Even though I’ve only been a member for a couple of months, I’m a big fan of SEOmoz – I love the blog posts (both from staff and users), the articles, the tools and all the premium content, but I think the best thing about SEOmoz is the great community of Mozzers.
The comments and feedback provided by the members here can turn a good article into a great one thanks to the varying perspectives, additional clarification, personal examples etc.
Unfortunately, I’ve been noticing some comments lately that haven’t added much value and it disappoints me. I’m sure this has probably be covered before, but I thought that it might be a good idea to mention this again since it seems to be something some users don’t quite get.
Here’s a list of 5 ways to annoy fellow Mozzers:
1. Add comments which bring no value to post or the community as a whole
It’s great if you think a post is good, but we don’t need 30 users saying “great post”. It’s fine to add a few comments of your own and mention how much you enjoyed the post, but if you simply wish to communicate how good a post is – use the thumbs system. Likewise, one liners saying things like LOL, LMAO, ROTFL etc. aren’t really necessary either.
2. Shameless self promotion
Don’t go putting links back to your own site in your comments. It’s fine to site other useful sources, so if you know of a tool or article that might be beneficial – link to it… but just don’t go adding spammy comments just to get a link.
3. Flaming
C’mon everyone – we’re not in high school anymore… there’s no need to put anyone down. If you don’t agree with someone, move onto the next comment or if you must, give them a thumbs-down.
4. Unjustified thumbs-down
I’ve seen a few posts and comments receive thumbs-down for things that don’t seem to be for any justifiable reason. It’s fine if you truly disagree with something or have a valid reason, but don’t give thumbs-down if you simply dislike another user.
5. Commenting just to build-up points
This is similar to the first point, but often is disguised a little better than the above examples. You need to look a bit harder, but from time-to-time you’ll see a comment that doesn’t quite fit. I might be wrong, but I consider these to simply be to build points to increase their moz rank.
So I don’t mind if you post humorous comments, links to other resources, give personal examples or even honestly state your opinions (as long as you keep it relevant)… as long as you don’t do the things above you’ll not only be keeping me, but also the SEOmoz community happy.
I encourage others to add their dislikes in the comments.
