Recently, there were a few posts by bloggers who are cracking down on spammers.
Who couldn’t get behind that?
But, I was surprised at a provision several bloggers added to their Comment Policy. If a person leaving a comment does not show their face – they’re out.
Ready for Your Close-up?
Comment policies are a good idea. Sometimes people simply do not play nice.
- It’s the few bad apples syndrome you’ve grown up with
- It lays down the rules or code of conduct for your blog
I have a Comment Policy at my business writing blog. Pure procrastination stops me from putting one at this personal blog and my health care blog.
Soon – I promise.
What these bloggers decided was if a comment does not have a photo attached to it, they will not approve the comment.
Sound harsh?
A Few Bad Apples
Okay, so maybe it’s more than a few. It’s the spammers of the world that have these bloggers taking the No photo – No comment approach.
The posts I read did include instructions on using Gravatar to add a photo to your comments.
- Gravatar allows you to upload a photo of yourself
- The image appears next to your name on sites where you comment
While I totally understand the reason for the No photo – No comment policy, I cannot imagine me ever adopting it – for several reasons.
- I have plenty of loyal readers that don’t use it
- It’s a personal choice for the reader to decide to add/not add a photo
- Sometimes, it doesn’t work
My Gravatar does not appear on Blogger. I added Blogger to my Gravatar account, but it will not work when I visit a Blogger post. I think it’s because I won’t create a Blogger account I will never use.
One of the founding principles of my business site is that at one point or another, everyone is a newbie.
Not everyone knows all the ins and outs of blogging/social media, etc. So, I applaud that the bloggers share information that the reader may not know – e.g., Gravatar – but, in the end, it’s their choice.
I know, I know – it’s the bloggers’ choice, too. Agreed.
Personally, I’d rather screen the comments for content than photos.
Seedlings
If you are a seedling when it comes to this whole blogosphere, here are a few siggestions.
- Consider adding a photo – it does personalize the experience
- Be thoughtful about your comments
- Comments like Great post may be thrown out as spam
Normally, I am a Pollyanna – see-the-good-in-people – kind of person. Unfortunately, spammers make us cynical.
It’s not always easy to determine if a comment is legit or spam. I admit, when in doubt, I dump it in the spam folder.
What do you think? Would you ever adopt a No photo – no comment policy?
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Live…Laugh…Love
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I agree, Cathy – plus, we’ve all seen people who still manage to remain faceless by using a random photo of someone else! I’m right there with you – I read the comment and make my decision that way. If in doubt, it heads toward the garbage disposal!
Thanks, Nicky, for sharing your view. Nice to see your face. 😀
Hi Cathy,
I think you need to take into account your own audience and how much SPAM you attract when creating a comment policy. I have noticed more SPAM as my Alexa ranking has gone up. Right now I research everyone I don’t know who leaves a comment relating to what I post. One day I will have to get rethink my policy as traffic increases.
Sherrie
I totally agree, Sherrie, and I am sure that was a major driver behind the bloggers’ motivation. It’s not something I have to worry about right now. LOL! 😀
However, I still cannot see me going the route of banning those without a photo. It’s such a pain that we have to do this because of spammers. I totally understand and empathize with the bloggers. The price of fame, I guess. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your view, Sherrie.
Hi Cathy,
I think a lot depends on who your readers are, if they are regular ones on your blog, or known ones. For them everything is alright, though for me, even the ones without a Gravatar are alright presently, though once I reach a level where the spam gets too much- I would be compelled to make a comment policy as well.
I recently installed CommentLuv Premium on my blog, so that takes care of a lot of spam as well.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hi Leena; I agree, you can’t make assumptions about all readers, which I guess is why I have problems with making such a hard and steadfast rule. I appreciate you sharing your point of view.
I come from a tradition where many refuse to be photographed- for religious reasons. So, the no photograph policy makes absolutely no sense to me.
And, I find it relatively easy to discern the charlatan and spammer types- for now…
I’m with you there, Roy. The only ones I’m not as sure about are those that are generic in their response.
Thanks for your point of view.
When is a picture really the picture. I use a caracture drawn many years ago as a gravatar and I upload relatively recent photos but spamming on blogs – many tools to catch them so I seem to have little problem with spam and since my blog is set up for me to approve comments from non subscribers and new commenters, I get to eliminate the spam – judgement on spam – meaningless comment and email, especially if pushing websites I dislike
Hi Roberta: That is how i have mine set up as well. I just question how many non-photo readers are being thrown out with the spammers/ Thanks for sharing your view.
P.S. Like your caricature. 🙂
I haven’t run across this phenomenon yet, but I’m with you on this. I have my picture out there (although it doesn’t seem to be appearing on this post – irony!), but there are a lot of folks who don’t want their face plastered all over the internet for a variety of reasons ranging from religious to safety to “don’t wanna”. And it’s a shame that valid potential tribe-members would be shunned because they don’t have a pic.
Also, what if the picture they have isn’t actually them? How could you tell? What if it’s a cartoon or a LOLcat or something? Do you block that to keep in line with your policy? There seem to be too many downsides.
If I were in these shoes, getting so many hundreds of comments, so much spam that I couldn’t keep up, I’d stop allowing comments altogether. I know several Big Dogs are using this technique for more peace of mind, and it seems much more egalitarian. Fair, no. Community-building, no. But neither is deleting people with no pics.
