I have a question about editing comments

1. 87

   Sherry Hewinsposted 8 years ago

   I hope Robin will come by and comment on this one.
   
   I have been going through all of my old comments and deleting any that don't add anything to the conversation, but some of my hubs have a ton of very useful and informative comments. I don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
   
   What makes a comment quality? Is a short comment always detrimental, even if it makes a great point?
   
   Some people here have suggested editing the comments capsule so there are only 5 comments showing. Is that a good idea? Is having a lot of comments in itself a bad thing? If I have 50 useful comments, is it an advantage to only have 5 of them showing?

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   1. 0

      Christy Kirwanposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Sherry,
      
      The section at the bottom of this previous Newsletter offers some tips on which comments you should keep and which ones to consider deleting.

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2. 76

   lobobrandonposted 8 years ago

   Just don't allow spammy comments or comments that are not written right (language use). My best hub right now has 72 comments or so. And if you look at most of the niche sites at the "popular" content you will see they all have plenty of comments. And we all know these are the hubs receiving good organic traffic (in most cases).

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   1. 87

      Sherry Hewinsposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I seem to remember Robin saying in another thread that comments that just say your article is "well written" or something similar, without addressing the content of the hub, would not be quality comments.
      
      A comment that would not mean anything to a stranger, or someone not familiar with HP would not be considered quality, no matter if it were written in perfect English, using perfect grammar.
      
      Those are examples of comments that are not spammy, or grammatically incorrect, but they would mostly be from HubPages members.
      
      So that brings to mind another question. Is it bad to have a high percentage of comments from Hubbers as opposed to comments from organic traffic, even if they are good?

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      1. 76

         lobobrandonposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Yes I knew this was the reason you asked the question in the first place. That's the reason I pointed you to the hubs doing well on most niche sites. They have comments thanking the hubber or saying that the work is good. I just wouldn't have 100's of them.

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3. 97

   Margaret Schindelposted 8 years ago

   I'm in the process of reviewing and deleting comments selectively as well. My main litmus test is whether other readers would find the comment valuable.

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4. 76

   lobobrandonposted 8 years ago

   If you want to test things out. I would suggest denying the comments on a hub that do not provide useful information to the reader. Do not delete them. If you traffic plummets you would want to go back and approve them again. If you see a positive change and you've got the time (and patience) then go back again and delete forever.

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   1. 97

      Margaret Schindelposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Great point, lobobrandon. When I said I was deleting posts that don't add value, I should have said that I'm hiding them, which is what I'm actually doing for exactly the reason you brought up.

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      1. 76

         lobobrandonposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Yup good decision

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5. 86

   Millionaire Tipsposted 8 years ago

   Here are the types of comments I've deleted so far:
   1. Nice hub
   2. Thank you for your comment
   3. Congratulations on HOTD
   
   Others I've been deleting all along as I got them:
   1.  Come see my website
   2. "nice hub" where it seems the reader did not even read the article
   
   I don't see a problem with leaving a large number of comments on the hub as long as they are adding to the conversation and helping the reader see different opinions or additional ideas.

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6. 87

   Sherry Hewinsposted 8 years ago

   Thanks Millionaire Tips and lobobrandon. It sounds like you two think this is not that big a deal, and as long as we remove the low-hanging fruit, we will be OK.

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7. 85

   Marisa Wrightposted 8 years ago

   The way I interpreted the advice was pretty simple.  HubPages doesn't want irrelevant stuff in a Hub, whether it's irrelevant links or irrelevant comments.
   
   If the commenter was asking a question or making a comment about the topic of my Hub, that's fine.
   
   If the commenter was paying me a compliment, or thanking me for writing the Hub, or congratulating me, they go.  They're not relevant.

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   1. 0

      Christy Kirwanposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Yep, this is essentially what we're going for. If the comment is useful and on topic, keep it. If the comment doesn't relate to the Hub, it should go.

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8. 87

   paperfacetsposted 8 years ago

   I am going to be a sour puss today. All the forum talk about "nice lens" or "nice Hub" has not sunk into the workers that choose the Hubs for the new topics. One Hub in "Dengarden" has over 60 comments and many are not going by the recent advice we are being told. The comments are far longer than the article.
   Since gardening is one of my "passions" I am, to say the least, disappointed. You do not even have to read to glance through the comment section and see that it does not go by the new advice.
   Sorry, I will hold my tongue, and not say more.
   Faithfully, still checking comments, selling capsules, etc.
   Sherry Venegas

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   1. 76

      lobobrandonposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Hey Sherry,
      
      As I already pointed out here on this thread, most of the top hubs on these niche sites are the ones with plenty of comments. The team only suggests to get rid of the unnecessary comments, I don't think it's a necessity - not yet, at least.

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9. 87

   paperfacetsposted 8 years ago

   Brandon, you are confusing the point, I believe.
   Christy says, "If the comment is useful and on topic, keep it. If the comment doesn't relate to the Hub, it should go."
   
   I guess "nice Hub" actually relates to the Hub, but I think that is splinting hairs. Repetition will not make a point true.

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   1. 76

      lobobrandonposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Actually no, I'm not confused. I'm just saying the people who pick the hubs are picking based on performance. And these hubs which happen to have plenty of comments are also the ones with the most visitors (which is obvious if you think about it)

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      1. 85

         Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Not necessarily. Sometimes you see a hub with a lot of comments but they're all from Hubbers. That tells you the Hub has had a lot of internal traffic. It may not have had much Google traffic

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         1. 76

            lobobrandonposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            True, but those ones are probably not on the new niche sites (not yet, unless the hub of the days have started moving already). Because from the speculations around the forum, just the ones with good Google Traffic were moving, and I find that true right now too. High Pinterest Traffic etc, are not really getting moved, yet.

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10. 91

    Dolores Monetposted 8 years ago

    I was having a hard time deleting comments. Many of my hubs are about historic fashion and so many of the comments were from hubbers talking about styles that their mothers or grandmothers wore, favorite shoes, etc. These comments engendered some nice conversation about clothes. I love to talk about clothing. And many of the comments were really sweet. Some were from hubbers who I was fond of, who are no longer with us.
    
    I am trying to harden my heart against so much kindness, silliness, and the friendly atmosphere that has been a long tradition here. But if we want to gain that traffic, we need to be tough. So, I dumped the remark about granny's rolled stockings, about the platform shoes, comments that wandered off into other topics. Deleted comments that said things like, "Nice syntax!"
    
    I've never been one for the forums. But maybe it's the new place to chat with folks and connect with the hubbers who have always been so interesting, kind, or amusing.

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