Controversial Comment Policy Update

A few days ago I changed my comment policy and it caused a bit of a stir, to say the least:

Iâ€™m getting annoyed.

I donâ€™t like it when people put keywords where their name goes in the comments.

I know the tone of the post was, well, kinda bitchy, and the truth is that’s how I felt when I wrote it. A little raw emotion on a blog isn’t a bad thing, necessarily, and it’s one of the aspects of blogging I dearly love. In this case, a little distance might have been a good thing. But that’s not the real reason I’m writing this post now. I just wanted to acknowledge that I was in a high state of being miffed (miffededness? miffification?).

The reason I’m writing about this now is because I want to update and clarify the most controversial aspect of the policy: that commentators should just use their name only. As James Chartrand pointed out in the comments, there truly is a difference between spamming the name field with keywords or blog names and engaging in legitimate branding & identification. We’ve had a great discussion about it (if you haven’t read the post and the comments, you should, it’s now the second-most highly commented post ever on Remarkablogger).

I think James has made an excellent point, so I’m amending the policy to allow for branding/identification in the comment name field. So something like this is acceptable: “James Chartrand – Men with Pens” or this: “Alister Cameron // Blogologist.” But not this: “South America Vacations” or this: “Personal Injury Lawyer.”

But wait! there’s more… (I always wanted to say that!)

As an experiment, I’m going to begin signing all comments I leave elsewhere as “Michael Martine, Blog Consultant.” I’ll do this until the end of March and then report on if I’ve seen any benefits (or problems) from doing it. If I can report clear benefits from doing it, then I will recommend this as a strategy for others. But if not, or if it causes issues, then I will come out against it. For blogs which have “no-follow” enabled (which is like 99% of them) I should see no SEO benefits from doing this. But there are a few blogs that have removed “no-follow,” which means I could potentially see some SEO benefits from doing this. I’m very curious to see what happens!

Filed Under: Blogging

http://bloggingcents.com Lori

I’ve never added anything to my name when leaving comments because I just assumed it was unethical. I’m fully aware of what branding is, it’s just that I’m here to comment not promote. That’s just my opinion;)
http://www.menwithpens.ca James-Men with Pens

I’m looking forward to seeing if it makes a difference, Michael. It’s great that you’re trying it out, because you’re the perfect guinea pig (no offense). As you said, all this time, you haven’t branded your name.

I hope that it works out, honestly. And if it doesn’t, I’ll respectfully adhere to your desires for your blog, because it is your home, not mine

(And dammit, why can’t I fit my blog name into the name field now? Sabotage!)
http://www.tellinitlikeitis.net Lin Burress

Michael, I will be very interested in seeing how this works out. I’ll definitely be paying close attention, watching for an update.
http://none,yet Corey

I’m just learning about blogging by reading blogs, and I’ll be eager to see how your experiment works out.

I really didn’t think your original post about changing your comment policy sounded overly miffed, because in my effort to learn I’ve been following most of the links in comments on the blogs I’ve been reading (that’s how I found this blog), and it seemed to me from the start that using keywords instead of some personal identifier is just tacky. But I also agree that a personal name followed by some sort of brand is not offensive.

I have to say, of all the blogs I’ve been reading in order to learn about blogging, this is one of the blogs I’ve been enjoying most.
http://www.usuxxors.com Jack Page

I’ve never put keywords for a name either. It always seemed kinda rude. I see it all the time on my own network. People don’t even try to be sneaky these days.

Won’t kill them to use their actual name I don’t think.
http://www.TheBlogArtist.com marti, TheBlogArtist

Hi Michael, first thx for the change of mind re your comment policy.

On a few other blogs that I read religiously, I recently started signing my name + my brand and so far it hasn’t stirred up any controversy. I always keep my comments on topic and try to extend the conversation.

Right now I’m in the process of launching my 2nd blog and thinking about what my own comment policy should be.

