Handling Blog Comments

[Sue at For Love of a Dog]

I’m wondering how all of you handle comments on your blogs.  Do you review each before published?  And how do you determine which of those you do not allow to be published?   

 I came here this morning because of a specific situation.  I’m a very outspoken critic of puppy mills, especially those in Missouri (where I’m now living) and over the last couple of years I’ve received my share of hate mail.  Recently I’ve been getting comments on my blog (talking-dogs.com) from someone with an id which links to purebredbreedeers.net (which links to purebredbreeders.com).   I assume they’re posting comments on my blog to attract clicks to their sites.  And on their sites they say all the “right” things about “their breeders,” their code of ethics, etc.   I’m inclined to delete their comments because I personally believe that puppies should not be purchased over the internet or from any kind of broker.    Opinions, please?

[Kathy H Porter]

Hi Sue – 1) Yes, I review comments before publishing them.  The platforms I’ve used – first Type Pad and now Word Press dot org – don’t automatically post comments.  I get to decide if they’ll be published or not.  I also have a spam blocker plug in that automatically prevents comments that it considers to be spam.

I’d follow your gut on this one.  It’s your blog after all, and if you’re not comfortable posting comments that you feel have an ulterior motive behind them, don’t. 

[Dawn]

I moderate the first comment someone makes and then once their first comment has been approved their posts are moderated any longer.

 

I do get a lot of spam comments on my pet product review blog.  If the comment is very generic (not adding to the conversation or content) and they have a website (as opposed to a blog) I do delete because it looks like they are just trying to get backlinks.

 

In your case, if the person is adding to the conversation, can you edit out the web site address?  I do have a comment policy on my blogs-

 

I appreciate any comments and feedback you have regarding a  topic, but I do reserve the right to delete any comment that I feel is inappropriate or totally not related to this blog (in other words-SPAM).

and

 

Please feel free to leave a comment about your experience as this will help others make any decision they do need to make. I do reserve the right to delete any comment that I feel is inappropriate.

 

You may want to add to your comment policy that you will edit out any websites that promote the sale of animals (or some such wording). That way you can allow people to comment, but not provide backlinks to their site.

[Caren]

Hi Sue, I have two blogs, Cat Chat and Dakota’s Den.

On Cat Chat I rigidly use comment moderation. I didn’t begin that way. Sadly I was forced to use it when I started receiving mean and spiteful comments from sick people who hated cats.

I use it on my dog’s blog but not as rigidly.

Without singling out “breeders”…(my cat came from a rescue but my dog was purchased from an IN HOME breeder who showed her Shelties and would sell the ones she couldn’t sell)…

I delete ANYONE with a link that is promoting themselves (other than a fellow blogger or a reputable company or something of that nature)

I also would NEVER click on a link in a blog of someone I don’t know or have never heard of.

I get countless spam comments on Cat Chat of people promoting their airlines etc (these are primarily out of the country) I hit delete.

In my opinion it’s YOUR BLOG, you can choose what comments appear on it …OR NOT

 

 

 

[Helen Collins]

Very interesting topic Sue, I think you should follow your instincts with this one.  As has been said already by Dawn, you do have the right to delete any comment that you feel is inappropriate and certianely from people who only comment in order to self promote.

 

Regarding the hate mail you have received regarding puppy mills, I still can’t come to terms with what a person must be like to agree with that despicable industry.  Keep being an outspoken critic, I am right behind you!

[Rebecca Braglio]

That’s exactly what they are doing, Sue.  I get it all the time.  Are you using wordpress? If you are you want the plug-in called Akismet – it’s great at filtering out spam.  When it doesn’t catch one I just delete it.

 

Otherwise I let all comments stand.

[Sue at For Love of a Dog]

Thank you all for your comments and support.

Dawn, I particularly like your comment policy, most especially your suggestion to add something to mine regarding websites that promote the sales of animals. 

Though I have never purchased a dog from a breeder, I do have friends that breed dogs and my business sells products to dog breeders (And I have purchased horses from breeders.).  I would not like my blog to be seen as 100% anti dog breeders.  However, puppy mills are a whole different entity.   I like the idea that conversations can happen on blogs, so I try not to be too strict with editing comments.  However, I do edit the hateful remarks I receive (all regarding puppy mills, so far.)

