Let me say up front that I love that blog software makes it so easy for readers to provide feedback on content. I enjoy the conversation. That said, in order to provide a more enjoyable atmosphere for everyone, I ask that anyone who comments does so keeping the following in mind:
Do These Things
- Do use your real name, initials, or a nickname in the “name” field. Identity aids in trust, which enhances the conversation.
- Do use the “website” field, preferably linking to your personal website or social profile.
- Do share links that are relevant to the conversation.
- Do be kind to others.
- Do have fun and enjoy the conversation!
Don’t Do These Things
- Do not spam. Seriously, I delete spam. Without remorse.
- Do not use your website name, business name, or keywords in the “name” field. That smells spammy. See the previous point.
- Do not include irrelevant links in comments. This also smells spammy.
- Do not use excessively explicit language or language that may be deemed to be hate speech.
- Do not engage in debate by letting a link elsewhere be your argument or by copy / pasting long expositions into your comment. Be original and explain your arguments.
- Do not use throwaway or otherwise fake e-mail addresses. E-mail addresses are never released publicly, so you have no reason not to use your real address.
And I reserve the right to…
- Delete comments which egregiously violate the “do nots,”
- Edit comments to fix broken markup,
- Remove material which violates the “do nots” (such as irrelevant links in an otherwise cromulent comment),
- And prevent future comments from repeat offenders.
All links within comments on the Rick Beckman archive receive the nofollow microformat, which effectively cloaks the link from search engines such as Google, so please do not post comments just to increase your standing with those search engines. That won’t get you far here.
the Rick Beckman archive may at some unknown future point allow commenters to sponsor their comments for some amount of time, which would remove the search engine cloak but would require marking the link as a paid sponsored link. However, it’s just as likely, if not more so, that the Rick Beckman archive will not be doing that.