Disapproving Comments

1.9K followers

5 years ago

Okay. The whole Comment Site thing (and the response by Kyle and them) got me re-thinking my stance about respecting my audience.

It occurred to me that very often the people who read and engage with the posts on my site also look at the comments. The comments can be an important part of the experience because they present other perspectives and viewpoints that don't necessarily align with my own.

Comments can encourage other people to think their own thoughts too.

So, I find I have to agree with Kyle and the others who want to discourage those trying to game the Comment Site for pennies with less-than-useful bits of nothing.

I do respect the effort anyone makes to craft responses to my posts. Sometimes it's hard for the ones who are not so good at English or at writing to express their thoughts.

However, flattery and empty promises to buy product doesn't really help the true audience -- the people who are actually thinking and playing with ideas -- with whom I am trying to connect.

So...

I put together a small template disapproval note for those I have to reject. I thought I'd share it with you....

Hey [name of commenter]:

I'm sorry, but I do need to disapprove of your comment.

I appreciate your effort, but it adds nothing of value to the other readers of the post -- no insights of your own about [subject of post] and no sharing of your own life experiences that might provide a different point of view.

In this blog, LIFE-BUILT POEMS: Living Out Loud, I am trying to play with ideas and hope to encourage others to play with them as well. The comments I prefer are the ones that do that.

And that's it....

Thank you Kyle and the rest of the support crew. You make WA a most interesting learning place.