I am not liking the increasing number of automated and generic email messages I have been getting in my inbox on the pretext of thanking me for commenting on someone’s blog including the not so subtle request that I subscribe to their blog. I’m not going to point out the guilty culprits of this ridiculous practice trying desperately to get more subscribers, but I will tell you that it doesn’t work with me. Let me make something perfectly clear:
- I will never spam your inbox with such messages.
- I will not sell the email address you provide when subscribing to this blog.
- I will not use your email address for anything other than to build friendships with fellow bloggers, ask questions, or respond to questions from readers privately when needed.
- I highly value my readers and their time, responding to comments as quickly as possible within the comment section of each post.
You have probably gotten them yourself, those “thoughtful” little “Thank You for commenting on my blog” messages, along with the suggestion and link to “please subscribe to my blog”. These emails are becoming more and more annoying, and I now just delete them without even opening them. I’m also less likely to return to the blog, and certainly am less likely to comment again, risking yet another clumsy spam email.
If I like your blog and enjoy what you write about, I will subscribe in my own good time and participate in comments, and perhaps even link to your posts in upcoming articles. I don’t need or want one of those canned emails, but I do appreciate you taking the time to personally respond to those who comment by leaving a follow-up comment yourself on your own blog.
It is a simple task to subscribe to comments in Wordpress blogs, but for other blogs I use CoComment to keep up with comments I’ve left. But, if you are dead set on sending out Thank You emails to your blog readers, at least take the time to personalize it for the specific commenter without the blatant “please subscribe to my blog“, or just don’t send them at all.
I also believe it is very important to have a published comment policy for my blog, where I clearly state what kind of comments are acceptable vs. those that are not, that I can easily refer to should I ever be questioned as to why a comment was not approved. There have been occasions where someone will attempt to comment on a post on my blog, using foul language and various obscenities, that I simply do not allow on my blog.
The most recent occurrence was from someone wishing to comment on my article, “Why Are Women So Strange and Men So Weird?” (that recently received almost 4000 hits from Stumble Upon in a matter of a few hours), with ten curse words contained in a three sentence diatribe of how the article is complete and total hogwash. Sorry buddy, take a look at my Comment Policy and you’ll know why your comment never made it through.
I’ve said it before, but apparently begs repeating, I do not allow such language on this blog. There are ladies present, and perhaps even children, so watch your language!
I had searched high and low trying to find a well-written, clearly-defined Comment Policy that I might be able to tweak and implement on my blog, but all of my searches kept bringing me back to Maki’s Copyright/Comment Policy on DoshDosh. Everything else I found was lawyer-jibberish that made no sense at all, so I decided to ask Maki for permission to use his comment policy with some personal tweaks to make it my own, and fortunately he accepted my request.
If you’re considering adding a comment policy to your own blog, consider asking Maki if you can use his as an example. Do you have a Comment Policy for your blog? What does it include? Do the “thank you for commenting and please subscribe to my blog” emails bother you too?
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19 responses so far ↓
1 Hungry Mother (45 comments.) // Feb 6, 2008 at 12:51 pm
I try to keep my blog postings at a G/PG level, but allow comments to go to an “R”. I don’t think I would ever delete or edit a comment for language, but I will delete or edit a comment with serious hate content.
2 arnold (8 comments.) // Feb 6, 2008 at 2:18 pm
I agree with you 100%. I have experienced exactly the same things, I have just not had the guts to ‘tell it like it is’ as you have here. I hate deleting comments but sometimes one just has to draw a line, anyone crossing that line is gone. At the end of the day I think it all comes down to good old fashioned manners.
arnold’s last blog post..A handy tool
3 garry (3 comments.) // Feb 6, 2008 at 2:32 pm
… it’s your blog,do what you wanna do.
I won’t tell you ,who to sock it to.
( I haven’t deleted many,but it’s still
a option! )
garry’s last blog post..Beware Of Your HABITS !
4 Lin (1019 comments.) // Feb 6, 2008 at 4:34 pm
HM, I have no problem if/when someone wants to disagree with a post, or tell me they think it’s rubbish, but there is no need for the kind of language I get sometimes. I absolutely will delete them.
Hi Arnold, I also hate to delete comments, but since it’s my blog and I know moms sometimes have children nearby when viewing these pages, I believe I have every right to decide what will or won’t be allowed through.
Hi Garry, hahaha I know that song!
5 Jenera (2 comments.) // Feb 6, 2008 at 5:58 pm
I have never sent a follow up ~email~ to thank someone for commenting-I usually just comment after that person in the case where they subsribe to comments and what not. I would only email those I have established blogging relationships with.
