Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Go to the bottom of this post for information about that.
One of the bigger stories in the travel blog world this decade was when the site with the most web traffic and brand identity suddenly shut off the ability to comment on posts on its website. Also, all previous comments were deleted.
So now, if you visit that site, you’ll only see corporately approved content. No dissenting opinions or even tips that would add to your knowledge about the topic. I’m not saying which site it is, but it was previously run by a guy who wrote about points.
Sharon and I have talked about whether we should allow comments on Your Mileage May Vary. In the beginning, we were just happy that anyone was actually reading what we wrote and took the time to respond. Once we joined with Boarding Area, it didn’t take long for the trolls to reply with some hateful comments. We’ve been moderating comments on the site ever since. It’s shocking what people will write on the internet, especially when they can do it relatively anonymously.
We’re thick-skinned enough to be able to deal with someone who disagrees with our opinions. However, we’re not going to turn our site over to people who want nothing more than to spew hate out into the world.
We still plan on allowing comments to our posts but we felt it was necessary to spell out the guidelines we have when it comes to our approving a comment or not.
- Don’t make insulting, demeaning or any type of racist, sexist or any other discriminatory comment in your post. Name calling also adds nothing of importance and no one else besides us needs to waste time reading your hateful words. All of the above is a 100% guarantee your comment won’t get approved.
- Be kind and respectful. We understand that people might have different opinions and that’s usually a good thing. Being able to discuss these topics like adults can broaden the horizons of all our readers. But if you’re not polite about it (using inflammatory words, etc.), your post won’t be approved. If you write a comment that makes good points but some parts of your response are unkind or disrespectful, we reserve the right to approve the post but to remove the offending sentence(s).
- You must stay on topic and add something constructive to the conversation. If the topic is about a change to a travel destination and your reply is simply that the change is happening because of the [pick a political party], or you go off onto a tangent, it won’t be approved.
- If you notice a mistake, kindly forgive us – we’re only human. Please do let us know but be aware that although we may fix the error, we may or may not publish your comment because it doesn’t really add to the topic (see #3).
- Regarding COVID, we both believe in science, medicine, vaccines and wearing masks as a way to decrease the spread of the virus – both in the past, and, as needed, now. Posts that condone unsafe lifestyles or suggest that coronavirus was/is a hoax or conspiracy will not be approved.
We also ask that you understand that we don’t monitor the site 24/7. If you write something and it doesn’t show up right away, just be patient. If it passes the above requirements, we’ll eventually approve it. If we have an answer to a question, we’ll even reply. If we don’t approve your comment and you write an even more hateful comment about how we’re censoring you, don’t be surprised if you’re no longer able to comment on any post on our site.
That being said, if you have a specific question that’s not directly related to a post, it might be better to write us an email at info@yourmileagemayvary.com.
Let’s all have an internet that works for all of us.
Please and Thank You.
Want to sponsor a post or write something for Your Mileage May Vary?
Thank-you for the offer but no, we don’t do that. Again, thanks and we wish you all the best.
Want to put ads on our site?
Thanks for the offer, but no thanks. We already have someone who does that and we’re very happy with them.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.