Honesty in your blog comments

Once you start blogging you will start getting comments. Unfortunately, a large proportion of them will probably be spam, but the real comments are great.

What about the real but not-so-great comments you may get?

As I wrote a few years ago (back in December 2007 to be precise – old content that still rings true!), I think you have five choices about how to act on negative comments.

Spam and outright abuse I think should be deleted and forgotten.

Comments that just disagree with you or  realistic or even constructive  criticisms are a different story.

Keeping negative comments in your blog seems honest to me – you’re not censoring and are being transparent.

It may be confronting to leave negative comments live, but it gives you a chance to be human and show that you are open to feedback – especially if you show that you have learnt from it.

Have you ever left negative comments in your blog? What response have you got from doing so?

Would you use negative comments to stir a controversy or a discussion?