All comments submitted to this website are subject to the following comment policy. If a comment does not abide by these guidelines, it will be trashed or marked as spam.
As the webmaster, I reserve the right to modify, delete, or edit comments that may be harmful or inappropriate for the site. It is called moderation for a reason…
Things That Are Allowed:
Emojis 😁 are allowed:
(If the comment form does render them correctly… 🤔)
You are more than welcome to express yourself with an emoji! 🥳 Just keep it classy and professional. 😎
That being said, emoji spam is not allowed. Comments filled with only emojis or excessive emojis (typically over three consecutively), may be marked as spam at my discretion.
Suggestive Emojis are generally not allowed 🙅. I aim to keep my site family-friendly. Suggestive emojis may be removed from a comment to keep things appropriate.
Psuedoynms/Gamertags Are Ok (If Appropriate):
As a gamer, I get it. We like donning personas and using our flashy gamertags. Even if you don’t, you are not obligated to use your real name in the comments (unless you really just want to.)
I do want to encourage discussions, where appropriate, and connect with people enjoying the site! The form just asks for a name. All I ask is that you keep the name field classy.
Names containing obscenities, slurs, or other harmful text may cause comments to be held for moderation or removed.
Well-Being Checks Are Ok:
(And thank you if you do!)
As I alluded to in a certain “May I?” post, I do have times of ups and downs with the site. Sometimes I have doubts about my work, or about any impact I could have.
Leaving a comment to check on where I’m at is a polite, friendly way to let me know you’re awaiting a new post. Or just have genuine concern. And it’s honestly something I think society needs more of. Just don’t overdo it. (People will typically tell you if that happens.)
Feedback/Kudos/Complaints are Allowed:
As they should be in any healthy discussion! Love something I wrote? Tell me about it! Notice something innacurate or off? Do let me know. Something about the site or content bothering you? You are welcome to be honest about it, so long as you are respectful.
Things That Are Not Allowed:
The following infractions are not allowed. While bots are likely to submit comments that ignore these rules, they must be said regardless…
No Bullying, Flame Wars, or Argumentative Comments:
I would like to think that everyone here can be respectful and treat others with common decency. But in case of any bad actors, no arguing or bullying is allowed in the comments.
There are no winners in flame wars, everyone just gets burned. So why spark the embers anyway?
No Off Topic Comments:
Comments are for engagement and discussion for their associated posts. Asking for help, or submitting feedback or requests are genuine uses for comments.
Comments about things like online gambling, adult content, viagra, and yes, even the Zune, are not valid and will not be approved. (These are actual spam comments I’ve recieved, and every one of them will be trashed.)
No Link Stuffing:
There is hardly ever a use for more than one link in a comment, if even a use for just one link.
All comments with links will be held for moderation. Any comments with excessive link usage will be flagged as spam. Comments that include links to YouTube as the website URL will be marked as spam.
The URL field is entirely optional, and due to high amounts of spam, any comments including a website URL will be held in moderation.
No Self-Promotion:
I do want to see people shine and build towards their goals, but my site is not a springboard for people to drop by at random and start promoting themselves, their YouTube channels, or their services. This is not a follow-for-follow site, and not your social media platform.
Online Marketing is about trust and recognition. It’s about putting the effort in and making meaningful contribution. Plugging yourself into a random, off-topic comment won’t win the trust of others, and it certainly doesn’t win mine.
The only exception to this rule would be in the form of guest posts or blogs, which are unlikely to happen at this time.
No Marketing/Affiliate Links:
Genuine commentors have no reason to plug these things into any comment that isn’t on their own site. To put it bluntly, if I haven’t put an affiliate link or sold anything on my site for approximately 8 years, you certainly can’t either.
No Keyword Stuffing:
While a keyword can quite literally be anything, I can discern a genuine comment from an attempt to game the system for SEO optimization.
Any comments that read like an ad, have a keyword as the commentor name, or otherwise seem written for bots as opposed to people, will be flagged as spam.
No Low Quality Comments:
One-liner comments or single-word comments will be trashed. Comments aren’t texts. You are welcome to offer compliments or express gratitude if something I write truly compels you to do so, but I’m not expecting anyone to write paragraphs for every comment either.
Essentially, any comments that just comprise of “Thx”, “Thanks” or “Shared” will be trashed. What exactly did you like or dislike? You don’t need to write an essay, but at least be clear!
In short, I would love to see genuine comments, and welcome healthy discussion.
You are always welcome to leave a comment to build to any ongoing discussion, but if your comment does not abide by these guidelines, it will be deleted.