Blog Comments Pet Peeve

I’ve noticed something recently, and it’s started to really bug me: more and more people are removing the date/time from comments on their entries. It doesn’t sound like a major offence, and up until the past few weeks it didn’t even cross my mind as a “blogging faux pas”, but I can see now why others have nagged me in the past about having date/time on my comments.

I guess the biggest reason that it has become an issue is because I’ve not been around. People reply to comments I’ve left and I don’t know when, or whether it’s worth me replying — will people remember to check back for my $0.02? Am I going to reply to something no longer relevant? Am I talking to myself, ultimately?

I can’t think of a logical reason why you’d remove the date or time from comments, so do us all a favour and keep it in … at the very least the date or a mark of sorts to signify that it’s not been 10 years since anyone else left their feedback. Please? :)

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 13th, 2008 at 1:46 pm and is filed in Blogging.

21 Comments on “Blog Comments Pet Peeve”

  1. Rachael says:

    *checks own comments page* Ah, I don’t have the date / time. I don’t think it really matters, because all my comments are recent to the entry. Once I post a new entry, people rarely, if ever, comment on the older ones. In fact, *you* are the only commenter of mine that goes back and comments on old posts. ;)

    Response posted: March 13th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
  2. Melissa says:

    Why have people nagged about the date/time on comments? Maybe I’m just slow today but I don’t get it. I think it’s perfectly acceptable and will always have those details on mine. I think it’s helpful on other blogs as well, like “support” blogs for Wordpress plugins, for example. It’s one way I estimate whether a plugin is worth downloading. If the support replies date months back, then I might reconsider. I’m curious to know why some people are against it though.

    Response posted: March 13th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
  3. Jem says:

    @Melissa: I have been nagged in the past because I had excluded the time from comments - not because I *have* that info (just clarifying because I wasn’t sure if you misunderstood..)

    Response posted: March 13th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
  4. Tracy says:

    It doesn’t really bother me, as a comment-leaver, if there’s no date/time listed. Unless I’m referring to another comment - then I’d like to see when it was made. It does bother me as a site-owner though. If I go to my site and haven’t been there in a few days and read the comments, I’d like to know when they were made (when reading them on my site). Does this make sense?

    Response posted: March 13th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
  5. Rhys says:

    Yes Jem (sulks). On the brightside, my new blog has the date :), and separate trackbacks which are nofollow!

    Response posted: March 13th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
  6. Merike says:

    Some people use only weekday on their blog posts. I think it is even worse as the post is the main content.

    Response posted: March 13th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
  7. Brenda says:

    The first thing I did when I read this was to run to my site and check my own blog comments. Phewww. The date and time information are there. :P

    Response posted: March 13th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
  8. Raina says:

    I have the date and time displayed in the comments on my site, but I didn’t really consider that it might be a nuisance not displaying them. :)

    Response posted: March 13th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
  9. Matt says:

    Hah, I’m guilty, I’m guilty! The honest answer is I have had them there before but accidentally deleted the code when editing my comments template. It’s been bothering me too. *will fix when not revising*

    Response posted: March 13th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
  10. Aimee says:

    Good point! I never would’ve thought to remove it, I think, but I agree - I can’t see why someone would anyway.

    Response posted: March 13th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
  11. TWD says:

    I didn’t know people existed that had no date/time. XD I suppose that goes to show my narrow online experience! I always like to see when the last comment was; I feel weird posting a week later, and I definitely want to avoid it on debates/drama stuff because those can progress and finish rather quickly.

    Response posted: March 13th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
  12. Hev says:

    You can remove that. I wouldn’t even have the first clue how to remove that from your comments. How rude of them.

    Response posted: March 13th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
  13. Melissa says:

    [quote]…because I had excluded the time from comments…[/quote] Oh! Yeah I guess I was slow today. :P

    Response posted: March 13th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
  14. Vera says:

    I don’t mind the time missing, but I like to know when the date is… especially if it’s a controversial blog entry. No need to stir some old stuff up =P That said, I never noticed this trend (I don’t follow said trend anyway ;-) )

    Response posted: March 13th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
  15. Julie says:

    Please to be giving me the date. It’s not a blog, but I always hated how the forum on yoursite.nu don’t have any date. [quote]all my comments are recent to the entry[/quote] I assume you mean relevant? I want to know the date!

    Response posted: March 13th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
  16. Shannon says:

    Silly Jem. You know as well as I do that blogs have been popular for a few years only. And they usually have a lifespan of a few days. If a weblog has been up for ten years, it’s in the unpopular zone and of course has the date/time. If it doesn’t have the date/time, then it’s new and you needn’t worry. It’s trendy. Never mind the blogs that have existed forever. They are a lie.

    Response posted: March 14th, 2008 at 12:38 am
  17. Crystal says:

    The template I’m using right now didn’t come with dates in the comments. I had to add it myself and it looks quite ugly. Hmmm… the format on your comments just gave me an idea!

    Response posted: March 14th, 2008 at 2:02 am
  18. Chrissy says:

    I’m with you, there! It comes in handy when you get a hit from your own comment you made weeks, months, or years ago and you read it, so you’re not like “WHEN THE HELL DID I SAY THAT?!” That recently happened to me. I thought, for a second, someone was stealing my identity. Turns out, I am just forgetful. THINK OF THE FORGETFUL, PEOPLE! Please!

    Response posted: March 14th, 2008 at 4:30 am
  19. Kachii says:

    And this is why I want to go into HCI and all that junk (at least, if I can’t make my way into natural language and linguistics). Subtle things that nobody really notices consciously when it’s there, but miss when it’s gone. That’s my specialty.

    Response posted: March 14th, 2008 at 4:42 am
  20. Noellium says:

    [quote] Please to be giving me the date. It’s not a blog, but I always hated how the forum on yoursite.nu don’t have any date.[/quote] I don’t visit the forum on Yoursite, but I dislike how there’s no date/time for the reviews. Maybe I just have a weird obsessive thing with knowing when something was reviewed. :/ (And dates/times for blog comments would be nice too. :3)

    Response posted: March 14th, 2008 at 5:00 am
  21. Christine says:

    i love date and times. i don’t see why anyone would exclude them, and i see every reason to have them. ./nods

    Response posted: March 14th, 2008 at 6:28 pm

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