Comments Etiquette
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On your blog do you allow swearing? I run a couple of sites and my current rule of thumb is if I get a message that contains maybe one or two swear words I’ll just #%&* them out and let the post through. If the message itself is unnecessarily vulgar or offensive or just plain inappropriate I will delete it.
Some people get very upset and up in arms about deleting comments but I am of the mind that it’s my blog and if I don’t appreciate the tone I can remove the comment. It’s a personal guideline that i follow. A little like I can’t define pornography but I can tell you when I see it type of thing. I certainly don’t mind someone disagreeing with me or having a different opinion. It is those differences that make the blogosphere great. I just won’t be talked to in that tone in my house LOL.
So on your blogs do you have a written set of rules?
Do you clearly establish a set of guidelines for contributors to follow?
On my own blogs 99% of commentators have picked up the general vibe of the site and behave accordingly. In fact i think in my time blogging I’ve deleted maybe two messages. To be fair one was a set of messages. They were completely off topic and were hijacking the general theme of the site and the other one barely even registers in my memory. I’m sure there was another but I can’t for the life of me remember it.
With the first one I spoke to the person via email and advised why and eventually we just agreed to disagree. The second one i vaguely recall just deleting it as it seemed to be just a one off visit and i can’t say I’ve ever heard of them again (or maybe I have LOL and i just don’t remember deleting their comment!!!).
Actually just recently I deleted a comment over at mybloglog just because it was a bit more graphic and unnecessary than I wanted appearing in my profile. Once again it’s my profile and I’ll cry if I want to.
So I would love to hear from EVERYONE! I promise not to delete anyone’s comments (well within reason LOL). Lets get a discussion going on this so new bloggers can learn from us more established!
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Mike from Arkansas said:
I don’t have a written set of rules.
However, I would not hesitate to delete a comment that has excessive foul language. I generally don’t use that kind of language and I have asked people stopping by my office to refrain from using it. (There’s actually been a couple of times recently when things were going badly at work where people I’ve worked with for ten to twenty years raised their eyebrows in surprise to hear me use words they’d never heard me use before.)
Comments that are off-topic are judged on a case by case basis.
I would hesitate to edit anyone’s comments, even to edit out bad language. The blog belongs to me, but the words in a comment belong to the author. I would delete a comment before I would edit it.
February 12th, 2007 at 4:42 am -
Ed the Editor said:
When you have a blog, you have a target audience, and you have to visualise someone in that crowd and write to them. You have to be consistent. That way when people leave comments they know the tone of the blog.
With a name like the Pisstakers, I guess it is clear that we are OK with some slang! I hope people pick up from the graphics that I write with a smile on my face and dont take myself too seriously. But as far as bad language, how far would we go, or allow?
When used in small doses, I personally think bad language can be really funny or shocking (in a good way) ie if it serves some creative purpose, and is not said aggressively, then by all means say what you like. If it is ignorant use of slang, then no that isnt acceptable.
Sometimes I wonder if our blog name doesnt make some webmasters uncomfortable and we are caught in profanity filters sometimes. But I can assure any touchy readers that where I come from it ranks about one degree of bad above “bloody” and has nothing to do with extracting bodily fluids! Peace.
February 12th, 2007 at 4:53 am -
annie said:
If you’re going to have a blog with commenting, then you have to be able to take what comes. If you completely want it to be “Your blog, your rules”, then don’t have commenting. I hate it when people delete or edit comments, except in a few cases where it’s completely anonymous, irrelevant and rude and it’s obvious it was intended as a drive-by shooting. Or, it’s spam.
I swear and I don’t care if my commenters swear, but I do try to understand the tone of a person’s blog before I swear in their comments.
I’ve had trolls and I love to play with them until they cry, “Uncle”. That’s been a blast! I even have a Troll Roll of people, most of whom THOUGHT they were commenting anonymously.February 12th, 2007 at 5:27 pm -
Lee said:
Mike – i think that’s a fair enough rule of thumb – I’m very much in the same camp.
Ed – even with your site’s name I still wouldn’t go in with the big three swear words because of the atmosphere at Pisstakers. Or at least I wouldn’t let loose with too many of them LOL.
Annie – I think your readers still have to afford you a scrap of respect or at least common courtesy. I think if you go onto someone else’s blog and are completely rude or inappropriate then you can expect to get your comments censored. I will never ever change the intent of someone’s post. If they disagree or say something that I hate so be it – but it’s rudeness that burns me up.
THANKS YOU GUYS FOR SHARING!!!
February 13th, 2007 at 11:32 am -
Ryan said:
Lee… I’m guilty of all the above. I hate having my comments moderated, but maybe a little thought before hand would have prevented that from occuring. It’s my blog, and If I don’t like what someone said, I would still leave it on if it was backed with some viable points. If it was a comment filled with rage and nonsense – the comment would go away. I have had a few sites remove my comments for the same reasons.
Speaking of which – you should go check your other blogs lol
I was kidding mostly.
February 14th, 2007 at 4:09 am -
Chris said:
I do have a little ‘about the blog page’ which sets out my thoughts on the matter. Basically we’re all grown ups and only abusive or genuinely nasty stuff will get deleted.
Haven’t had to do it so far, but as I told one guy, I don’t moderate opinion, even if I disagree with you!
February 14th, 2007 at 9:39 pm -
Jennifer said:
I don’t allow swearing on my blog. No comment will be posted that has curse words in it, end of story.
There are no curse words on my blog in my own typed text though. I just don’t use those words.
In addition, some students read my blog and having a known 10 year old in your audience should keep you from using language like that.
February 15th, 2007 at 4:54 am -
Lee said:
Ryan and Chris – I think the general common sense in regards to ‘rage and nonsense’ is the most widely accepted way of handling comments.
Jennifer – It’s a really good point knowing your target audience and what you think is appropriate for them!
February 15th, 2007 at 6:46 am -
Lee said:
There is currently a conversation taking place over at WWdN discussing how Digg has started to degenerate with inappropriate comments and general immaturity. I thought this somewhat related considering what we’ve been discussing here.
February 15th, 2007 at 2:39 pm -
Matthew Jabs said:
Matt & Lee…
I don’t allow swearing on eJabs. Because it is aimed at “family values”, I think my readers/commentators pick up on it. There have been very few comments that I’ve had to edit…but I COMPLETELY disagree with Annie.
Annie…if someone doesn’t want swearing on their blog, then why shouldn’t they be able to moderate that? That thought pattern is ridiculous if you ask me! Did you ask me? 😉
May 14th, 2007 at 4:13 pm