As for language, I allow cussing in mine but only because I tend to have a little ‘o the foul language in my posts when provoked. I have put a disclaimer in a post title however if it contains some really bad language.
I also use comment moderation because I’ve been the victim of stalking and attacking via my blog so nothing gets posted comment-wise unless I want it to.
I may also have to look into a comment policy, I’ve just never thought of it before.
Jenera’s last blog post..Biggest Loser ~ Eating To Lose Weight
6 Lin (1019 comments.) // Feb 6, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Hi Janera, I can’t even imagine having to deal with a stalker type person messing with me on my blog.
Since I’ve written previous posts about kids who cuss, it would be rather hypocritical of me to do the same on my blog, or to allow those type words in comments.
7 John Hunter (1 comments.) // Feb 6, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Thanks for this great post and the advice about the DoshDosh comment policy. I agree the fake thank you emails are lame. If someone really can’t decide to subscribe to the RSS feed of a blog without prompting they can’t really be interested. You should make it easy but…
John Hunter’s last blog post..12 Stocks for 10 Years - Adding Danaher
8 Lin (1019 comments.) // Feb 6, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Hi John, I’m glad I could be of help. Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment.
9 Christina (1 comments.) // Feb 7, 2008 at 11:58 am
People actually send emails thanking someone for a comment? I know it would annoy the crap outta me if I got an email everytime I commented on a blog. Thank yous are not needed…it’s implied. I mentally thank those who comment on my blog, or reciprocate by reading one of their posts and commenting. As for a comment policy, I never thought about that. I always wondered why some blog authors approve their comments before they are posted…now I know why. Awesome article BTW.
Christina’s last blog post..Valentines’ Day Giveaway
10 Lin (1019 comments.) // Feb 7, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Thanks Christina! I much prefer to respond to comments by replying within the comments section myself. Sometimes it may take me a little while to respond, depending on my schedule, but I always try to respond to each person personally.
11 charlotte (1 comments.) // Feb 7, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Maybe it’s also the matchers and the mis-matchers. You either pay attention to what you like or can use, or you pay attention to what you don’t agree with/like/can use.
Sometimes it is very tiring to cope with (strong) mismatchers
Great blog, btw, I like the subject very much
charlotte’s last blog post..Interview With Susan Davis for Remarriage Success
12 Lin (1019 comments.) // Feb 7, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Hello Charlotte, it really comes down to matters of preference for each blogger. But I also think it’s so important to consider carefully what readers/visitors/commenter’s may not want as opposed to what we as bloggers want. Thanks for stopping by and for the nice compliment!
13 Watson (1 comments.) // Feb 7, 2008 at 3:02 pm
So I have not recieved any of those emails yet, but I am sure I will. I just barely started being more active on blogs and enjoy reading and commenting. I hope I don’t start getting those emails. Thanks for the idea of a comment policy, I am going to implement that, but probably just write my own. Thanks.
14 Kim (16 comments.) // Feb 7, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Now I have never received the canned spam thank you email on a comment I have left on a blog. Having said that, I do personally respond to every comment left on my blog with a personal note back to them. Not trying to beg them to become a reader/visitor again. I have met some amazing people in that small practice and can say that some of the comments have led to an online friendship. So while I agree with you that the spam canned email would be annoying, when someone sends me a personal thank you after I have commented on their blog I am not going to stone them for it or let it change my mind on visiting again. As you mentioned it is a matter of preference. If a commenter sent me an email back telling me to stick it.. I would..
Another thought provoking post..
Kim’s last blog post..Thursday Thirteen - Volume 4
15 Lin (1019 comments.) // Feb 7, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Hi Kim, I’ve received some emails from bloggers that have taken the time to personally write a message to me, and I agree it can help to build online friendships etc. Those type emails don’t bother me, I actually welcome those. The other kind, not so much.
16 Lin (1019 comments.) // Feb 7, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Hi Watson, writing your own comment policy works well too. I’m just not that crafty, especially after seeing how well Maki wrote his.
17 Jenny-up the hill (1 comments.) // Feb 7, 2008 at 7:54 pm
I agree on the language thing…I really need to make a comment policy so I appreciate you posting about this…btw, I love the croc thank you!
Jenny-up the hill’s last blog post..Help. Me.
18 Lin (1019 comments.) // Feb 7, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Hi Jenny! Thank you for stopping by, I’m glad you found this post helpful.
19 Life’s Context » Blog Archive » Blog Hopping. // Feb 24, 2008 at 10:49 am
[…] to Lin, another EntreCard user, I found a more elegant solution. Although still in testing, CoComment is a […]
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