I'm on a rant this morning and is often the case many will disagree with me; and I run the risk of ruffling some feathers. However, as an avid blog follower, reader and commenter, it never fails to snark me into a bad mood when I continually must enter word verification just to leave a comment. I get it, I really do; we all hate spam and the like, but every blogger has the ability to check their comments and delete whatever is inappropriate. What really sends me into a tailspin is when I read and post a comment and my comment is moderated ~ to me that defeats the purpose of commenting at all. I think, doesn't this blogger WANT people to comment?
I follow over 400 blogs (on different platforms with different methods of commenting) and my reading list in the morning looks like "War and Peace." Obviously I can't read every blog that comes across my feed but I do quickly scan for blogs that interest me on any given day; read and comment. That could be one or one-hundred.
I don't know a blogger who doesn't check their comments frequently and unless we are a blogger with 10,000 followers, the likelihood of spam is relatively small. Every time I must verify, it shortens the amount of time I have available to read other blogs...or want to (given my bad mood).
On my blog as an example, my settings allow anyone to comment, without moderation and without word verification. I use Blogger and have a spam filter...which is always empty ~ and fortunately for me, I've never had a spammer. If I do end up with a spam comment, it won't ruin my day ~ I'll simply delete it! I WANT people to comment on my blogs with as little hassle as possible. I want people to walk away from my blog with a good feeling, one that didn't wear them out. And it is for that reason, I believe, I get several comments to my blog on a daily basis.
When I first started blogging and made my setting choices, it occurred to me that I could choose or choose not to be so arrogant as to put requirements surrounding the comment box. I want comments and above all I want followers to come back. If I wear them out, there is a very good possibility they won't come back. I maintain this is one small thing we can do to develop a rapport with our reader.
As said earlier, I read blogs on different platforms and I am a huge fan of Google Friend Connect. It is easy, gives me the ability to see the feeds 24/7 and tells me this blogger want's my business...so to speak. Many times I read blogs that require that I sign up for RSS, Atom or other feeds that will filter into my email box. NOT! My email box looks like a Goodwill Store and I can't handle another feed of any kind. This type of blog has always perplexed me. While we all would love to have our words effortlessly flowing into email boxes, there are a vast number of people who will not read our feed AND it will probably end up in their spam box anyway. On last check, I have over 1000 emails in my spam box from last week alone ~ and I check it frequently. For the life of me I don't understand why a blogger wouldn't use Google Friend Connect or something similar to allow a person to simply follow and that's that? From my perspective if I must sign up for a specific feed, I just pass and move along. No follow, no comment, nada.
I love reading blogs, I really do; but as a reader it must be easy for me, not the author of the blog. I love reading diverse blogs but I don't want to be diverse in the method required to follow or comment. And that as they say, is just my opinion.
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