My blog automatically publishes comments from fellow Bloggers, but I think I’ll be editing those settings today.

Again, thanks!

[Sue at For Love of a Dog]

Rebecca, I use Blogger and it does have a spam filter which catches nearly all the truly hateful comments, as well as, the odd real spam. 

[Tripawds]

We do approve first time commentators, and we also use Akismet (WordPress plug-in) to filter spam. It’s awesome.

 

I agree, go with your gut instinct. It’s YOUR blog. This person might have good intentions about discerning good breeders from bad, but ultimately they are profiting by sending people to their site. If you are against buying dogs, then delete the comments and ban the person from commenting.

I’m so sorry you get the the hateful comments. I just can’t understand that mindset. Kudos to you for standing up for what believe in. I’m with you 110%!

[Annette @ snoopysdogblog]

Great topic –

 

I always want to make it as easy as possible to comment on my blog (it’s on WordPress.org) – I allow all comments and use ‘CommentLuv’  so people can get a link back to their blog too if they have one.

However, I do use Akismet, like Rebecca and it removes virtually ALL spam – so it’s really not an issue for me – I also receive an email when a comment is posted, which I can see on my phone, so if anything bad did slip through I know straight away and could remove it.  

Sorry you’re having problems.

 

Annette and Snoopy 🙂

Rebecca Braglio said:

That’s exactly what they are doing, Sue.  I get it all the time.  Are you using wordpress? If you are you want the plug-in called Akismet – it’s great at filtering out spam.  When it doesn’t catch one I just delete it.

 

Otherwise I let all comments stand.

[Sue at For Love of a Dog]

You all have been so helpful!!  After reading your comments and letting this sort of simmer, I did go in and delete the comments from that poster.  I’ve begun to formulate a coherent comment policy that I’ll be adding to my blog, too.  Thank you!

[Melody McKinnon]

We moderate all comments.  If they’re obvious spam, even if it’s just a generic “nice blog” with a link, it doesn’t get published.  We don’t mind allowing the poster name to be linked to their site, as long as they’re making an effort to post a legitimate, useful comment.

Generally speaking, if someone disagrees, that’s conversation and we should publish it even if it’s through gritted teeth.  If someone is disrespectful or publishing the comment seriously compromises your ethics, don’t hesitate to take action.

Specifically, would you allow a puppy mill to sell puppies from your home or your offline store?  You should feel just as comfortable preventing it through your online presence, in my opinion.

[Caren]

I use Blogger  for Cat Chat and Word Press for Dakota’s Den. Blogger does catch blatant spam…it just doesn’t catch snide or rude comments, that is when I initiated comment moderation on Cat Chat.

Sue at For Love of a Dog said:

Rebecca, I use Blogger and it does have a spam filter which catches nearly all the truly hateful comments, as well as, the odd real spam. 

[Scrappy]

I think you gave it a lot of thought and consideration and ultimately decided the right thing…:)

Sue at For Love of a Dog said:

You all have been so helpful!!  After reading your comments and letting this sort of simmer, I did go in and delete the comments from that poster.  I’ve begun to formulate a coherent comment policy that I’ll be adding to my blog, too.  Thank you!

[Doodling Dogs]

As of right now I do not moderate my comments before they can be posted.  I haven’t had any issues with it except a few unrelated comments where people were trying to promote their own sites.  I deleted those comments because I felt they weren’t related and were spammy.  As of right now I don’t think I will make it so my comments have to be moderated, but that might change in the future.  

[Jodi]

I do not review comments before posting, but the comment system that I use (Intense Debate which uses AKIMET) will not publish anything flagged by their spam filter until I approve it. I recently got a TON of comments from that talking-dogs site and I chose not to publish any of them. I will often remove links from comments if I do not feel the site is some where I don’t feel comfortable linking from my blog.

[Jodi]

I don’t moderate comments (I’m not that saavy with technology) but I do have a page called “My Blog, My Rules” where I state the blog is MY opionion and MY experiences and while I encourage people who have different opinion than I do, I expect it to be done respectfully.  If it isn’t then I will delete it.

