I just recently added a com­ment pol­icy to the blog.  I have noticed an increas­ing num­ber of blogs have started adding com­ment poli­cies, rules, and dis­clo­sures.  So when I see this trend, the first ques­tions to pop into my mind are:  Are com­ment poli­cies really nec­es­sary, and should all blogs have them?

I believe the answers to those ques­tions are “yes”.  Here is why I feel com­ment poli­cies are important:

1.  Com­mon sense no longer exists.  There are peo­ple out there that, no mat­ter what we (blog­gers) think, have no decency about them.  They exist for one rea­son only:  to “flame” your blog.  I have seen it in the past on dif­fer­ent blogs, be they polit­i­cal, reli­gious, or just a per­sonal jour­nal.  Some­one out there in the big ‘ol blo­gos­phere is going to make it his or her life’s mis­sion to dis­par­age, demean and har­rass you.

2.  Self-preservation is the key.  Pro­tect your­self.  This is one thing I learned from Word­Camp Dal­las back in March, thanks to Jonathan Bai­ley from Pla­gia­rism Today.  Com­ments, whether you like or not, become a part of your blog once it is posted.  Although it may not reflect your views, the com­ment can reflect on you and your blog.  Com­ments can either attract more read­er­ship or drive your loyal read­er­ship (as well as any new read­ers) far, far away.  That is why I am a strong pro­po­nent of com­ment mod­er­a­tion.  Let the first post (or few posts) of some­one you don’t know be mod­er­ated, then after you have deemed them “safe” the com­ments auto­mat­i­cally appear on your blog.  If some­one is offended by a com­ment on your blog, you could poten­tially be held respon­si­ble or even sued.  It’s been known to hap­pen.  I believe it is nec­es­sary to add a blurb like “The author of the blog is not respon­si­ble for the con­tent in the com­ments sec­tion.  The com­ments in no way reflect the posi­tions or the views of the blog author.”

3.  It looks pro­fes­sional.  Oh yeah.  It adds a lit­tle bit of cre­dence to your blog, and it makes your blog look like it’s a bona fide jour­nal­ism out­let.  In short, it just looks cool.

So what do you think?  Should all blogs have a com­ment pol­icy?  Fire away in the comments!