Many people are upset with me, and I am OK with that. You see, there are a whole lot of “Internet Marketers” who don’t know what they’re doing, trying to spam my blog just for the sake of getting a backlink. I hate that.
I mean, the Internet is full of people who don’t give a rat’s ass about providing any kind of value and I am trying to make sure that I provide as much value to the people reading what I have to say as possible.
Why then, do you think I’d allow anyone to post low quality comments on my blog? Why do you think I should let people ruin the credibility of my content with spammy sounding one liners right under it? I won’t.
I’ve had a bunch of people asking me why their comments never get approved. I’ve also had a whole lot of individuals asking why comments that were previously approved have now disappeared.
To be honest with you, I am sick and tired of answering those questions over and over again, so I decided to create a comment policy page. This will hopefully help you understand how I feel about the quality of comments I allow over here, and knowing will help you get more of your comments approved.
Some of what I am going to tell you might seem rude or harsh, but I don’t care. The only purpose of this page being up is to help my readers, and if you’re phased by what I am going to say to you, then feel free to go ahead and leave your comments somewhere else.
So, here you go.
1. I’m Not Desperate for Comments
If you look around the Internet, you’ll see most people think a blog lives or dies by comments. If there are a whole lot of them, then the blog seems active and alive. If there aren’t many comments, on the other hand, the site seems dead and abandoned.
While that’s true to some extend, there’s something that’s much more important than the number of comments… the quality.
I will take one high quality comment over ten crappy one liners any day, and that’s why I screen every comment that comes in to make sure my loyal following doesn’t have to sift through a whole lot of nonsense just to see what people have to say.
This might result in me getting fewer comments, but again, I don’t care.
2. I’m Not Desperate for Praise
Sometimes, when people want their comment approved, they’ll say whatever it takes. It doesn’t even matter if it’s true or not.
Some blog owners might enjoy brown nosers, but I am not one of them. I’ve had people praise me and my posts like they are the best thing since sliced bread just to push their backlink through, and the one thing I know is most of what those backlink spammers say is completely fake.
I don’t need your validation to know I am doing my job well. I know I am a bad blogger and I really don’t need anyone reminding me about it.
3. I Hate Harmful Comments
If you’re looking to jump in and cause harm or upset some of my readers or if you’re looking to join the conversation just for the sake of being controversial, even if you don’t have anything meaningful to say, you’re wasting your time.
Nothing meaningful has ever been accomplished through violence and I am not about to let people post racist, hateful or inappropriate comments on this blog.
4. I Hate Irrelevant Links in The Comment
I don’t understand why people still put crappy links in the content.
I mean, it’s one thing to link to something that’s useful or relevant to what you’re talking about, but linking to something that’s not related either to the post you’re commenting on, or my site in general doesn’t make any sense and will never get approved.Don’t even try.
5. I Hate Comments Without Gravatar Images
For me, taking the time to set up a Gravatar is a sign of respect. If you don’t do that, then I think your only purpose here is to get your backlink.
I’ve had people tell me before that Gravatars don’t matter because the comment is what really counts and, although I do understand where they’re coming from, as a general rule, if you don’t have an avatar next to your comment, what you say will most likely get tossed.
6. I Hate Broken English
If you’re trying to say something, you should take the time to make yourself clear.
I mean, I understand that not all of us are native English speakers and I do not discriminate anyone who isn’t, but if what you say is hard to understand for me, it’ll probably be difficult to understand to my readers.
If what you’re sharing is meaningful, make the effort to make your point.
7. I Hate it When People Use Keywords for Names
The Internet is a pretty anonymous place. It’s difficult to put a face to what anyone is saying as is, because we can’t see each other. The least you can do to help the community here at The Bad Blogger is use your name with your comment.
No one in the real world uses keywords to address you, do they? It’s no different over here.
8. I’m the Law Here at The Bad Blogger
I don’t want to sound pompous or anything, but I need you to understand I have complete control over what comments get published and which ones get trashed.
I can alter your words, remove your links, change what you said and do many other things.
I can do all that at will and I will exercise that freedom if your comments don’t live up to the standards stated above.
The Bottom Line
If you’re thinking about commenting on something we talked about on this blog, be sure you add value to the community, or your comment will never see the light of day. Simple as that.