I’m leaning towards a cross between the standard “comment awating approval” in combination with the commenting feature used at Blogging Tips… “commenter’s name from commenter’s website.com”

I’ve seen some of your posts at Blogging Tips so I was wondering if their(B Tips) comment format ever “miffified” you as well since it explicitly includes the commenter’s site/company name/or whatever. Later…
http://remarkablogger.com Michael Martine, Blog Consultant

@ marti – What Kevin does at Blogging Tips with the comments is a great way to it because the right things are in the right place. People don’t need to try and put different information into a field than it’s supposed to have.

I’ve been considering a few comment improvements, here, ranging from threaded comments to some customization such as at Blogging Tips.
http://michaelcarnell.palmettobug.com Michael Carnell

I will be very, very interested to hear your results. Totally independently I started leaving my full name in the name field instead of just my first name. I had decided that there were too many just “Michael” comments out there and that I needed to build my identity with my full name. I too am interested to see if it makes any difference.
http://www.pixelwit.com PixelWit

I’ve been reading your site since you linked to my WordPress Image Galleries article in your Musician Blogging Tips post and it’s nice to see how someone else goes about keeping their comments section in check. I’m not sure how much mojo I can pass along but I’ve recently upgraded to DoFollow 4.0 so you’re welcome to test the SEO waters by leaving a comment… as long as it’s relevant and adds to the topic.

If you’re going to amend your policy to allow Name-BrandingTerms you’ll need to allow more characters in your form’s Name field as “PixelWit-Some Random Flash Guy” wouldn’t fit.
http://www.davidairey.com David Airey

Hi Michael,

I can empathise with your prior state of miffication, as I experienced something along the same lines a while back.

Thankfully I was able to take a step back and think things through more clearly, as it’s an aim of mine to keep my online identity as positive as possible.

Off-topic, keep up the great writing.
http://www.davenavarro.com/wealthblog Dave Navarro

Michael,

I think it’s a great idea for people to put their title/blog title in with their names (real people, not spammers). Here’s why.

The goal is to create a community of people on blogs, people who like to interact with you (and others) … and by having a title, you can see them as “people” a lot more easily.

Example:
“marti” – oh, there’s someone named “marti”.
“marti – TheBlogArtist” – Hey, who’s this? This person sounds interesting …

my 2 cents …
http://blackzedd.blogspot.com Black Zedd

Nice move. Looking forward to hear your result (I’m one of your new subscriber)..

I’m thinking of using keyword-in-name comment, but I’ve been commenting around for quite some time using this name.

I need some branding consistency, after all the name I’m using is a bit unique. Maybe your experiment will change it;)
http://www.thewritersmanifesto.com/blog Monika Mundell

Well Michael, I’ve done the switch and I ain’t going back. But I do look forward to see what you can come up with in terms of SEO.

It certainly can’t hurt with your Google search term can it?
http://www.sandbarstosunsets.com Cyndee Haydon

Michael – I love your “experiment” – many of us will be curious to see the results.
I was going to put Cyndee – Clearwater Realtor but I don’t have enough space ! What’s a girl to do?
http://www.menwithpens.ca James-Men with Pens

@ Cyndee – Complain to the management. I do
http://www.sandbarstosunsets.com/about Cyndee Haydon

James – I saw that! – Maybe the management will just make mine…
Cyndee Haydon – Clearwater Realtor

Of course – I’m a huge fan of the Remarkablogger so whatever he decides – I will live with Just happy to be in the house!!
http://communicatrix.com communicatrix

De-lurking to comment here, mainly b/c I missed the first post (a little behind in my reading, probably b/c it takes so much longer with all these commenters leaving big, long strings of words as their names.)

I have to say, I hope you revert to your original hard stance, even though I don’t know where that would leave me. I stuck my flag on the username hill many years ago for a variety of reasons and hate leaving my real name in comments.

I’m utterly transparent about my name–go to my site or google me and it’s everywhere.

But I have a long-a** name–the kind that never fit on standardized test forms–and it is such sweet relief to have a relatively brief (albeit incredibly monosyllabic) “handle” to replace it.

