Day 11: Write a Blog Comment Policy
I don’t have a comment policy, it never really occurred to me to create one but I guess it does set the tone for the blog. I should have thought of it when Meredith had her problem on her blog and, goodness knows, I’ve seen my share of flaming on blogs where comments descend into childish name calling. I guess I just assumed that because my blog is somewhat professional in nature (rather than a blog about, say, my family or friends or hobbies) that commenting would be a big issue for me.
I do moderate my comments but that’s less about being concerned about what people will say than my desire to know when someone has something to say. I’ve never considered moderation to be an inconvenience for the commenter because I’m fairly quick about allowing comments (less than a 24 hour turn around). But now I wonder if this is a problem for commenters. Do people really care if their comments are posted immediately? Is this a result of our “gotta have it now” culture?
After reading the article, I think creating a commenting policy is simply a way of letting people know that they are responsible for their actions/words and they are expected to act appropriately.
I have decided to take the plunge and create a blog policy. This is my first effort, so please feel free to offer suggestions on how I can make it better.
This blog is “family friendly” and comments which include offensive or inappropriate language, or considered by me to be rude and offensive, will be edited or deleted. A comment which does not add to the conversation, runs of on an inappropriate tangent, or kills the conversation may be edited, moved, or deleted. Please stay on topic. Although names and email addresses are required for commenting, this information will not be published or shared.
May 15, 2008 at 1:19 AM
“Do people really care if their comments are posted immediately?” Yes for some commenters it is an issue because for some blog platforms it isn’t obviously that the comment has been moderated and for a new commenter they may not understand what does comment moderation mean.
Is this a result of our “gotta have it now” culture?” Definitely not a case of this really gets back to my response above. Another example is I got caught out last week as several people had commented on the same post I comment on. None of us knew what the others had wrote — if I had known their responses I would have written my differently. It then meant that I had to go back and re-comment on the post to explain I hadn’t known about the comments prior.
Saying all that there are pros and cons about why you do or don’t moderate comments.
May 15, 2008 at 11:22 PM
@ Sue I didn’t consider the delay in commenting and how it affects responses. You’re right that can definitely influence what you say and how you say it.