I don’t know about you, but I can’t stand anonymous comments. I liken them to nothing being said, so I ignore them.
Reminds me of when people talk behind your back. They boldly badmouth you, only to sheepishly say they didn’t mean it after learning you were listening to them the whole time while you stood around the corner.
How do you handle anonymous comments on your blog? Do you acknowledge them? Do you respond? Or, do you ignore them?
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I’m flattered. Looking forward to meeting you soon, Lisa.
Love the policies, David. I may just adopt it for my own blog.
I think it’s best to ignore anonymous comments if they do not add value. Also, I like David’s approach. Although comment moderation can be a pain for a very active blog, I feel it’s a blogger’s best asset to keep things orderly.
Keep in mind as well that some people are bored and will post things just because. Currently, I do not accept comments on my own blog, but I do on another.
I had an pseudonymous comment the other day and it really bugged me. After all, I have my name, picture, phone number, e-mail, etc. on my blog. I’m out there standing behind what I write for good or bad. I would hope that people who comment would feel the same way.
So, in a fit of pique, I added a Blog Policies page to my site: http://www.prworks.ca/index.php/my-blog-policies/
It basically states that I will decide whether anonymous/pseudonymous comments will be posted based on their content and merits.
I think I would split the issue to the technology between the blogger and the commenter, and the lack of name for the commenter. For places that make commenting difficult, I am forced to use anonymous comments, otherwise I have no trouble acknowledging my presence and whatever I say. Anonymous in this case is as a “not registered user” of the blog software, but with a name provided.
From the blogger side, anonymous can pose challenges in acknowledgement. If the person’s name is at least trackable, then you can follow the google trail to their reference point (i.e. blog) and pick up their email address. Sometimes more work than it should be. I give it an effort. If I don’t get it in a couple of minutes I generally give up. I assume at that point since they didn’t provide an email address they can expect a response.