Personally, I feel like the keywords *and* the qualifying phrase methods are both cheese-laden. Willy Loman, sprung to life for the 21st century. It’s the opposite of the lean, clean, playful way of life I’d always associated the internet with.

One communicatrix’s opinion, anyway…
http://www.artpalaver.com Daryle

Unethical comments are a problem I hope to one day have. But I digress.

It never crossed my mind to use something other than my name in the name box. But this idea of branding gives me food for thought. Maybe I could do something like Art Palaver w/Daryle for a name?

Thanks for showing me a new door, now I have to decide if I want to open it.
http://www.menwithpens.ca James-Men with Pens

@ Michael – Hm. It appears this was a hotter topic than you or I realized! I’m glad to see people asking questions and getting feedback on it too!

@ Daryl – I’d put YOU first and your blog name or job description second. Blogging is about community and real people, I believe, so establishing you as a person is more important than what you do. Just my two cents.

@ Communicatrix – I once heard that the only gift that lasts forever that parents can ever give a child is a name. Long-ass or not, I’d find a way to use it. Shorten it, make it fun… but… it’s you. Be proud.
http://www.TheBlogArtist.com marti, TheBlogArtist

@Dave Navarro… speaking of interesting, I just found your blog thru your comment, you now have a new fan.
http://www.adversityuniversityblog.com Stephen Hopson

Michael:

I’m glad to see you’ve soften your comment policy a bit. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with creating brand name recognition, i.e. adding my blog name along with my personal name.

But the name field in your comment section actualy doesn’t allow me to add anything more than my name so I couldn’t fill in my blog name even if I wanted to.

The funny thing is that your original comment policy actually got me to think about taking my blog name off and just leaving my name in the comments.

And I’ve since begun to just leave my name when leaving comments. How funny is that?
http://remarkablogger.com Michael Martine, Blog Consultant

@ Stephen – Yeah, people keep telling me that the field character length isn’t, well, long, LOL, so I have to figure out how to change it (if anyone knows, please shoot me an email from my contact page).

Irony abounds, doesn’t it? Many bloggers don’t have a very distinct way of branding themselves. Those that do would probably do well to work it in. But let’s keep in mind that just keywords or phrases in there that make it awkward or impossible to address a commentator are what’s unacceptable to me. I know you know that, Stephen, I’m just sayin’, is all.
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http://www.ventibate.com Hammer – Ventibate

I agree that you will see little SEO benefit from it but what I often do is to use, for example, the name Ventibate because using Ventibate.com would be considered spamming but using the name probably won’t and I think that if the name isn’t linked people will search it on Google out of curiosity.

In your case, using Michael Martine probably won’t have the same result since unless someone has heard of you it’s just a name and they’ll have little reason to search that name on Google, but you might want to consider using ‘Remarkablogger’ as your name since a search for ‘remarkablogger’ on Google pulls your site as the top listing.
http://www.menwithpens.ca James -Men with Pens

@ Hammer – If he’s branding himself, he’ll want to use Michael Martine – Remarkablogger.

That is, he would if he freakin’ came out to play more!
http://remarkablogger.com Michael Martine, Blog Consultant

@ Hammer – Interesting points! In order to carry on a conversation, you need to be able to address people properly. “Ventibate” or “Remarkablogger” aren’t really very good for this.

There is no algorithm to this, no way to create rules and follow them absolutely. In the end, it’s my call. I’m willing to give people the benefit of the doubt until they prove to be untrustworthy.

I had considered using the word Remarkablogger instead of blog consultant. But I wanted to put those words there for people who are actively looking for one (or, sometimes, didn’t know they wanted one until they see such a thing exists). Since I have been hired by people who have read my comments on other blogs, this makes the most sense to me as a strategy. For blogs that have no-follow turned off, it might help in the SEO deptartment, but only time will tell.
http://www.ventibate.com Hammer – Ventibate

I see your points but I post on webmaster boards on a daily basis where the majority of members do not use real names or names that sound like real names so it’s not unusual to reply to someone called “Timelord” or “AdultDateCash” or “yngnrestless” and we have no problem carrying on lengthy and meaningful conversations.
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