Approve, Delete, Spam – How Do You Treat Specific Comments?

Alex Denning over at WPHacks.com has a poll running right now that asks the question, What Comment Types Do You Approve? I’ve taken notice of the different way I handle comments now a days. There are a few things that come into play regarding whether I approve, delete, or spam a comment. First is the content. This is usually a give in and easy to tell whether it’s legitimate or not. The second is the URL. One thing I’ve started doing to combat human spammers who publish semi relevant material in order to get their URL across is to de-link them, then publish their content. I love doing this as it’s like laughing in their face. Third is the type of mood I’m in. Usually, I’ll just delete comments with URL’s I don’t want on this blog. Other times, I’ll mark them as spam. However, one thing I don’t do anymore is mark EVERYTHING as spam.

I’m at this stage of my blogging cycle that bumping up the comment count is something I’m not interested in doing anymore. I still get excited though when I receive new legitimate comments, especially from folks who hang around this area of the web and especially from new comers. If something doesn’t have comments, then so be it. I’ll move on to the next item and see what becomes of it.