Comments, Balancing Risks and Benefits
As you set up your first blog, you’ll need to decide how you’ll want to manage the comments that come in. As most experienced bloggers have learned, an open “anything goes” policy has some significant drawbacks.
One of the main reasons you’ll want to monitor and filter comments is to combat comment spam, which has become a significant problem for bloggers. Comment spammers use automated Web “robots” that can browse thousands of blogs in rapid succession looking for opportunities to insert random “comments” promoting their wonderful online casino offerings or various pharmaceutical products. One reason why comment spam exists is so that spammers can gain valuable inbound links. By inserting comments on your blog that contain links back to their sites, they hope to trick Google into thinking that their site is highly relevant because so many other sites link back to them.
Other challenges include dealing with obscenities, off-topic remarks, and the occasional troublemaker who has an ax to grind. One option is to simply turn comments off and not allow them at all. For the blogger who is very tight on time and doesn’t want the hassle, this can be a viable choice.
Id personally suggest that businesses avoid this rather one-sided option and instead implement the Comment Moderation or Filtering feature. Common filtering options provided by many blog software systems include:
- Pre-authorization of posts: This is an approach i employ on my blog. When a reader comments to the system, the author of the original post is automatically sent an email containing the comment and a link to authorize, delete, or edit the comment being submitted. After a few comments from the same person have been approved, their comments are posted automatically. By allowing my regular readers to earn trust, I give them a feeling of being a special member of our community. This also cuts down on the amount of approving I have to do.
- Anti-robot comment system: In many systems, the comment form contains a “test” that robots find hard to pass. Usually, a graphic with an embedded word is presented to the viewer who must correctly enter that word into a field for validation.
- Semi-automated exclusion tools: Some blog engines allow the owner to enter specific banned words and/or IP addresses of commenter’s to be excluded. When the system encounters the blacklisted words or banned individuals, their posts are ignored.
Of course, none of the automated approaches can completely replace hands-on monitoring and moderation. Check out Kevins post for more useful information on dealing with comments on your blog called Should You Switch Off Your Blog Comments?
Do you receive nuisance comments, and if so, what do you do about them? What sort of thing would you not tolerate in your comments? Have you ever considered switching your comments off?
And finally, as said by Kevin at the above link, ‘Personally, getting comments to my posts is one of the most rewarding parts of blogging.’ - I couldn’t agree with you more Kevin!! What do you guys think?
Rob O. | May 1st, 2008 at 2:40 pm #
Nothing is quite as validating as reader comments. Sure, you can scour over your stats and see that your site is getting traffic (and which pages, and where from, and, and…) but that doesn’t really help you gauge how well your ideas are being received by the folks who arrive at your door. There are certainly other indicators, but I think of reader comments as the most immediate measures of this.
Blogger-based blogs are at a bit of disadvantage with the way comments are handled anyway, so I’ve intentionally avoided anything else that’d complicate matters such as comment moderation or CAPTCHA security. I’ve occasionally had a little comment spam, but I’d rather have to clean up a little spam as needed than to lock things down.
John w. | May 1st, 2008 at 3:52 pm #
I don’t get many comments. So maybe I have it easy. The worst I get are the very obvious spam posts- the ones that say something like “useful site” and then link to a pill site. I remove any like that if I catch them.
Otherwise it’s nice to get comments at all. I think it as depends on your purpose and best use of time. There are probably many bloggers who devote way too much time to comment moderation and other tasks that don’t seem to be a productive use of time. I could spend that time doing something a lot more productive or with family.
Link Building Bible | May 1st, 2008 at 6:58 pm #
I like to get comments on my blog… the occasional spam ones can be annoying, but for the most part I don’t have an issue with spam. It’s mainly well meaning people who just post a link in the comment… I just de-link it and move on my way.
i always want more comments though.
Ronald | May 1st, 2008 at 7:40 pm #
I’m personally against a comment system where a user most be moderated before their first comment appears. From my perspective, the blogger is saying, “I don’t trust you.”
Online I’m a big believer in not trusting someone until they have given you a reason not to trust. That’s when I start blacklisting, deleting, or marking comments as spam. Yes, it’s more work and there is a potential for a bad comment to get on the blog, but I think first-time commenters should get the best experience possible.
I personally don’t feel part of a community if my comment is moderated. I feel like I’m asking permission to come inside, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll be let in. And when I’m let in, I really don’t give it a second thought. It’s just one less blog to worry about being moderated on.
XLOR | May 2nd, 2008 at 6:13 am #
Guys, if you don’t want to have spammers - turn off the possibility of commenting. But If you don’t want to do that - prepare for spamming. This problem cannot be solved absolutely. You always have to risk with smth.
BioTecK | May 5th, 2008 at 8:09 am #
‘Personally, getting comments to my posts is one of the most rewarding parts of blogging.’ I agree on this too!! It’s just good to see that people commenting on your post!
Btw.. I have a question about Pre-authorization of comments.. How can I do that in WordPress??