Hi Ellie: One of the posts I read listed about four other blogs with a similar policy. I knew at least 3 of the bloggers. So, I was quite surprised. BTW-your picture is here-I think it doesn’t show up until you hit Submit.
I heard from a really well-known blogger on this topic who gets waaaay more comments than I do and she said she wouldn’t have this policy either. Even though she recommends photos, she understands some people do not want to go that route.
Thanks for sharing your comments (and your pic). 🙂
Hi Cathy,
Came here from one of your other blogs. I saw some of the blog posts you mentioned where people have been complaining about faceless comments. I understand their viewpoints even though I don’t agree with their policy. It is there choice as you say though, because it is their blog.
I prefer to see some kind of Avatar or Gravatar when people are commenting on my site. It tells me that they probably aren’t a spammer. The vast majority of spammers will not take the time to create an account to get an Avatar for their comments. I think that is the main reason behind why people don’t like to approve those comments. They feel as if the person is just there to try to steal a little link juice from them via their comment.
I have a strict comment policy on my site against using keywords in the comments. Some people get angry at me for not approving a comment when they put their website name in the name field for the comment. I consider that a keyword, while they don’t. I consider anything other than their name to be a keyword.
Everyone has their own opinions and their own policy. I guess it is just up to us to accept people for the decisions that they make because it is their right to do it how they want.
Hi Ted: Couldn’t agree more-it is their blog, their choice and I respect that. I also totally understand where they’re coming from. Spammers and rude people are why we have Comment Policies.
As I said, I can’t see me banning someone for the lack of a photo, but do not judge those who do. Thanks for sharing your point of view, Ted.
I don’t really use my photo as much as my blog logo–I am not a big photo person. I have read that isn’t the best idea for marketing, etc, but I try to focus readers’ attention on the website and its content and not me as a person…
Hi Kristen: I am a total fan of doing your own thing> Recommendations like photos on blogs are just someone’s opinion. I think we should apply what works for us or makes us comfortable.
Thanks for sharing you comment, Kristen.
I think I read the same post. 🙂 I’ve also read a few others who have the no image no comment policy and I think it’s a little over the top. Yes, it’s nice to see people’s faces… but like you said, not everyone knows how to make that work. I think it also depends on who your readers are… one of my sites is geared toward beginners and I wouldn’t make the no image rule stick… but I absolutely will not take comments without a name anymore. I have keywordluv installed so there’s no reason not to include your name as well as keywords. 🙂
Hi Jackie: I agree. My Comment Policy requires a name and a valid email address (not used for other than ID verification). Isn’t it too bad we have to even worry about this stuff. 🙂
I appreciate you sharing your comment, Jackie.
This is great thoughts on this discussion that’s been going around.
I really like how you put the tips for the newbies out there. A few short months ago, I was in their boat. I *wanted* to add my picture, but didn’t know gravatar even existed. I thought it was some setting in WP. Fortunately, I have a blogger friend who was seasoned and she told me about gravatar and told me how to add my face. I’m so glad I did. It really helps me to connect to people who have their pictures, but I certainly understand and respect others’ concerns or situation about adding their picture out there on the internet.
Hi Steve: I still consider myself a “newbie” in the blogging world even though I started in 2009, there is still so much to learn.
I, too, respect if people don’t want their photo attached. I also respect and understand the reason behind the bloggers’ comment policy, although I can’t see me adopting it.
Thanks for sharing your comment, Steve.
geeze, what does a photo have to do with spam? The decision to insist on one to comment simply makes no sense to me at all… with Akismet, which is free, it’s pretty easy to reduce spam to almost nothing.
I want my readers to find it easy to comment… like here. But then I don’t have to understand, do I? sigh
Hi Anne: I guess the reasoning is that most spammers do not have photos, but I have found exceptions. For me, you can be what I consider a spammer when you populate your comments with self-serving backlinks beyond your name and CommentLuv.
It’s their blog, so I support that they have the right to do what they think is best, but I agree, I don’t feel it’s the way to go for MY blogs.
Thanks for sharing your view, Anne.
A no-photo, no-comment policy seems pretty misguided to me, Cathy. Using a photo is a personal choice. And I’ve come across a few spammers who have beautiful avatars but still leave silliness on my blog.
As I said in the post, Sharon, it’s not a path I could see me taking. After seeing my first “in front of the camera” video, I understand why some people might be hesitant to share a photo. LOL! 😀
Thanks for stopping by, Sharon.
I agree with you, that expecting all people to use photos to comment is a bit much. I understand cracking down on spam, but there are plugins for that. My philosophy is to allow as many people as possible to comment, picture or not.
Hi Alexis: Thank you for dropping by and sharing your view. I’m with you – I need all the readers I can get. 😀 Like I’ve said, it’s too bad we have to worry about things like spam, but it is what it is.
Thanks again, Alexis.
Let’s see … um … do I have a picture attached? Honestly, I think more like you, Sharon, Alexis, and others do, Cath. I’m much more interested in interacting … and can always screen spam or super-negative or hateful comments.
I wasn’t aware of this new policy. Is this with blogspot as well?
peace and thanks….
Well, hey there, Kevin. Fancy seeing you here. 🙂
It’s a policy that several bloggers created for their own blogs-their personal choice. As Ted said, it’s their right to do whatever they want with their blogs. However, it isn’t a route I can see me taking.
Thanks for stopping by, Kevin. Hope all is well.