 

I also have the Askimet that someone above me mentioned and I have no problem deleting SPAM.

 

Also something you may or may not feel comfortable pointing out on your blog, there is a HUGE difference between a responsible breeder and a puppy mill breeder.

 

 

[Sue at For Love of a Dog]

Jodi (Jodi Stone) – Thanks for commenting.   I have been very vocal about the differences between responsible dog breeders and puppy mill dog breeders on my blog.  Any nasty comments come from the puppy mill folks.  🙁   It got pretty nasty this year in Missouri.

 

Jodi (Jodi Chick) – You say you got a ton of comments from “that talking dogs site” that you deleted.  Because my blog is Talking Dogs, I just have to ask:  what talking dogs site?

[Jodi]

Hi Sue –

I need to read more carefully! I didn’t realize Talking-Dogs was your blog! Or actually, that it eve “belonged” to someone at all… LOL, I sure HOPE the comments weren’t actually from you.

Week before last I had 20? 30? a lot anyways, of comments that used your blog address (talking-dogs.com) and talking-dogs@gmail.com as the e-mail address. All were poorly written (not fluent English) comments that had little or nothing to do with the post and contained links to a variety of spam sites and puppy sales sites. I deleted them all. I’m going to assume it wasn’t you that posted them?

Sue at For Love of a Dog said:

Jodi (Jodi Stone) – Thanks for commenting.   I have been very vocal about the differences between responsible dog breeders and puppy mill dog breeders on my blog.  Any nasty comments come from the puppy mill folks.  🙁   It got pretty nasty this year in Missouri.

 

Jodi (Jodi Chick) – You say you got a ton of comments from “that talking dogs site” that you deleted.  Because my blog is Talking Dogs, I just have to ask:  what talking dogs site?

[Sue at For Love of a Dog]

Hi Jodi (Chick) –

Oh, oh.  My blog address is, indeed, talking-dogs.com.  However, that is NOT my email address.  Plus since English is my first language, my only problem is typos when I don’t proof read closely enough.  I only comment about the post and I never post links in comment.  Nope, they weren’t from me.  I don’t like the sounds of this AT ALL.  This is disturbing.

[Jodi]

hi Sue – Now that I know you’re “real” and not a bot, I’ll be on the look out for it again. If it happens, I’ll save the IP address it came from and let you know.

Sue at For Love of a Dog said:

Hi Jodi (Chick) –

Oh, oh.  My blog address is, indeed, talking-dogs.com.  However, that is NOT my email address.  Plus since English is my first language, my only problem is typos when I don’t proof read closely enough.  I only comment about the post and I never post links in comment.  Nope, they weren’t from me.  I don’t like the sounds of this AT ALL.  This is disturbing.

[Sue at For Love of a Dog]

Thanks, Jodi.  I’d really appreciate it.  I don’t like being hijacked.  At all.  I’m real.  “They” are not!

Jodi Chick said:

hi Sue – Now that I know you’re “real” and not a bot, I’ll be on the look out for it again. If it happens, I’ll save the IP address it came from and let you know.

Sue at For Love of a Dog said:

Hi Jodi (Chick) –

Oh, oh.  My blog address is, indeed, talking-dogs.com.  However, that is NOT my email address.  Plus since English is my first language, my only problem is typos when I don’t proof read closely enough.  I only comment about the post and I never post links in comment.  Nope, they weren’t from me.  I don’t like the sounds of this AT ALL.  This is disturbing.

[Brit Springer]

I review my comments to verify that they are not spammers/link backers (if so, deleted).  If they are relevant to the post them I am cool with it (even if they add a site as most cases the site is their own site). Most comments I approve (that have received) are from people just enjoying the posts OR dog specific sites/blog in response to the post.

[Doggy Dessert Chef]

I noticed that a lot of the spam I was receiving was on older posts so I stop allowing comments on a post after 15 days. I’ve see a significant decrease in spam on all of my post since doing that.

[Sue at For Love of a Dog]

Had to add this.  The HSUS investigation of Purebred Breeders….  those are the same folks who were posting comments on my blog (which initiated the start of this discussion thread.)   Going with the gut feeling wins every time.

[Author]

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