Censored: Stop Blaming Your Damn Spam Filter! You Deleted My Comment!

Blogs were never meant to be static pages without the potential for reader interaction. That’s always been part of the allure of creating a blog. I enjoy that connection and hope Google continues to encourage commenting as part of the overall approach to building PageRank and other SEO benefits. It is a great side benefit.

The exchange of thoughts, ideas, and feedback with your readers is how you are building a real community.

But, what if some of the activity associated in and around your social media operation and blogging takes on a negative tone? I think all of have seen the rash of recent articles about personal attacks and trolling. (Thank goodness you did not become a political blogger, right?!)

But, are these REALLY personal attacks…or simply differences of approach and/or opinion?

The Culture

If you are a blogger or active in social media circles, you’ll quickly learn “the ropes” about networking and interacting amongst the social circles out there. There is a preexisting etiquette.

We all aware of the value to this whole process of creating and cultivating these relationships. And yes, it does require some level of tact and social grace.  Hopefully, you’ll start to see your Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and blog congeal into one big, functional family unit.

During the course of a day, you can’t help but notice a lot of shiny, happy, dynamic people going about marketing their businesses, launching new products, and advising us of new blog updates. Eventually though, you’ll ask: “Why does this “online world” contrast so sharply from the dark, snarky, critical, “real world” as we know it? And where are all those people?

Oh, trust me, my friend, they are there!

The Blogosphere

When I discover a new blog in the realm of blogging tips, social media, internet marketing, SEO, etc. (all related content); I pay very close attention to the comment section. Why? Because commenting is less rehearsed. There is no prior preparation for how a reader responds.  It allows us an opportunity to see the blogger outside his/her comfort zone. I have a natural proclivity to gravitate toward the highly-intelligent, analytical bloggers.

Being in the Human Resources & Recruiting business, part of the hiring process is evaluating how candidates react to difficult or unusual questions. This demonstrates how a candidate responds to pressure and can adapt to sudden changes in environment. Like bloggers.

I enjoy seeing differences of opinion on issues. We, as people, need to constantly be exposed to new ideas and fresh thought. We need to have our system of beliefs challenged. The “status quo” has to be disputed.  It’s a natural part of our human existence to disagree and debate topics.

Spam… or Censorship?

Blogging, in itself, is about passion, expression, and creativity.

So, wouldn’t you expect our responses to be just as uninhibited?  Why then are so many bloggers complaining about their comments being edited or deleted? Is this about PR (Public Relations)?  The fear of losing authority? Are we afraid to acknowledge that we are not quite the “expert” we profess ourselves to be?

I’m aware there is a great deal of talent online. And they read blogs too. But, I’m not threatened by it. Are you? Stop cowering behind the WordPress delete button from your Admin page, and blaming Akismet, your natural spam filter. You felt challenged by a reader’s comment. And instead of addressing it, you buried it. Someone within your blog community may have benefited from that exchange. It’s sort of like when a Prosecutor buries evidence in a criminal case that would have had a bearing on the outcome of a  jury’s decision. They don’t get rewarded for doing that!

Listen, there are certainly instances where commenting goes too far and becomes abusive. It’s usually very evident and should not be tolerated. I’ll be the first to admit, I have no qualms about running that element from any of my blogs. But, this article was not created to recycle the blogosphere’s views on dealing with misbehavior or developing a commenting policy. I’m going well beyond that to a more prominent issue.

The question is…if we always emphatically agree on every issue, how are we really setting the boundaries of online quality? Do we have some personal responsibility to uphold the standards that is the craft of blogging? Of course we want to encourage all bloggers to succeed. But, being too supportive is counter-intuitive to this process. Isn’t it?

I have a voice. Do not silence me. Do not censor me. Just because a commentator shares a difference in style, approach, or opinion does make them evil or guilty of “trolling” and personal attacks. There IS a difference.

The bottom line is that if you can’t handle working with the public, you should not be blogging. Period.