Blog Etiquette
On blogs all over the web it seems like there are always little drama’s going on between bloggers. Shallow digs made in the direction of other bloggers, snarky replies left on entries, and sometimes just plain nastiness. So, I ask my fellow bloggers, why on earth do so many stoop to such a low level? Has Blog Etiquette gone out the window? I’ve been blogging for over 5 years now and, I would like to think anyways, have always remained a decent person online. We’re all prone to the occasional slip up or the sometimes needed comment or two. Here are some of my main words of advice when it comes to leaving comments on other blogs, visiting other blogs, and treating the visitors of your blog.
1. Treat others with common respect. Think of how you treat people that you know offline. Even just casual acquaintances. You should never treat anyone that you run into online in a worse manner than you would treat someone that you run into on the street. Think about how you feel when a complete stranger on the street is rude to you. Why would you want to inflict that on someone else? Just because you cannot see their face doesn’t mean that it is any less rude.
2. If you can’t say something nice, don’t say it at all. If someone asks the readers opinion on an item or topic in their blog and you feel like you have something to contribute, do so. But do so only when asked for your input and do it tactfully. This goes hand in hand with #1. Let’s say that you just went shopping and bought an item that you absolutely love. You think it looks amazing on you and you are in love with it, so you make a blog post about it. People comment about how much they love it too, or comment about other things in your entry, then someone makes a comment saying that they hate the item and you look terrible in it. If you are reading a similar entry where someone posts the items that they just bought on a shopping trip, instead of saying that you really dislike such-and-such item, find an item that you do like and tell the person how much you love said item. There’s no need to be rude. And there’s a big difference between being honest and being rude. If there’s something in a blog that you dislike or don’t agree with, and the person does not ask for any input and is not someone that you get along with well, keep your mouth shut. No matter what the blog post is about, you can always find something positive to reply about in the comments. Do so. 
3. Don’t give unsolicited advice. Each blogger has their own preference for how they would like their site to look, their blog posts to be organized, etc. We all have our own style and isn’t that a part of what makes this giant blog-o-sphere so great? If someone designs their site with a small font, or a dark colored font on a dark background, or any other thing that you wouldn’t do with your own site, find something positive to comment on. Such as the content of their blog posts. We all design our sites to our own liking and our own standards. Unless the post is asking if the font is hard to read, or the colors clash, etc. don’t tell them how or what to change on their site. There’s a reason that we all have our own blogs.
4. Return comments. If someone takes the time to comment on a blog post or two of yours, take the same amount of time to return the favor. It’s a great way to find new blogs to read and you can end up finding blogs that you love reading. That being said, don’t be the type of commenter that leaves comments that are blatantly just about getting your own link up somewhere. Take the time to leave a real comment or don’t bother commenting at all.
5. Ignore any rude comments. If someone leaves you a not-so-nice comment, just ignore it. If someone is going to be rude to a stranger through text, they aren’t worth the time that it would take to reply. Don’t turn it into some big drama by leaving them rude comments on their site, or making a blog post talking about them on your site. It’s just not worth your time.
I think that those are the 5 basic things that I try to go by online. Do you guys have any guidelines that you try to stick to yourself? What about things that you wish other bloggers would keep in mind?
Edit : Just to clarify, I’m not saying that one should expect only nice comments in response to their blog. I do realize that a blog is a public platform and that you are going to receive negative remarks. As I said, I’ve been blogging for over 5 years. I am well aware of this. What I am saying is that there’s a line between being honest, and being rude. Find that line and try not to cross it unless it’s necessary. Treat other bloggers how you would treat a stranger on the street – with common respect, decency, and courtesy.
Logical Harmony is a fashion & beauty blog based out of the San Francisco Bay Area run by Tashina. This blog focuses on fashion, cruelty free & vegan beauty, celebrity style, diet, and lifestyle. Glamour magazine Glambassador. This site is iFabbo & Total Beauty approved. [
I hope you don’t think my last comment to you was snotty?! I was just saying I couldn’t wear the stuff, it would look bad on my body.
I hate online drama, I was targeted by someone before, and it still pisses me off.
I always return comments! I had just gotten rid of a few people on my blogroll because they never returned comments.
I didn’t think that AT ALL!
So, don’t worry! <3 Like I said in my comment on your site, it came from a recent LJ shopping post I saw in a community where someone told the poster that they hated most of the stuff that they bought. It just made me mad because it was flat out rude and totally pointless. I like it when people who comment here leave honest opinions on things!
Online drama is just pointless in general and not worth anyone’s time. People who start it just need to grow up.
Bravo!! Very well done indeed!!
I wouldn’t say anything to someone that I wouldn’t say in real life. But I’m not always sweet in real life. If someone writes something outlandish I will comment about it. Not in a purposely rude way most of the time, but if I totally disagree with someone or find something they write to be ridiculous I will comment on that fact… But I would want people to do that for me. If I was totally sure that everything I blogged would be received with the “If you don’t have something nice to day…” rule, I don’t think I would bother blogging.
I definitely disagree with you about things like small font. I had small fonts when I started with websites and if people had commented and told me to make it bigger I probably would have had more visitors. So sometimes I do leave comments saying, “I read this post and thought this [blah blah genuine comment] but just to let you know, the text is so small that I almost didn’t read it and it’s a shame because your post was great…” etc.. You know? I really do try to say something positive always, but sometimes negative things need to be expressed as well.
I am not a fan of any online *drama*, however, and I think this comment just broke all of your etiquette rules.
Lol. It didn’t!
I wanted this post to be a discussion about this type of stuff. The great thing about blogs is that you can meet such a diverse group of people, you know? Those are the rules that I stick by for myself, and I was curious what others thought of them, if other bloggers had similar rules, and what guidelines others go by for themselves and for their blogs. I think that’s part of what makes the blogging world so cool. People from all walks of life, with all different opinions and views, coming together.
