Do you comment on blogs based on the belief of the blogger?
By Bes on Apr 14, 2007.
You may notice it on some blogs. Some people, either bloggers or readers, comment on other blogs only if those blog owners share the same religious belief, or if they share something. Otherwise, those commentors act moody or do not comment at all on a blog, even if the blog in question is not related to any belief that they hold dear at all.
In my view, such commentors can be some of the most narrow-minded people in the world. A blog could be about the internet or some random humor, but these commentors will still not comment on such blogs simply because they feel more comfortable on blogs that share the same beliefs such as views about religion, abortion, war, politics, pollution, etc. Such a mentality, in my view, results in many innocent bloggers not being appreciated at all simply because they believe, do not believe, or do not even know about something.
The commentors I am talking about may not even know a blogger, but they will hate or like them, or start or avoid commenting on their blogs, simply because of their belief about something not related to the blog at all. I think that is a very sad thing that had plagued the offline world for centuries, and now it is drifting onto the internet also.
Have you noticed such commentors? Do you believe a commentor can treat a blogger based on their belief about something not related to a blog at all? What is your take on this?
Bes,
I witnessed this very thing yesterday on Shawn Blanc’s blog. Some commenter (or one) obviously did not agree with Shawn’s religious beliefs and trolled several posts. This is unacceptable.
I hate ad hominem attacks. It’s one thing to disagree with a blogger on a point. It’s another to attack that blogger personally.
Comment by Ronald Huereca — April 14, 2007 @ 11:37 pm
No… I comment for other reasons. I comment only when I have something to add to the conversation. I do subscribe to well over 200 blogs so I can’t give each of them as much attention as I would like. But… Sometimes enabling the Yesfollow plugin on your blog can help to instigate a conversation and show appreciation.
Comment by Hawaii Pictures — April 15, 2007 @ 3:20 am
Ronald, thanks for the comment. Yes, those kinds of comments are uncalled for, and seem to be solely there to attack Shawn based on his beliefs, which are not related to the RA Project at all.
Like you said, they are there to personally attack the blogger. Even if Shawn did something that they said, it is his blog and they cannot just barge in as a crowd and start insulting him.
Hawaii Pictures, thanks for stopping by and commenting, I really appreciate it!
That’s a good point, to comment when you can add something to a conversation. Wow, 200+ blog subscription does sound extremely hard! Regarding the Yesfollow plugin, we have the “nofollow” attribute turned off for this site.
Does that help? 
Again, thanks for commenting!
PS: Looking forward to some Hawaii pics.
Comment by Bes — April 15, 2007 @ 4:09 pm
The whole purpose of blogging is to share opinion. It’s a given that we can’t all agree on everything, but that’s part of life. And it gets debate going. I’m very firm about attacks on fellow commentators or myself as the blog owner – basically I won’t have it – and I have a disclaimer to that effect.
If people don’t want to comment and just want to read that’s absolutely fine by me, but if they do comment they must abide by my blog etiquette or I’ll delete their comment and if necessary ban them from my blog. It’s happened, but happily only a couple of times
If someone decides they want to have a go at me because of something not related to the post, I will probably delete their comment as it’s likely to be off-topic anyway.
My commenting on other blogs…. I comment only if I feel I have something to add to the conversation.
Comment by Britgirl — April 15, 2007 @ 7:56 pm
Britgirl, thanks for the comment.
You are right; it is hard to agree on everything. I like the fact that you have a disclaimer regarding that specific point.
It is the same as in real life. If you are giving a speech about, say, driving habits, and someone starts criticizing you based on the way you wear your watch and insults you in front of everyone, that person needs to be told that getting hyper over a watch has nothing to do with the speech in question. Also, attacking someone personally when you can avoid such an attack seems very weird.
Thanks for your comment. I can see from your useful comment that you do comment with very useful information!
Thanks.
Comment by Bes — April 16, 2007 @ 5:35 pm
Britgirl,
I have noticed from comments I have read that your blog is more into debate, so I would see that you would have to have a rather strict comment policy. I myself despise commentators who personally attack the blogger. I’m of the opinion, “Either debate logically, or get lost.”
Thank you for your wonderfully insightful comment.
Comment by Ronald Huereca — April 16, 2007 @ 5:47 pm
Thanks, Bes
Sadly there are some who think the fact that a blog is open to comments and feedback means they can simply insult other readers and the blog owners because they don’t agree with their world view! Sometimes it can be hard to delete a comment (sometimes you want to keep a comment up just to show how silly the writer is….)but sometimes for the sake of your blog audience and the standard you want, you just have to.
Ronald – thanks! I also blog about what can be a rather “emotive” issue, and since I don’t censor what I say, yes I have to be vigilant
there are many trolls who just love to stir it with personal attacks! And I don’t want the conversational atmosphere on Like It Is to turn into a battleground. I think blog owners have to work hard to create and maintain the kind of atmosphere they want…once you do that, I have found that most people generally get the message. I know I have many readers who never comment – but they read very regularly – I call them blurkers. Months later, they may de-lurk and then they say “I’ve been reading your blog for a long time…”
This was an interesting post by the way. Thank you!
Comment by Britgirl — April 17, 2007 @ 5:55 pm
To tell the truth I didn´t notice that. Since I am pagan and i see christians commenting on my blog. Maybe because the things I post about interest them.
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