Comments on: The big fuss about comment moderation

By: Taking the Middle Ground on Comment Moderation â€” Thinking Home Business

Taking the Middle Ground on Comment Moderation â€” Thinking Home Business — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 07:51:03 +0000

[...] there is a discussion about comment moderation but it’s basically binary: you are either for it or “agin” it. There is in fact a third option, which is a modified moderation, a middle ground, if you [...]

By: Kian Ann

Kian Ann — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 17:15:19 +0000

Thanks Linda! Yes, I think the awareness is important – once we are all aware of the consequences of a choice, we can make better choices!

By: Linda Bustos

Linda Bustos — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 17:08:03 +0000

Great conversation here and good point about the usability of the blogger his/herself and the moderation message also being irritating to users. I see now that there is a bit of usability give-and-take here and that each blogger can make his or her own choice as to what works best for them.

By: Kian Ann

Kian Ann — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 02:24:00 +0000

Hart, thanks for sharing!

By: Kian Ann

Kian Ann — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 02:23:45 +0000

Thanks Walter,

I remember there was once which I used the CAPTCHA (word verification), but it seems like spammers still find a way through it, but I guess it is the only way out for blogger blogs, right?

By: HART (1-800-HART)

HART (1-800-HART) — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 00:58:50 +0000

Kian Ann .. I was going to bookmark this, but thought I would post it here .. I’ll probably never use it, but it’s a good idea for those looking for something like this:

Peter’s Useful Crap
http://www.theblog.ca/?p=21
It’s a custom anti-spam image wordpress plugin

By: Walter

Walter — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 00:01:44 +0000

A way to ensure that you do not get numerous spam comments is to use word verification which I have applied. Thus far, it seemed to have worked for me.

Generally, as a rule, I don’t moderate comments or delete them unless they are truly offensive or slanderous.

By: Kian Ann

Kian Ann — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 18:04:15 +0000

Thanks Brandon. I guess it also depends on how often we get back to the blog, and how serious a spam comment can mean to your blog.

If the “delete after the fact” method has dire consequences (e.g. like if you are hosting a political blog, or a business blog and frequently tread on sensitive issues), then it might make sense to moderate all comments.

Professional interests blogs on issues which are lighter weight – that really want to generate conversations (where two spam comments running around is not a problem), should consider not using moderation.

By: Brandon Wood

Brandon Wood — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 17:51:31 +0000

I agree completely. Nothing bugs me more when commenting on a blog than when I see the line “your comment is awaiting moderation”. Like you said, any good blogger should be keeping tabs on the comments left on their blog anyway.

I would much rather let everything come in realtime, let Akismet pickup 99.9% of the spam, and if a spam comment makes its way through here or there, I can easily delete it after the fact. This is far less intrusive to the user (and to the blogger for that matter) than moderating every single comment that comes through.

By: Kian Ann

Kian Ann — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 17:27:49 +0000

Hart,

Isn’t spam such an irritating thing at times? Sometimes I start to doubt if making web technology easy for newcomers is a good thing.

Without the fundamental knowledge of the web and its workings, more people are getting online and contributing to the junk. Its disgusting.

I don’t actually blame these spammers, because I believe there must be a good reason why they are doing what they are doing. Maybe they are not taught well enough? Who knows?

I honestly believe that the solution to things like this will not lie is the remedy (i.e. spam filters), but in preventing such a thing from happening in the first place (i.e. educating these people well).

Any suggestions how we can pull this off? A worldwide anti-comment-spam day?