Incheon, Korea
I may as well be honest with you.
My intent is to be straight with you guys.
Being honest feels uncomfortable sometimes only because as my blogging experience expands my perspective changes.
Changing my mind – and strategy – concerning various aspects of blogging feels tough in moments.
Sometimes, what appears to be a fundamental of my blog, business and brand simply becomes less important as my mindset changes.
Changing my mind, fundamentals and strategies feels odd because the old me defined myself according to these schools of thought. But being honest supersedes my temporary discomfort.
Keeping Comments Open: Is It Worth It?
Keeping comments open is 100% worth it for bloggers not slammed by spam.
Boosting user-generated content, building bonds and listening to reader feedback prove beneficial for bloggers.
But what happens if-when your blog becomes blitzed by spam?
What happens when plug-ins cannot keep spam in check?
What should you do when closing comments 3 days after a post goes live does not stop the tsunami of spam?
Well…..you ask the question: is keeping blog comments open worth it?
Every once in a while, spammers blitz my blog.
Spammers blitzing my blog:
- consume server resources which slows down my blog
- eat up my time as I delete a heavy volume of spam manually
I ask myself: for what?
Of course….for you guys.
For now, I will keep comments open for 3 days after posts go live.
Comments remain open for the active commentors on Blogging From Paradise.
I want you to be heard on my blog because I love you guys.
I also know that some lurkers eventually speak up and show some commenting gumption.
But in the future, I am carefully observing comment engagement on posts after seeing another 52 spam comments registered in the prior few hours.
Is it worth it to have a 52 spam comment blitz slow down my blog for all of you? Is it worth it for 52 spam comments submitted over a few hours to lessen the user experience for all Blogging From Paradise readers?
At the end of the day, I am a blogger who posts blogging tips themed blog content. My job involves listening to reader needs and solving reader problems with blogging tips themed posts.
Does keeping blog comments open factor in to that job? Nope.
With that being said, I appreciate you, your comments and your feedback. I love getting ’em.
But I will gauge whether keeping comments open is worth it if the spam continues.
My job is not to generate blog comments.
My job is to publish blogging tips themed posts.
Does Keeping Comments Open Seem Worth the Spam?
Now for you guys.
For those bloggers slammed with spam to the point of slowing down your blog, consuming your time deleting the cyber trash, and generally gumming up the works, gauge what every community member gets in return for the spam tsunami.
How many readers comment on your blog?
What does that ratio look like compared to spam comments?
Do commentors publish in-depth, meaningful comments?
I appreciate the value in genuine blog comments. But what happens when spam comments de-value your reader UX?
Think this through guys.
What’s best for everyone?
When the real spam arrives you may need to rethink your blog comment policy. Plug-ins keep low spam blogs at bay. But once it *really* comes – and you know when it really comes because the volume will astound you – it comes time to ask if it is worth it….or not.
Why Did I Change My Blog Commenting Stance?
I still advise that you comment genuinely on blogs to build relationships.
But closing comments on Blogging From Paradise posts 3 days after the publish date – and questioning keeping comments open at all – came about as my blog traffic and blog exposure increased a bit more significantly over the past 3-6 months.
As my blog grows I think quite differently about blogging strategies because new experiences sometimes bring new strategies.
I also observed my blog and overall tactics in a truer, more honest light than ever. Facing, feeling and forgiving a series of deep fears laden with guilt and grief partially lifted a veil of delusion from my eyes, over the past 6-7 months, in particular. I observed how heavily attached I became to blog comments from deep, pulsating fears in my mind. Clearing out those fears let me frame blog comments from a more honest perspective.
A long time ago, I perceived blog comments as playing a huge role in my blogging success. But 100’s of bloggers who dropped comments here have since retired from blogging, blog sporadically or unfortunately, a small collection have passed on to their next incarnation.
Comments dropped dramatically on BFP. I also discovered how loyal readers followed my blog without ever submitting a comment or commenting sporadically, at best.
Gaining these experiences and seeing comments in the proper light helped me to frame blog comments appropriately in terms of my overall blogging campaign.
I realized a few things:
- readers can share their thoughts through social media
- helping readers with blog posts, blogging courses and blogging eBooks matters most
- anyone who stops following my blog because they cannot comment on posts older than 3 days was not here to closely follow my posts, get blogging tips, buy courses or buy eBooks but to be seen via their blog comments; my job no longer entails giving bloggers a platform to be seen via comments through a lack of posture, a sense of guilt or fear of rejection (my fears, my lessons…nothing to do with our readers)
Realizing these ideas changed my stance on blog commenting.
Conclusion
As with everything, keeping comments open or closed depends on a case by case basis.
First, check blog spam. Control manageable spam with strategies like using plug-ins and/or closing comments on new posts after 5-7 days.
But when the spam deluge arrives you need to ask yourself some honest questions and stick around for truthful answers.
