What Do You Expect From A Comment? Definitely No Feedback!
Hi Everyone
Some of you may have seen my recent blog about getting a comment disapproved.
That blog received a good many comments, mny of which I found very enlightening, and I learned a good deal from them.
Those really made me think, and they also raised some other questions in my mind which would like to share with you, and I would really like to have your opinions on them.
What Do People Expect From A Comment?
Personally, I want an honest opinion about my post, but I don't want opinions about my images, the way I have laid out my site or corrections of my grammar or any other perceived mistakes.
Alll those things are very important of course, but the place for them is in the Feedback section. Or if someone notices some important mistakes it is really helpful to send those in a Private Message. That is what I try to do if at all possible. People have done that for me, and it was extremely helpful.
We all need to bear in mind that Comments are visible on our websites and all visitors will see them, whereas Feedback is for our eyes only.
I also very much appreciate questions.
When I am writing a Comment, I always try to put a positive slant on it, and ask appropriate questions if the website owner has indicated that they would like questions.
I don't ever draw attention to mistakes on the site within my comment, but if I think something is reallt wrong on the site I wil send the owner a PM.
Most importantly, I try to be truthful.
So what do you expect from a Comment?
Why Do You Reject A Comment?
The only Comments I would ever reject are those that are not Comments but purely Feedback, so are blatantly in the wrong place.
I have never rejected any other kind of Comment.
I don't mind if someone disagrees with me so long as they are worded politely. That gives me a chance to re-state my point of view. I do know that some people will reject Comments which disagree with their point of view.
I have edited certain comments which are grammatically correct, and I have also been known to ask someone to modify their comment.
One person who replied to the post I mentioned said that they had had one comment rejected for using the word "and"!! That was the stated reason from the website owner. What kind of a reason is that?
I do think that we all need to consider very carefully our reasons for rejecting a comment when it is well-written and reasoned. But if it is quite clear that the person has not read the post, that is a different matter.
So what are your reasons for rejecting a comment?
I would love to hear your ideas about this subject.
Very many thanks for reading this, and I wish you all a great weekend :)
Recent Comments
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I agree 100%. How do you PM the site owner though - where do you find that? There are many times I see spelling mistakes and other errors that really need to be fixed. I don't put that in the comment of course but I want to let the website owner know and I never know how to find them.
It all depends whether the person uses their own name on WA, it would be a really good idea if they added their WA username to the comment if not, wouldn't it? :)
Totally see you're point and I agree, Chrissies. Comments are for conversation and questions and definitely not for "feedback" about the errors in a post or website, as you have said.
I always try to offer comments in this manner and leave a question. Then, I go back a couple of days later to see if there is a reply and if It's appropriate to leave another comment. Like I said, conversation.
Thanks and, well said,
Wayne
You point out that comments will be seen by everybody visiting the website.This is the most important factor to remember when deciding to accept or reject a comment.I will accept every comment that will start a dialog or expand on the subject at hand.
But if a new comment is just idle chat that does not add value I would reject it ( unless it is the only comment I get ).That brings up the question of how many comments are too many.Is there a value in having many comments if they are duplicate?
The only real purpose of these comments is that they are viewed as content by search engines. The more content on a post, the more places it can index for different keywords. That means that when people comment on a site they are helping to add more content to the post. So the answer to the question "how many comments are too many" is you can't have too many comments on a post.
My opinion (and I have many of those things) is that if more people understood that the value of comments is in fact the additional content, there would be far far less reasons to reject comments from people. They just make the word count go higher giving the post more places to index and rank.
Hi Chrissie - all good points! - is that feedback or a comment? :-)
If anyone's confused about the difference, there are blogs and training on it. Here's one: Dr Vic Explains: Feedback vs Comments I haven't asked for many comments but the very first one I got was of the 'great site, loved the article, it's really well done, lots to think about...' type. It got rejected. It was neither feedback nor comment.
Before anyone leaves a comment they ought to know what constitutes a good comment. There's lots of training on this: How To Write A Good Comment? How to use the new comment feature and how to write a good comment How to Leave an Amazing Comment The website owner can ask for any of four differnet types of comment and not everyone reads these! Normally, I'm happy with any of them. For me a comment should:
Ask questions about the topic or overall article
Discuss the topic in a relevant and meaningful way
Share your relevant experiences in a detailed manner
Offer a reasoned and considered opinion on the topic
There! Saved me blogging about it :-)
Ian
I think it's worth blogging about comments every so-often in the hopoe that anyone who wants to leave a comment realises what it entails.
Ian
Hello Chrissie,
I expect a comment to be relevant and constructive, nothing less, nothing more.
Like I said in your blog, I rejected a well written comment because of a very inappropriate suggestion. I compared it to suggesting to a vegan blogger that they write about bacon and sausages.
So far, I have never used the SiteComment platform to comment myself (only to get comments), but I have left countless comments on the Give and Take thread websites and anybody can say my comments are absolutely spot-on.
I take some time to read through any articles I have to comment on and try to educate myself on any subjects I am not knowledgeable of.
The thing is, we are building our business and our future here, so I try to treat WA fellow members with the highest level of respect (and I would expect the same).
Good points Chrissie! I reject comments only if they are feedback as you say. I know it can all be a bit overwhelming for newbies to WA and they provide feedback instead of comments, I did it once in the beginning too & my comment was rejected. I didn’t mind, it was a learning experience and made me realize quickly my mistake...... didn’t do it again!
Thank you Ann. I agree with what you say, and making mistakes is actually a great way to learn! :)
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Thanks Chrissie!
I have never rejected a comment (yet) but understand the points you are making, and they are helpful.
KyleAnn