Comments on: Poll: Should I Turn Comments On?

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 13:11:37 +0000

I picked up your post “The Day I Was Flamed At My Blog” accidentally through an alert that I had registered with google. Having started a new blog myself I read it with interest. I appreciate the seriousness of your endeavor, its basis in honesty, and the general integrity of your approach. I was surprised to see that comments were turned off when I checked out your blog directly. I found it hard to reconcile with the post I had read.

My blog arose from the rage that I felt at my treatment by Amazon as a seller in Amazon Marketplace. As I did research I found out that Amazon was failing to be a good corporate citizen in many ways, and I created my blog as a compendium of information about Amazon and a place for Amazon insiders and others to let people know about its nefarious dealings.

Clearly my blog LIVES or DIES by its comments. I do provide my own content based on my experiences, but my content is not as thought out and elaborate as your personal excellence blog content, so I don’t have as much to protect as you do. Comments are on, but I approve each comment individually, and the introduction to my blog indicates that I will ruthlessly exclude off topic content as well as content THAT I DETERMINE to be Amazon propaganda. Finally, my blog is much more angry and satirical than yours, so I don’t have as much of a tone that I need to maintain.

I would say that you have every right to exclude comments that do not contribute to your blog. I use WordPress. Doesn’t your software allow you to approve comments before they are posted?

In any case, it is a rare post that leads me back to the originating blog. I feel the authenticity of your work and I understand your impulse to protect its quality.

Chris amazonfraud.recessionstories.net

By: Pam @ 8000 Brilliant Women

Pam @ 8000 Brilliant Women — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 19:17:37 +0000

Yes, please turn the comments on! I learn a lot from people who write meaningful comments and enjoy reading them.

I just found your blog, BTW, and love it!

By: Celes

Celes — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:15:31 +0000

@bliz, I love your suggestion! In fact, I just installed a new plug-in which allows readers to vote up/down, without having to register. It’s live in action right now (notice the thumbs up/down below every comment). Thanks bliz!

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 10:22:37 +0000

Go take a look at marksdailyapple.com, he has his comment section open and it has created a thriving online community. But it doesn’t seem to work equally well for every blog, but in general I think having people comment on your posts gives people the idea that your blog is valued by people, this is social proof for them that it is worth their time to read your blog and return for another visit. Think about that.

Something else bloggers seems to have found useful is to post a general disclaimer on top of the comment section asking people to play nice in the comment section, this may not seem like something that would work, but apparently it does. Something to consider maybe.

By: Kakynologyst

Kakynologyst — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 10:08:46 +0000

Should have,

Comments come from basic democracy, at least readers can reflect to you what’s in their mind.

Agreed with JB’s idea of making a forum, you can make each article automatically create new thread on the forum and let readers comment on the thread.

By: sb

sb — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 05:39:52 +0000

I would like to vote for yes for all topics. It is always a good idea to exchange and invite opinions from others and sharing experiences of life. Since all topics covered here are mostly related to life experiences, hence it will be a good idea to keep the comment on.

By: Sunny

Sunny — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 04:03:45 +0000

Yes, you should allow others to comment, this is itself a form of “feedback” loop; so that you can gauge your readers reactions/responses to what is been written is what they like or not too…