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My Blog = My Home

Inspired by NaBloPoMo writing prompts for Tuesday, June 3 and Wednesday, June 4, 2014:

Who owns the comment section: the blog writer or the blog readers?
Have you ever deleted a comment? What would make you delete a comment?

(Note: I’m combining the writing prompts from yesterday and today into one post, partly because I missed yesterday’s due to Tangled Tuesday, but also because I feel the two questions complement each other well.)

Graphic Conversation

Image courtesy Marc Wathieu

When I looked at these two questions and stopped to think about how I would answer them in relation to my blog, Alphabet Salad, I realized that I tend to view this little corner of the internet as my online home.

The platform (WordPress) and theme (Thesis) are the foundation and structure.

The layout and design, all done by yours truly, are the furnishings and décor.

The “Posts” section is both my office and adjoining library, with post drafts sitting in my “Pending” or “To Do” file and finished, published posts added to my library shelves and made available for anyone who wishes to read them.

And the comments section? Carrying on with the idea of Alphabet Salad being my online home, I see the comments section of my blog as my virtual living room. It’s a gathering place where everyone – family, friends, and other interested parties – is welcome and invited to drop by and visit. It’s a place of both discussion and community where all are free to offer feedback on my published words and be part of an ongoing dialogue with me and their fellow Alphabet Salad readers.

Conversation - three women talking

Image courtesy Dan Mason

This invitation isn’t without limits, however – just as in my real-life home, I expect the guests in my online home to behave! Good discussion, lively debate, and the presentation of differing viewpoints are always welcome, whether in my living room or the comments section of my blog… but rudeness and disrespect are most certainly NOT.

As I mentioned in an earlier post about creating a commenting policy, I have been very fortunate in terms of the discussion that’s taken place in my comments section, and have never (at least to date!) had to delete a comment. But, just as I wouldn’t hesitate to show a badly-behaving guest the door in my real-life home, I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to delete an inappropriate comment posted in my online home.

My blog is my online home, so that makes me the boss of the comments section.

Seems fair to me!

How about you and your blog?
Who do you think owns the comment section?
Please share!

NaBloPoMo June 2014

Laurel Storey, CZT – Certified Zentangle Teacher. Writer, reader, tangler, iPhoneographer, cat herder, learner of French and Italian, crocheter, needle felter, on-and-off politics junkie, 80s music trivia freak, ongoing work in progress.