Sunday, January 9, 2011

An Uncomfortable Question

I have a question...why do some of you have your blogs set up so you have to approve comments before they show up on your blog?  I haven't come across too many but it irritates me when I do and almost stops me from looking at the blog again, but I swallow my irritation and keep reading.  I guess my irritation comes from wondering if I'm being censored and if someone doesn't like my comment they won't post it.  I don't go back and check so I don't know if this happens or not.  

Now that I've asked the question maybe my irritation will go away when this happens to me again.  I also hope this won't cause some of you to quit reading my blog having asked the question.



Jeana


I'm almost afraid the push the Publish Post button, but I'm going to "feel the fear and do it anyway"

15 comments:

  1. I don't moderate my reader's comments or have word verification, just because I also think it's a pain. But I think some people have had spam comments, and they want to make sure the comment is appropriate before letting it post on their blog.

    I think in the past this was a problem with Blogger, but they now have a good Automatic Spam Detection on the blogs. I just recently started having spam - sometimes 30 a day, that are caught by Blogger (it's not in English, but I noticed the word "porn" in the messages). Imagine if they all got to my blog without being caught!

    We started blogging after Blogger initiated the spam catcher, so it doesn't seem like an issue to us. But if I start having problems, then it's there to use to filter comments.

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  2. It's a fair question, Jeana, and you aren't the first blogger to ask it either. The main reason I've heard for this practice is to prevent objectionable comments from being posted. That's fair.

    As you point out though, it also gives the owner of the blog the ability to delete a comment for any reason before it's published.

    In the end though, it's each blogger's absolute right to not only control the content of a blog but also to manage how comments are posted on it.

    If anyone wanting to leave a comment doesn't like the system in use, then the only option is to perhaps tell the blogger and then take whatever action one feels is appropriate (i.e. don't leave comments?).

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  3. I have my blog set us as you don't like and for that I apologize..my reason for doing this is because I get the comments in my email..on my blackberry and I publish them from there..I have only not posted one comment..so please comment if the you feel the need...I do this so I don't have to keep going back to my blog and check for comments..and I will try and reply via an email if someone has made a comment..that is if their email shows up when I hit the reply..so in short..there is no censorship on Bigdawg and Freeway..I hope this helps to explain!

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  4. Before I end my day I want to thank you for the comments. I haven't experienced the problems you mention so I wasn't aware of them. Spam, yes, but not on my blog, fortunately. I had planned on continuing with all the blogs I read and I appreciate the information you've shared with me.

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  5. I don't mind my comments being moderated. What drives me batty is having the word verification thingy. ESPECIALLY times like now when I'm in an RV park with crappy, slow internet. And sometimes, I get knocked offline before I can get the word verification typed in. Ugggh! So I feel your pain...just in a different way.

    Oh man, what if you have word verification turned on. I guess I'll find out in a second...
    here I go!

    Nellie
    http://midlifecruiser.blogspot.com

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  6. I tried taking down the word verification and within days I started getting spam comments. Then I had to go back and delete them. I don't know which is better, having the word verification and letting the comments be seen right away, which lets other commenters read the previous comments, or having to OK them.

    I have never had a negative comment.

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  7. I see you also have the word verification ON.

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  8. Ditto Sue & Doug. I use the moderated so that I know *when* I have a comment. I get notifications through e-mail on my Iphone, and it's easier to see for me. The word verification, although can be a pain, but eliminates spam from 'bots'.

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  9. Do I have word verification on? I bet I do. I don't moderate comments, but if I started getting rude or spammy posts I would turn that feature on, too.

    I don't always go back to check, either. I just prefer to assume everyone LOVES my comments and can't wait to approve them. They rush right to a McDonald's so they can get enough signal to pass me on through.

    ETA: Yep, you've got the Humanizer on, too!

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  10. I like to recive emails that I have comments. I love to read each and every one. Thats why mine is set up that way. If I didn't get the email, I would forget to read each and every one of them. I also get comments on older posts and getting the email reminds me to read them.

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  11. I've gone back and forth. I initially did both word verfication and moderation...too many spammers and that cut them down. Then Google changed something in the word verfication and often I couldn't tell what to post and knew others were having the same problem. So I dropped it but kept moderation.

    As a full-timer, I often check my mail on my phone way before being able to get online. This let me delete spam posts and approve others. I was getting several every day from Oriental spammers.

    Google finally stepped up and set in place some great spam filters so I removed the moderation.

    So I suspect many use the measures to help keep spammers out but since Google improved that, I have only had one or two.

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  12. ...and as a side note I often lose comments because as soon as I hit enter I tend to leave the page. Just as I do that I see it flicker back with word verification. I'd rather see that the blog owner has to approve my post than play with the word verification. At times I've lost lengthy posts because of that. Sigh....

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  13. If Google has decent security, maybe I'll remove the word verification as an experiment. If I start hearing from lonely girls wanting to meet me, I'll put it back up.

    http://thegoodluckduck.blogspot.com

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  14. I moderate my comments but don't have word verification. I used to have word verification but people were having problems and having to do that multiple times. The reason I moderate my comments is because I was getting quite a bit of spam comments and some very nasty sexual ones...I didn't like that. So that is why I have moderation on my blog.

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  15. Hello! Just found your blog and love it...My hubby and I own a 5th wheel but also own our own business SO...we are stuck. I've been playing catch-up on your blog and when I came to This post, I had to leave a comment...Blogger now does a great job of filtering spam...I have always detested the Word Verify and Moderate...I refuse to have it on my blog.
    Hope you're still enjoying your travels...I'm still on your January post but am quickly getting near the present day...Really enjoying it!
    Have a great day!
    Donna

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