Comments on: Handling Negative Comments On Your Blog

By: Zaslony

Zaslony — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 10:47:33 +0000

Bloggers who attack or ban negative commenters usualy get called out on it sooner or later and people stop respecting them. Sure there’s a fine line between trolls and people who just want to leave a constructive opinion. You should ban the former and seriously answer the latter – maybe their comments will make your site grow.

By: Dee Langdon - BloggerNewbie

Dee Langdon - BloggerNewbie — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:40:54 +0000

I guess your opinion on handling negative comments depends on what you consider negative. Disagreeing of course isn’t necessarily negative and I certainly welcome both sides of a conversation.

I don’t agree that negative comments build community. Negative comments probably brings in a certain type of visitor that doesn’t usually visit but not the loyal reader, spikes of traffic but not anything significant.

By: Ad Hustler

Ad Hustler — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 21:20:32 +0000

The best way to handle negative comments is to NEVER censor or block people. Either leave it alone or respond with your defense. You never want to make the situation worse.

By: Keg of Wisdom

Keg of Wisdom — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:24:12 +0000

Originally, Matt (Editor) and I agreed that any negative comment we received we would delete. At first, it sounded like the logical thing to do, but then I realized that I could drive so much more traffic to the site if I created a HATE MAIL page and post what people send us in private and respond with my answer beneath that. Matt and I quickly agreed this was the way to go and since then we haven’t received any negative feedback worth creating a hate mail page over. : (

By: Ashley

Ashley — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:40:09 +0000

Frank Carr has an awesome point – some negative comments really aren’t that great and DO need to be edited.

I’m obviously not very “big” yet because I don’t get a lot of negative feedback. Mostly it’s all pretty supportive.

By: clickktdotcom

clickktdotcom — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:38:11 +0000

Yes. Commenting on other blog is the best way to building backlinks and get traffic. I will try comment here!

By: Frank Carr

Frank Carr — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 13:16:12 +0000

OK, I’ll plan to drop by here with some negative comments for you from time to time since I strongly believe the Yaro/Chow/Rowse/Shoemoney method of blogging is deeply flawed.

The way I handle negative comments kind of depends on the situation. In most cases, I’ll delete personal attack and name calling comments with no substance, either against me or another commentator. Occasionally, I’ll edit them for content if the argument is sound but the demeanor isn’t. I’ll also edit if the comment contains inappropriate keywords (think a popular medical product that begins with the letter ‘V’) or excessive cursing. If the disagreement is an honest one, I’ll leave it up.

By: WD Favour

WD Favour — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 07:43:01 +0000

Negative comments, IMO, are absolutely great for any site!!!
I’ve had lots of fights on my site…particularly since I blog on issues that could be thorny and controversial – I mean, religious issues.

In fact, I love the fights.
Sometimes, I’ve publicized the fights on Twitter and SU just to get others involved. I believe that if you are an open minded person and you are willing to learn from others, negative and contradictory views should be treasured at your site.

To apply the things you recommend here – which BTW is the attitude of great bloggers – one must not be emotionally involved with one’s views. An open mind is one of the greatest qualities any blogger can and should cultivate.