Selective Censorship

I welcome feedback on my blog. I love praise, and appreciate criticism. I would love to see more comments on The Brown Knowser, but I'll take what I can get.

Whether you want to throw bricks or send bouquets, I'm for it; however, I wouldn't welcome trolls who want to send hate because that's what they do. I've never had a troll, which makes me sometimes wonder what I'm doing wrong.

I have, however, had to remove comments from spammers, who have sent meaningless messages that have ended with a link that I dare not click. Those messages have sounded formulaic, without any relevance to my post, and I'm not even sure an actual person put fingers to keyboards in creating them.

Recently, I received a comment that was kind, was related to the content of the particular post. I read it, and felt good, felt thankful for the nice words. But the message was ruined by a link to a business.

I saw the link and thought that the message now seemed disingenuous. The person agreed with my words, acknowledged my feelings, and thanked me for sharing the story. And while the company link was relate to the post, it didn't seem appropriate for a comment.

I have nothing against someone sending me a link in a comment, provided that the link is related to the post and may provide more information about the topic. For example, in January's Where In Ottawa post, I didn't know much about the artwork at the location for my photo challenge. The person who solved the challenge provided a link to more art by the artist and background information. I appreciated the information and welcomed the links.

If I were to write about a specific company, and if that company were to supply a link to their business in the comments, I would be fine with that (mind you, if I write about a company, I always provide a link anyway).

But if I write about how I have injured my back, I don't want someone providing a link to his or her chiropractic clinic. I don't welcome advertising in reader feedback.

If you want to advertise on my blog, contact me. Let's talk.

But you're going to have to pay for it.

I had a very nice comment sent to me, but it ended with a link to a business. I felt I had no choice but to delete the person's message.

And that made me sad. Because I love feedback.