Social sites use comments as a means of interactivity and for building communities. But providing blog comments require their administration, handling comment spam and marketing abuses as well as the liability for what people post as comments in terms of correctness, manners of behavior and etc. Moreover, as the blog traffic grows the amount of time and energy spent on dealing with comments also sizably increases.
Therefore, you will certainly need to set rules which will facilitate your efforts to manage user comments and won’t let you get overwhelmed with user-generated content.
Amy Gahran, a conversational media consultant and content strategist for Poynter's group weblog E-Media Tidbits, provides some useful strategies how to handle blog comments:
Configure moderation –The first three comments of each user require approval and after that it is considered that this user deserves trust and all the subsequent comments get automatically approved.
Comment policy – The explicit and comprehensibly written policy should determine what kind of behavior is acceptable and what will be the consequences for violating the rules. Gahran recommends a strict progression in penalties: starting with return to moderation, moving through temporary suspension from the site/forum and ending with permanent expulsion from the site/forum.
Work behind the scene – Sometimes the user’s bad behavior is provoked by cultural differences or misunderstanding. In this case, it would be better to personally contact with the user trying to find the way to clarify the circumstances.
Routine engagement – You need to have a dedicated person to monitor user-generated content and constantly interact with readers. Gahran determines this person as a teacher who guides the community.
Emergency moderation – It is not impossible conflict situations to emerge. This will require immediate reaction and “across-the-board moderation until things cool down”.
In addition to Gahran’s recommended points I would attach a couple of complementary pieces of advice.
Try to avoid anonymity but if it is an option, then anonymous comments necessarily require approval before being published.
Don’t forget to put "report abuse" buttons on the comments which will allow readers to supervise what is happening in comments. This greatly reduces the need for ongoing moderation of the comments.
In conclusion, well-balanced policy is the best way to keep good manners and create a constructive community of readers and commentors. Too harsh policy and moderation approval of every single comment will distract the conversation and will cause an undesirable reader experience. There is no doubt that complying with the recommended practices will enable your readers to interact in a pleasant and friendly environment.