Why do you comment QUESTION

I have pretty much purloined this from Rose, who wrote:
“Bloggers love comments. Comments tell us that our readership is actually interested in what we blog about. If you like someone’s blog, you leave a comment. It’s that simple.”

I find it trickier, though. In my comments to Rose, I wrote: “Some sites require you to register to comment, and I have if I’m likely to return. Some have word verification, and some work better than others – if I have to work at it, never mind. Some open another window that take too long to open and I’ll bail.”

Then there are folks who just KNOW I’m checking out their sites by my frequent comments, but I may not have anything to say about that particular post. Scott, for instance, is a really swell guy. He’s actually snail mailed me something out of the blue. When he writes about music or his son, I often comment. When he tells about Aussie Rules Fantasy Football, though, I’ve got nothing to add, but I’ll still come back the next time.

I’d particular like to hear from the lurkers out there who read but never write.

One of the things that I’ve opted to do here is to try to make it easy to reply. One does not have to join Blogger to answer, just pick anonymous or your own URL. I don’t even have word verification or comment moderation; I do, however, get comments e-mailed to me, and I can delete spam after the fact.
ROG

Comments

I’ve been blogging 2.5 years and yet I haven’t had a formal comments policy. Noticing that Jaquandor (yes, him again) wrote one up some time ago, I thought it’d be a good idea to do likewise.

1. I encourage comments about the topic at hand. In fact, I would enjoy receiving more. Indeed, I’ve left it so you don’t have to do word verification when commenting. You don’t have to even have a Blogger account, since you can just click on the anonymous button. (And if you DO want to identify yourself, just sign it.)

2. As we all are, I’m imperfect. If I’ve made an error of fact, or have a link that doesn’t work, please let mer know ASAP, in the comments section or via e-mail, posted in the sidebar.

3. I expect that, from time to time, readers will have a strong negative reaction to something I’ve written in this blog. I’m good with that. Leave a comment to that effect.

4. But there’s a certain level of social decorum that I expect. I would refer to it as as “common sense” except that it isn’t as common as I would have thought.

a. No flamewars. If you start attacking others, or me, in a way that I feel is inappropriate, I will delete the post. Except for spam, and one incredibly racist comment, I’ve never done it before. I don’t like doing so. But I will.

b. If you want to attack me and tell me that I’m stupid and only an idiot would believe that GWB should be impeached, fine, but such comments will require a name and an e-mail address. Anonymous attack comments will be deleted as soon as I learn of their existence.

c. Every comment left here is also forwarded to my Gmail address, so don’t think that leaving a nasty comment on a post that’s buried deep in my archives will escape my notice. Since many people seem to come to this blog via search engines, that happens quite often.

d. Any other comments that I deem inappropriate – and I have VERY liberal standards – will be deleted. Also spam, unless it’s REALLY entertaining.

“Hey, Roger, don’t you believe in the First Amendment?” Indeed, I do. I support your right to start your own blog and have your own rules.

e. Please limit comments to the topic of the post at hand. If there’s something else you really want to call to my attention, e-mail me. I check it often.

ROG

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