Blogging in the Real World: I Deleted a Comment For The First Time
Tuesday, November 11, 2008 at 12:00AM I know, I know, deleting comments is very bad blog protocol. Right up there with writing nice things about Sara Palin. I have many excuses: I was reading comments late at night, the commenter was a spammer. I know he was a spammer because 1) it was evident that he did not read my brilliant post in its entirety and 2) he disagreed with what little he did read.
Still that is no excuse. I have searched my soul, why , oh why would I relatively new blogger with a very tiny blog (Goggle barely acknowledges my existence, PR 4 blogs usually won’t link back to me even if I comment on their blogs. (Although some do…thank you) I have no Technorati authority and what is Sitemeter anyway) how dare I do such a thing? I acknowledge my humble existence.
After much soul searching, I realize the answer:
In fairness the commenter might not have been a spammer, it was late and he was disagreeable in his disagreement but that is not why I deleted the comment.
I deleted it because it was a boring comment…
My first though after finishing reading and yawning was: Why would I inflict this on anyone else?
My second though was …click.
My bad.
Anyone else delete a comment for a less than stellar reason? Please leave a comment (I won’t delete it.)I hear confession is good for the soul.
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Reader Comments (18)
I remember someone who commented on 3 of my posts on my photo blog. They were all on photos of flowers and her comments went into long drawn out details on how to make arrangements. It had nothing to do with my photos and was only for the link...like my PR 3 was going to save her site. Anyway, I deleted two of them. I figured one rambling comment about nonsense was enough.
I have received true spam comments that I have deleted. They were both about a bunch of sex stuff. Wow, does that mean that my site is being picked up by Google?
It's your blog. Imho, you have every right to moderate the comments on your blog however you see fit. If you chose to let spammers post comments, you will end up with spammy comments. I find it is sometimes a hard line to walk and I have sometimes published comments that were a little spammy, but most of what askimet catches and some of what it doesn't are all spam comments that can really foul up your blog
my .02, fwiw, # include std.disclaimers
When it's clear the comment has nothing to do with what I wrote, or if it's so general I can't tell if they read my blog or just left the exact same comment on 50 other blogs...it's probably spam and I delete it. Aksimet catches at least 50 obvious spams a day, and I get several week that it doesn't catch that I have to manually delete. Today someone wrote "thank you" on six of my most often viewed posts. Um, yeah. Spam.
I deleted a 14 paragraph/essay that someone left as a "comment" on my blog that dealt with my horrific experience with JetBlue. The person was anonymous and was out and out insulting and offensive in their comment. So I deleted it. Then they wrote back AGAIN to comment on how childish I was for deleting their comment! Someone like that (in my opinion) does not deserve to be heard.
I have gone through this twice. First, I received a nasty comment from a random passerby. I decided to leave that one and actually mentioned it in a post. Just recently I received a spam comment. While I am very loose about what I will delete, this was a comment about reading glasses on a post about Facebook. I completely missed the connection and it looked like spam.
I think you should be allowed to do what you want with your blog. If you want to delete then do so. Not sure about your comment on that it's a bad thing to delete. But I'm not a blogger myself, so I'm not familiar with the rules on deleting and spamming. Although what previous person said about someone just writing thank you on a bunch of her blogs, come on!!! Do people actually waste time doing that??? Where do they find the time?? I don't even have time to write this comment LOL.
Anyway, I usually don't reply to these things, but just thought I'd share my 2 cents.
thanks
I generally delete comments that are completely irrelevant to the post that just have the purpose of spamming their blog.
For instance, every time I commented on a particular blog, they commented back on mine saying "Thanks for commenting on "Blog name"". They didn't say anything relevant about my post, or didn't even indicate that they had read it.
If you show you read my post, it stays. If not, it goes.
That, and one time I had a person post such a hateful comment to my blog that I had to delete it. That's all.
i have only deleted comments that were defamatory, mean and spiteful.
Angie, It was nice of you not to delete all three. Thank you for commenting. Stopped by your blog and saw the hint on melting Andes mints on warm brownies...mmmmm
Shelley, I haven't received any of that type of spam.. yet. Either Google still doesn't love me or Squarespace has an excellent spam filter. Either is fine as far as junk is concerned.
Thank you Allen and Leah for the askimet info. I didn't even know such a service exsists.
Stacy, That comment would make a great post. I know from experience that writing about comments might upset the commenter...he..he..he
Anne, I wonder if that comment about glasses is related to the pay per post blog entries I have been seeing about inexpensive glasses.
Jacqueline, Thank you so much for commenting. General blog protocol is not to delete comments. As I understand it, comments are how most bloggers build the links they need for page rank. PR is like money, when you have it you wonder what the fuss is all about, when you don't have it , it seems very important.
Bas, Thank you for stopping by. What an interesting blog topic. I am looking forward to seeing your blog.
Kelly, I hope you don't get many of those type of comments. If I get any like that, I now know where the delete function is on my blog and I am no longer afraid to use it!
I just stumbled upon your blog from Entrecard and found this post to be pretty entertaining and make me laugh! I am also a new blogger but fortunately have not yet had to delete a comment. Maybe one day when I join the "popular crowd!" (fingers crossed!)
I have only deleted spam comments. Even if people just "drop by" with a simple comment to let you know this fact, it at least acknowledges that you exist!
Cheers!
Layne, E-card is wonderful for new bloggers. I am glad you found it and thank you for stopping by.
Robin, I read you post on beer and taxes. It is such a good post. i still can't decide if i should be laughing or crying.
LOL... You did nothing wrong. Writing a post is personal and time consuming. It would always be appreciated to read the entire post prior to leaving a comment. lol....
--Its your blog and YOU can DELETE if YOU want too..---
Laura :)
So that's why they invented the DELETE button...Man and I thought that button worked with all my BILLS :)
love your blog...really.....:)
Chili
I don't have any problem deleting what I consider obvious spam. I love when people comment on my blog because then I know they're actually reading it (LOL), but if you show up for the first time as "anonymous" and post spam or show up just to provide a link (and a link only!), then your "comment" is zapped into never-never land!
I am a newbie blogger. I found you this morning through Entrecard. What a lighthearted, entertaining post; a great intro to Commenting 101.