"Your comment is waiting for approval"

(This is a guest author article.)

How many times have you seen that message on message boards/blogs and felt ever-so-slightly irritated? I must confess that I have felt the same.

You see, I generally comment on many blogs at a given time. I go around looking for interesting articles on my RSS/Atom reader and then comment.

Sometimes I miss out an article or two and then wonder why. So the reason I like comments to appear immediately is to remember that I have indeed commented on them. When a comment stays unapproved for a longer period of time, I am not sure whether I commented or not and then I'm forced to resubmit my feedback. At other times, I just don't bother.

The best reason I can give you for an unmoderated commenting system is the process of discussion itself. So even when one reader leaves a feedback in your absence, somebody else can respond to that, rather than waiting for you to make the comment appear. Have you ever thought about how many potential comments you might miss out because of this delay? The psychology of blog commenting is such that comments feed on more comments while articles with 0 comments usually don't generate any comments after a period of time.

There are better methods of spam prevention than manual comment moderation. If you are using a blogging platform like WordPress where you have full spam prevention control, please use those advanced techniques which are usually available through simple plugins. Don't rely on the manual method of comment spam elimination. It doesn't help your blog generate additional discussion since it facilitates reader interaction only through you.

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January 21st, 2008 By hari | Categories: Blog Tips and Tricks | Tags: comments | Full Article Feed | Summary Article Feed | Comments Feed | Full Articles by Email | Respond | Trackback URL

2. Mike Olbinski on January 21st, 2008 at 11:20 pm (Reply)
   
   

   I agree…I would think the Askimet spam filters would be enough to catch most things, but I guess I don't have the experience that other giant blogs might have.

   But I'd rather delete spam than to have to approve 20-30 real comments a day or more, plus like you said, it spurs on discussion.

   Also, people should have the subscribe to comments with email plugin…I always have a hard time when I visit a new site, comment and will likely forget I ever visited because I never get a notification of a follow-up comment
   Mike Olbinski's last blog post..The Amazing Race: Season Finale recap

   2. hari on January 21st, 2008 at 11:24 pm (Reply)
      
      

      Well, the other way to track comments is to subscribe through "Comments RSS", same as with posts.

      hari's last blog post..Social networking or self-centred networking?

3. RT Cunningham on January 22nd, 2008 at 1:08 am (Reply)
   
   

   Dang, Hari. I didn't even know you posted this until it popped up in my email.

4. Comedy Plus on January 22nd, 2008 at 5:48 am (Reply)
   
   

   I don't care for it either, but I hate word verification the most. Talk about making commenting tough. I just hate it. Have a great day R.T.

   2. RT Cunningham on January 22nd, 2008 at 11:08 am (Reply)
      
      

      Sandee, that was Hari's article. I know, you didn't look at the by line.

5. Dick on January 24th, 2008 at 9:04 pm (Reply)
   
   

   Thank you Hari for sharing…I thought I am the only person who can't well remember which blog I have commented on. Sometimes, when I felt that I have posted a comment but didn't see the posted on the next sevaral days, I doubt to post it again. If my comment was not published because it is not acceptable, I am afraid I will cause uncomfortable feeling by reposting the same comment again.

   2. hari on January 25th, 2008 at 12:52 am (Reply)
      
      

      Yes, it's annoying indeed. This actually happened to me on a blog where I strongly disagreed with the author. My comment never appeared.

      Needless to say, I've actually even forgotten the URL of that blog or what I commented about. Cleared my cache and never visited again.

      hari's last blog post..Papa Hari Career Advice