont want to put people off commenting if they think its moderated, but I am finding most comments I get are just “good post” with a link back to the persons site. This is clearly just a means for someone to link back to their website, they are clearly not interested in the blog.

So yes I completely agree, just let the valid comments though, and delete the wasters.

I also moderate to stop all the spam submissions aswell of course.

By: Bob Stovall - Colorado Springs

Bob Stovall - Colorado Springs — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:30:28 +0000

I agree. You do your readers a service by deleting the the comments that do not add anything, particularly the ones that use offensive language. One way I judge blogs and sites is by the quality of the comments. If I see a bunch of poorly written and/or foul-mouthed remarks, that blog loses my interest quickly.

By: Azh

Azh — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:57:00 +0000

This is a question I’ve asked myself a number of times and have come to the conclusion that, while I’m happy for people to post a negative comment with relation to my blog or the post I’ve written, ones that do not add anything to the conversation and are simply insulting (re – the F** You type comments) are not useful to either the blog owner or the people who wish to truly comment and so I delete them. It’s not moderating in the sense of not allowing people to have their say, but moderating in that allowing people to have their say in a comfortable environment.

By: My Journey

My Journey — Sat, 30 May 2009 20:26:21 +0000

I author 5 blogs and honestly feel that comment moderation is a necessity. I too feel the comment whether positive or negative should add to the conversation. However there are times that I will let through a comment either positive or negative that really doesn’t add to the conversation but rather the comment adds another dimension. It’s always nice to get a comment that says hey, you are doing a great job as well providing it isn’t a thinly veiled way to get a link back. At the same time there are some who stumble upon your blog and think it is fine to leave the rudest of comments while others think your blog is fair game for spamming. I really don’t feel my readers need to read either so I see the role of moderating as acting as a buffer. The alternative to moderating is to let all comment, create a bit of controversy and lose a few loyal readers in the process. The second alternative is to only allow some readers to comment but that still doesn’t guarantee you decent comments. The third alternative is to not allow comments at all and we both know that squashes conversation.

This is an issue that every blogger must face at some point. I visited through twitter (gardengnome1) so nice to read a well thought out perspective on this somewhat difficult issue.

By: Rosanne Gain

Rosanne Gain — Sat, 30 May 2009 20:21:56 +0000

Eric: Thanks for your thoughtful article, which I have shared. I agree that there is a thin line between moderating and censorship: your rule of thumb is a good one: does it add to the conversation? One of the great benefits of social media is the sharing of ideas. Not everyone is going to agree with you – if they did, you would be preaching to the choir and how will you learn if no one challenges your thinking? Rosanne Gain, Gain-Stovall, Inc. – prmavencolorado on Twitter.

By: Joe Murphy

Joe Murphy — Sat, 30 May 2009 20:17:21 +0000

Hey there — I spend a lot of time dealing with comments in my day job at the Denver Post, and we’ve had a lot of talk about moderation over there.

We get more than 1,500 comments a day, and we delete 50-75 comments a day for a variety of reasons — most of all name-calling, hate speech, and irrelevance. t

The people on our site are more adversarial than what you find on most blogs, which is a challenge. This is the set of commenting ground rules we use on our site, which may be useful to you or your readers: http://neighbors.denverpost.com/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=123484135

Also, I’m a big fan of BoingBoing’s moderation policy, which you can read here: http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/27/boing-boings-moderat.html

-Joe

By: Jen

Jen — Sat, 30 May 2009 02:09:32 +0000

How ironic?