Blogging world has introduced us to new dimensions of human communications; it has opened a large window of opportunity for over zealous talented individuals to be committed to their blogs and their readers, and that is the foremost motivation that keeps them going and interacting with the whole world through this very easy tool that is available to all of us.
What makes blogging even more exciting is the direct interaction with the audience and the immediate feedback.
Since the main feature of the blogs is the fact that they represent a personal point of view, this causes many conflicts between the blogger and the readers, and among the readers themselves. Just how many times we have read long debates on certain posts and maybe even participated in some of these debates, especially when the post is highly controversial.
Having said that; I think you all agree with me that the comments represent another active means of communication that should be governed by guidelines and etiquette, just like any other communication method. Since we have witnessed many a time how some comments cross the lines of common courtesy; I got interested in investigating more about this and see if there are such rules that are worth mentioning.
So, I took a virtual trip around the virtual globe searching for the unwritten guidelines and decided that I would post them on my blog hoping to help is increasing awareness about this very important issue, so here we go;
Before I go into details about the guidelines; remember that as a commentator who wants to reply to a certain post and/or comment, you are a guest in the blogger's virtual house which is the blog, hence; you are obligated to show the minimum level of respect and courtesy towards the owner and his other guests (other commentators).
So, before you decide to post your comment, keep the following guidelines in mind:
- Read the whole post before you add your comment and I mean read it; do not skim through it or just read one or two lines of each paragraph.
- Make your comment relevant to the post topic as much as possible. If you do not have anything to add, simply don’t comment.
- Helpful criticism and lively debate are the point of comments. It is easy to offer the first and have the second while obeying guidelines and maintaining a courteous dialogue; even if you think low of the point of view presented in the post and/or comments, do not express ridicule or underestimate the other point of view in an offensive manner.
- Never assume that you know the people behind the blog and/or comments and judge them according to your convictions; always leave room for constructive discussion.
- If for any reason you felt negatively provoked by a post and/or a comment; do not post your own comment immediately. In other words; do not be reactive and lose the edge of the debate, rather be responsive and wait for a sufficient period of time before you start pouring your mind/heart in your comment.
- Try not to leave irrelevant links in the body of your comment as the blogger would not appreciate so many exit points from his post to something that is not directly related. Besides; you are already given the opportunity to post a link to your own blog in the personal information section; benefit from it.
- Do not blatantly promote yourself. An interesting comment will make people investigate you, and that is better than any commercial you could write.
- Keep the cursing and profanity and vulgarity to a minimum. There might be kids reading that specific blog, parents read it, spouses read it, friends read it … etc. Intelligent people who can follow an argument without having key points highlighted for them by gratuitous uses of offensive words also read that blog, so do your best to be as polite and courteous as possible.
- If you feel that a certain debate is taking a more personal aspect between you and the blogger/another commentator, take it offline and use other means of communication to end it.
- If you choose to comment anonymously; the least you can do is sign the comment with your first name or initials, however; if you insist on anonymity; make sure that your comment follows the guidelines and don’t take advantage of your anonymous status and hide behind it to attack everyone else.
- Make sure you follow lingual guidelines, such as:
o Never use "All" Capital letters in your comment because like email and chat communication, capital letters are equal to SHOUTING!
o Use short sentences and paragraphs if your comment is longer than usual
o Limit the use of acronyms and abbreviations unless they are familiar to everyone.
o Review your comment before posting it for spelling, grammar, correct punctuation, general content (does the comment say clearly what you want to say?) and general readability (is the comment logical, clear and easy to understand?)
I hope I covered everything here. I know that these are a lot of guidelines, but many commentators think that they can offend others whether bloggers and/or other commentators and get away with it, and I thought that something needed to be mentioned in this regard.
Please feel free to add your own rules so that we can come up with general guidelines for everyone.
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from United States