In the course of visiting other blogs and returning comments I have noticed that quite a few blogs seem to have commenting set so that comments must be approved by the author before they will display. I don’t remember having the option to choose when I set my blog up. I must have, but I really can’t remember all the way back to March.
I don’t have any sort of screening process set up. For me it would probably turn into one more thing for me to fall behind on or mess up. I’m not the most technologically savvy person.
I also think I’ve been fortunate in the comments I’ve received for the most part. You’re all very nice people! I can honestly say that most of the comments I’ve received have been kind, helpful, or just pleasant in some form. There have also been very, very few comments that I thought were probably spam since I turned off the word verification, so that hasn’t been an issue either. I really hope I’m not jinxing myself here (she says as the mean spammers take over)!
From my blogging travels there doesn’t seem to be any particular style of blog that requires comment approval or any particular style that doesn’t. It also seems that people aren’t necessarily using the approval process to eliminate negative comments, which I think would be very tempting for me. So now I’m curious.
Do you have to approve comments before they’ll show on your blog? Did you change from one way to the other? Are you considering changing? Have you noticed any sort of pattern to blogs that require comment approval or not? Like I said, I’m curious, so I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.
When I first started blogging, I used to have my options set to approve comments. I found it too cumbersome, so I don't do it anymore. Neither do I worry about spam or negative comments. If someone wants to make a fool of himself with a negative comment, so be it. :)
ReplyDeleteI think I would find it very cumbersome too. I love that about someone making a fool of himself with a negative comment. What a great attitude.
DeleteBlogger is pretty good about picking up spam comments and won't publish them; will put them in your spam folder to approve or delete. I don't have comment moderation to approve comments except for comments over 14 days old on a blog post made more than 14 days ago (make sense?) because I found those posts can be more subject to excessive spam than recent posts. I don't like comment moderation on blogs; not sure why people feel the need to moderate them or not. Like you, I have been so blessed to have very nice, kind people that leave nice comments. I don't mind a comment that even goes against what I might write as long as they do it respectfully. I'm not a big fan of word verification; drives me crazy to type out the letters.
ReplyDeleteI hope you had a good weekend :)
betty
I didn't even know it was an option to set approval settings based on post age. I have a lot to learn about Blogger! I definitely agree with about a comment that disagrees with you needing to stay respectful. We can disagree with each without personal attacks or being mean. The word verification is just evil.
DeleteI don't particularly care for the approval setting on blogs. The capchas can leave me befuddles.
ReplyDeleteI take my comments on my blog as they come. Like you, I've had mostly positive ones, thus I have no intention at this juncture to change.
Have a great one!
The capchas are just awful!
DeleteIt really does seem that most people have something positive to say.
Hi Danielle -
ReplyDeleteI didn't have the 'prior approval' until I joined up with the A-Z. I didn't have any 'offending' comments, per se, but a couple of ...weird ones and one that was not rude but quite frankly, confusing that I didn't end up posting. It was then that I thought that MAYBE it would be a good idea to have them pass through my email first to read them ahead of time before they get posted immediately. From that challenge, a dramatic increase in traffic occurred and I thought it might be best.
Having had it set up that way since then, I actually enjoy getting the notices by email, which I can access through my phone, and therefore I am aware that I have comments 'pending' that I would like to address. I can read the whole comment prior to posting. Since accessing my blog via my phone is a pain and requires near robotic eyesight to see such tiny buttons, I think I might 'miss' some comments or not be as timely in getting to them.
I have considered undoing the 'prior approval' setting, but honestly like getting notices in my email. I check email anyway, so it doesn't really feel like an extra step.
Those capchas things??? Those are downright ANNOYING. I have avoided commenting at times when I see those. I struggle seeing those things clearly.
So there's my 2 cents for what it's worth! I hope my setting isn't causing people to back away from commenting...I really do enjoy the interaction.
That is nice that the approval setting lets you know you have comments, so you can easily respond to them. I've been fortunate in that I haven't had any really weird comments to deal with.
DeleteI can't speak for other people, but the approval setting doesn't deter me from commenting. I was just curious. Now, I didn't come across a blog during A to Z that had a minimum work length requirement for comments, because comments shorter than that supposedly weren't worth the blog author's time. THAT was a deterrent from commenting.
I totally agree with you about the capchas, they're just bad, especially when you're really tired.
CAPCHA is the work of the devil I'm sure lol....I took off the "prior approval" thingee and the word verification. I always read my comments and if there is something off colour or shady there I can simply remove it. So far....I've not had to remove more than two in over two years of blogging. (Some poor sad demented soul who types in capital letters and made up words with the occasional expletive thrown in for decoration. I hope she gets help.) Blogger does a pretty good job of catching the garbage.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you're right about capcha! Pure evil! You're right that we can just remove something if it really bothers us. That's not bad for you for two years of blogging to only remove two comments.
DeleteSeems like all the good advice is here already. I'm with Corgi on all her remarks. :-) I, too, have comments moderated only if they are over 2 weeks old, b/c those do tend to be spam. Then I just delete from email. I respond to comments through email (all comments come to my email). I've not received much spam, either. Blogger does catch most of it. I'm with everyone else here - the CAPTCHA just makes me want to move on. During the A-Z challenge, you REALLY don't have time to comment on sites that have it. I think bloggers who have in on probably don't get the number of comments they might otherwise get.
ReplyDeleteI think I need Blogger lessons from you and Corgi. I had no idea that was even an option before the two of you commented on it. I think you were the one who was nice enough to tell me when I still had the word verification on. It is really hard to deal with, especially during something like A to Z when you're trying to comment on so many blogs.
Deletei don't have the approval setting, i could just delete :)
ReplyDeleteThat's kind of my approach too. :-)
DeleteI have the comment approval thing only because I had gotten spam and a comment from someone I didn't want finding my blog plus a comment from someone that was untraceable. It was weird. I used to just have the word verification which has now become insane! It isn't so bad.
ReplyDeleteOkay, if all of that happened on my blog, I'd probably have the approval setting too, but like I said, I've been fortunate so far. The word verification is pretty bad. It seems like it takes me a couple of tries to get it right usually.
DeleteHey, I know I'm a couple weeks late to the party but since I just discovered your blog, I hope I can get a pass. I have comment moderation turned on. Not because of spam (Blogger has caught all of it so far) but as a way of forcing myself to read and reply to comments. As a blog reader, I like bloggers that respond to my comments and I want to do that for my readers. But I can be lazy so having to approve the comments helps me respond in a timely manner. But I can't stand capcha and refuse to turn it on.
ReplyDeleteNever too late! :-) That makes sense about using moderation as a sort of ticker system. I do think it's nice when someone responds to my comments too. Nice to meet you.
Delete