Now that I have a pretty solid archive of posts I get comments on my posts just about everyday. Many of these comments are really helpful. Sometimes they ask for more information to clarify a point I made, sometimes they add some extra resources that I didn't mention, and sometimes they thank me for sharing my opinion or a tutorial. I love those comments because they help everyone. What I don't love are the comments that don't add anything to the conversation. Too many of the comments that come through don't add information they just drop a link for their product.
I've debated on and off what to do about these types of comments. Do I delete them? Do I edit them to remove the link? Do I ban them? All of those seem pretty harsh and I've mostly resisted doing that up till now. A few days ago Chris Lema wrote a post about his policy when it comes to blog comments and that pushed me over the edge to share what I do with my comments.
Your Comments, My Living Room
This blog is my virtual living room. When I'm done writing code or planning projects I enter the living room and start a conversation. Sometimes it's just me rambling to myself which is fine and sometimes other people join me. And my living room is pretty much open as long as you're contributing to the conversation. You can add your own opinion, you can correct me if I'm wrong, and if you have a tidbit about some service that I forgot to mention please bring it up!
What I don't tolerate in my own physical home are people with no respect for boundaries. I don't invite salesmen in; sell your wares else where. I don't tolerate demanding people. If you have a question for me go ahead and ask it. If I have the answer I'll usually share it right away. But if I don't have the answer right away the comment might have to wait until I have free time. It could be tomorrow, next week, or next year. I try to help people but I do have my own errands to do.
Spelling & Grammar
Blogs are of course different from living rooms. Every comment is recorded and displayed to the public. For that reason I edit your comment for grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Usually that means I change things from woocommerce to WooCommerce. I do my best to not change the message of what you're saying but sometimes I do add or remove extra paragraphs or punctuation just for readability. I care about this blog and I want it to be useful for everyone so that means making sure everything is as easy to read as possible.
Keep Sharing
I hope the fact that I do edit or choose not to publish certain comments doesn't discourage you from sharing. I really do try to keep this blog as useful as possible for everyone. Keep sharing with me because every time you do I learn something.
Happy commenting! 🙂
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