Comment editing etiquette
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My blog is set up so that I approve all comments before they are edited. My question is specifically about editing out or changing part of a reader’s comment. Occasionally I get a comment on my blog that for one reason or another part of it seems inappropriate for public consumption and I wish to edit out those parts or change them.
Is there any established etiquette about how best to do this or any recommendations people have of acceptable methods as well as ways not to do this?
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This is pretty much up to you. I don’t know of any established etiquette, but I would be up front about it and not simply editing comments and then acting as if I hadn’t. That will break trust with your commenters and most likely drive them away.
I’d perhaps add in brackets the word “edited” if I edit a comment in any substantial way (obviously not if I’m merely correcting typos). I have deleted comments and pingbacks on my blog that were spammy or completely off topic. Those I did without any comment, though I’ve seen other bloggers replace that person’s comment with their own that states “Comment deleted because…”
A good idea is to have a comment policy where you clearly assert the right to edit and/or delete comments under certain conditions, then you can simply refer commenters to that should they complain.
These posts by Timethief have been the most influential in my thoughts on the topic. You can also see examples of comment policies on both my and Timethief’s blogs.
http://onecoolsitebloggingtips.com/2010/10/20/a-comment-policy-for-your-blog/
http://onecoolsitebloggingtips.com/2008/06/04/how-to-handle-negative-comments/
http://onecoolsitebloggingtips.com/2013/11/15/your-comments-who-owns-them/You can also ask this question in the Community Pool on the staff blog, The Daily Post (every Monday). You’ll get more feedback there and it’s a more appropriate setting for this type of question than the support forums.
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