Carrying on from yesterday’s post, Life in the blogosphere, I thought I’d follow up by sharing some of my own personal “rules” for being a good blogger:
- I’ll moderate your first comment on my blog, just to make sure you’re not a nasty bot trying to spam me and my readers, but after that I’ll consider you trustworthy and you can comment freely. (In fact, I encourage you to do so!)
- I can usually tell when a comment is spam – but sometimes, if it was posted by a real person rather than a bot, it’s not quite as clear. In those cases, I’ll probably give you the benefit of the doubt (I’m nice that way)… but I’ll keep my eye on you. 🙂
- Because I consider every real (i.e., non-spammy) comment received to be like a small, perfectly-wrapped gift, everyone who gives me such a gift will receive the courtesy of a heartfelt “thank you” in the form of a response.
These ones aren’t hard and fast rules – some days there just isn’t the time, and sometimes the words just don’t come – but they’re guidelines I try my best to follow to become an even better blogger:
- As a further “thank you” for taking the time to comment, I will do my very best to visit your blog and return your kindness by commenting on one of your recent posts.
- Because I know what a thrill it is when new people drop by and comment on my blog, I will make every effort to find at least one new blogger each day (usually through NaBloPoMo, or maybe from a recommendation through a blogger I already follow) and leave a comment on one of their recent posts.
What are your personal blogging rules?
Thank you for some blogging rules! I’m new to this. I don’t know if my blog is moderated, I’m not sure how to stop spam, but I know I don’t want any! Again, thank you for the rules, because I’m trying to learn my way around! 🙂
Twitter: alphabetsalad
February 12, 2012
Well, I’m not sure if these are general rules or just mine, but they seem like a good idea to me!
Somewhere in your blog’s settings should be a place where you can set whether comments are moderated – if they’re moderated, you have to review and approve them before anyone else can see them. If you don’t get a lot of spammy comments, it’s not a big deal – but I get a ton of them, and don’t want to put my readers through that!
Dawn recently posted… Life in the blogosphere, Part 2
I don’t moderate comments. In fact, if comments get sent to spam, I usually don’t even notice for weeks at a time. But I do respond to every comment and I make an effort to visit every commenter’s blog and usually comment. That said…I do not promise to comment. Some people’s blogs are just so outside of my interests/lifesphere (ex. extremely religious blogs) that it would be disingenuous of me to comment.
Stephanie recently posted… Ten Things – First Edition
Twitter: alphabetsalad
February 13, 2012
I haven’t set up any kind of spam filter yet – too afraid to lose legitimate posts – so that’s why I moderate the comments. I am the spam filter, LOL!
I know exactly what you mean about commenting. That’s why I don’t make that one a hard and fast rule – sometimes there’s just nothing I could say! I’d rather leave a genuine comment that just post something for the sake of commenting.
Dawn recently posted… Life in the blogosphere, Part 2
Dawn,
I’m new to the blogging world and trying to figure out the etiquette and form my own rules. Thank you for sharing yours and for stopping by my blog.
I love the way you describe comments, “a small, perfectly-wrapped gift.”
Jessica Staton recently posted… Irish Valentines
Twitter: alphabetsalad
February 13, 2012
Thanks so much, Jessica – glad I could help, and very nice to meet you! Your blog definitely makes me want to visit Ireland. 🙂
Dawn recently posted… Working from home
Initially, I did a really good job visiting new blogs but then, like you mentioned, things got a little hectic. Supporting other bloggers is definitely one of my goals so Thank You for the reminder. It can be disheartening to see ‘0 comments’ when stats reflect that people are visiting, clicking and reading.
Sabrina recently posted… Coffee, a Musical and Complications from Prescription Drugs
Twitter: alphabetsalad
February 18, 2012
Of course there are only so many hours in the day, so we can only do what we can do! But I find it’s incredibly rewarding when I make the effort to visit new blogs – I’ve stumbled across some lovely people and great writers.
Dawn recently posted… You like me, you really like me!
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