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Do You Approve Negative Comments?

by Jeff 8/3/2008 12:19:00 AM

One thing you will find as your blog becomes more popular is that you will need to learn to deal with negative criticism. This is unavoidable. You might spend weeks perfecting the most brilliant post. Your blood, sweat, and tears go into something that you swear will be the greatest thing Digg ever saw. But no matter how great your work of art might be, rest assured...there are cretins out there that are just dying to rip it apart (seriously, check that dude out, he doesn't like a single thing). It sucks and it can be extremely disheartening. But unfortunately, some people just love hitting that "bury" or "thumbs down" button no matter how good the content may be.

For some reason, its seem the old saying of "if you don't have something nice to say, do say it at all" is completely opposite in blogland. I have had posts that received thousands of hits, hundreds of Diggs, and tons of Stumbles. Yet, the only comments left on the post are people telling me how bad the post sucked. At first, it can be really upsetting. But eventually you learn that the ones leaving the comments are the minority. If thousands of people are seeing your post, you obviously did something right. Just because 6 jerks leave negative comments, doesn't mean the 3,000 other people who read your article didn't like it. It never would have gotten so popular if most of the people reading it didn't enjoy it.

So the question remains...what do you do with comments left on your blog that are negative and critical of you or your content? Do you approve them or do you delete them? It can be a tough call. On one hand, its your blog. Why would you let anyone say anything negative about you on your own blog? But on the other hand, you want to respect peoples' opinions. Your readers have a right to say what they think, good or bad. So what do you do?

It's a tough question. Personally, I do approve the negative comments. I think people have a right to their opinion and if they have something to say, they should be allowed to say it. I do admit, sometimes I have a hard time biting my tongue. But I am curious about what everyone else does. Do you approve negative comments on your blog? How about a quick survey? But don't forget to leave your thoughts in the comments as well.

Thanks for participating!

Jeff

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Tags: comments, criticism, jerks,

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Comments

8/4/2008 2:18:03 PM

Ha Ha... this is an awesome post. Over the last two years or so here I have developed some think skin with comments. I remember the first negative comment I had on my blog and I was totally floored. I was like, "How could this idiot say something like this to me!?!?!?" But you know, over time I have learned that with blogging, many people disagree just to create buzz or interest in their own blog.

Today, I am a pretty good judge of which comments are real and which ones are done just to drop a link on my blog. Anyone who has something to contribute on my blog in the comments typically gets posted. The comments that don't get posted are spam, obviously, and the comments made from people who don't add any value and are just trying to mooch off my hard earned traffic.

Garry Conn

8/4/2008 2:24:49 PM

Good point Garry. If its a negative comment that actually has relevance, then I definitely approve it. If someone is just leaving a comment to get the link, whether its negative or positive, it might as well be spam as far as I am concerned.

Thanks for the comment Garry!

Jeff

8/4/2008 6:20:11 PM

I approve them and then try and leave a post after it being as nice about it as I can.

Then if they respond to that post in a negative way, I can't help but unload even though I know that is what they are trying to get me to do.

cuzzy

8/5/2008 3:38:39 AM

I don't have any negative comments on my blog yet, but I would approve such comments under the provision that they add to the discussion. I welcome criticism, but the trolls can stay outside...

Jim Offerman

8/5/2008 5:15:21 AM

Some times, I get negative comments but i never hesitated to accept them and to explain them. Because negative comments always, give us positive results.

vhxn.com

8/5/2008 9:09:36 AM

Oh man this post sucks!! kidding, kidding!

Jeff, how are ya, yeah there seems to be a lot of jerks leaving negative and sometimes insulting comments in my blog. I normally think these people are losers and delete the comment immediately. my advice would be not to pay attention to those comments, otherwise you will end up emotionally affected, and ultimately fulfilling the purpose of the loser's objective.

Nelson

8/6/2008 1:00:36 AM

Yes I approve negative comments, and honestly, I do it begrudgingly. However, I take note of whether the comment is laced with hate/porn, etc. If the intensity of the comment(s) is too strong, then I'll evaluate it. But, on the flip side of that, bad comments are good traffic baiters. I've benefited from that in the past. Just like Brad & Angelina--a mix of rumors and truth--recipe for good public relations.

TeasasTips

8/7/2008 3:03:33 AM

I generally approve negative comments, but then I like controversy. If there's vulgar language/swearing, ect, that's another story. I don't need that on my site.

whataboutblog

8/10/2008 5:24:38 AM