I think I am going to make my own post like this, maybe tonight or maybe not. Because I do have lots of opinions on this. Probably my main one is that even though you should be decent and not just start fights, you also need to have a thick enough skin to handle the occasional criticism. Otherwise, maybe you shouldn’t get into blogging. Because the whole point of blogging is to share experiences really, and people have lots of different experiences.
I’d like to see your take on things. I think it’s something that not a lot of people really share their opinions on, but I think it’s kind of important, you know? You definitely need to be able to handle criticism if you are going to have a blog. But, I do think that there’s a line as far as if you are in the position to give the person advice or not. If it’s someone that you are familiar with, like you and I for example, that’s on a different level than if it was advice from someone who was visiting my site for the very first time. I’d be more accepting of advice from a regular reader of my blog since I know the advice, if implemented, would be of good use for my readers.
Some people are definitely too sensitive when it comes to criticism but, I’ve just seen some go way beyond what is being helpful and just cross into being rude. I remember when I first started blogging and was unfamiliar with a lot of code, someone left me a really really rude comment on my site saying that I was horrible at it, my graphics sucked, etc. All because my inline frame didn’t look right in their screen resolution. Granted, it encouraged me to look into how to correct it, but they were extremely rude about how they said it. A simple, “Hey, this looks weird in my resolution, check out such and such page for some HTML help with inline frames!” would have been a lot better. And I once came across one blog where all the posts were un-requested reviews of other sites and they were all really mean and nasty. Constructive criticism that’s meant well is good, just downright mean stuff is pointless. There’s definitely a difference between the two and, lately, I keep seeing things on random blogs (I’ve been doing a lot of blog hopping) that are crossing the line.
I’m writing my own post right now. I just want to say that I totally respect your post and I want to make sure I’m not stepping on your toes or anything with my own entry on the subject. If I write something that is the opposite of what you said, it isn’t any sort of slight against you!
I don’t get why you would have a site just giving random unsolicited reviews. People are crazy and like starting drama I suppose. I had a phase where I enjoyed getting into drama just for the publicity I think, but now I would much rather be known in a positive way.
No worries at all.
Like I said, the fact that this blog-o-sphere is so full of different types of people is what makes it great. And being able to express opinions on this subject, since a lot of people seem to be afraid to discuss it, is important. I actually hope that you have disagreeing opinions because it’ll be nice to see a different side of this.
People are crazy! I think that they just had the blog to create drama because drama does tend to equal more hits. Just… Not the good kind. Especially not with a blog like that.
Good advice.
I must admit I’m highly amused by internet drama, but I tend to stay out of it and just watch.
Watching is always the way to go. It’s usually never even worth getting involved in.
I’m someone who enjoys snarking people, but for good reasons. Blogging is a tricky business, because you’re putting yourself on a public platform and like it or not, some people will find the things you blog about– or even your blog/site itself– stupid or horrible. At one of the forums I post at, we have a thread called “What are the worst blogs you’ve seen?” where we collate blogs we come across that make us LOL or horrify us because of the layout, the content, or the way they blog (ya know, the usual grammatical errors, the sticky caps, the butchering of the English language). This invites or causes some drama and we’ve had people complain. Usually, these people are too dense to realize why they were considered to be worthy of that list, but whatever.
Maybe it’s just limited to the Philippine blogosphere, but when drama arises, people see it as an opportunity for a good debate. It’s awesome, actually.
Oh, you know what I totally dislike? People who don’t get tongue-in-cheek humor in blogging and people who insult anonymously.
It’s true that not everyone is going to like your site or what you post about. That’s how life is, and I’m not saying that there should never be negative comments. At all. What I’m saying is that there’s no need to be rude. Personal preference with blog topics, blog design, font size, etc., are just that. Personal preferences. It doesn’t make one blog better than another. Instead of making fun of those sites, you could simply tell them that sticky caps = not so great if they want to be taken seriously. I guess that I just go by the rule that if it’s something I wouldn’t walk up and say to a stranger, that I wouldn’t say it to someone online either.
Anonymous insults are just pure b.s. You should always be able to stand by your comments or else, what was the point in making them in the first place? Lol. Though I do find it funny when anonymous comments are left making fun of someones design or graphic skills. Since that person is obviously so amazing at it, it was nice of them to offer a link to show everyone that. Haha.
hey there, just stumbled across your blog and read this post and just had to post a reply in response;
You have raised good points in your posts, so often people forget that there is another person sitting on the otherside that they’re talking too and can be unnecessarily rude and offensive. But I also think that you are putting yourself out there as a blogger and not every comment will be positive and not everyone will like what you have to say. Although internet drama is most often immature and makes everyone involved in it look childish.
I’m not saying that every comment should be positive and that everyone should like what you have to say. All I’m saying is that people need to learn that there’s a line you cross between posting an honest comment and posting a rude one. Getting negative comments is to be expected with any blog. Criticism can help you grow as a blogger and help you better your site. But rude comments serve no purpose and don’t do anyone any good.
I agree with you on a lot of these points, especially the difference between constructive criticism and being plain rude. I appreciate when people come to my site and tell me something that I can fix (i.e my small fonts – which a lot of people told me was hard to see so I made it bigger. i could barely see it but i thought it looked cool, haha). And I think comments like that can really help your site.
Drama on the internet is inevitable though. The blogging world is so big and it gets larger every day and more diverse. There are always going to be people who disagree with what you’re posting, how you design, and etc. I think you have to do what makes you happy and like you said, ignore blatantly rude comments.
Tashina, this was a great post. Something like this needs to be turned into an e-bill board or something, lol.