Just realized I was blocking half the comments on my own posts for 3 years

I run a small blog where I review VPNs and talk about online censorship. Last month I found out my own security plugin was set to auto-hold any comment with more than 2 links in it. Turns out I missed like 40 real conversations from readers in India and Turkey about how they get around their local blocks. A guy from Istanbul sent me a message on Twitter asking why I never replied to his detailed post about using a specific protocol. That's when I opened the spam queue and saw it all sitting there. I felt like an idiot because I was complaining about censorship but had my own automated gate keeping. Has anyone else accidentally silenced their own audience with some setting they forgot about?

2 comments

2 Comments

jaken238d ago

Isnt it crazy how we all set up these invisible walls without even realizing it, like double-checking your neighbor's fence but never looking at your own backyard? We get so focused on the big obvious problems out there but miss the small stuff right under our nose that does way more damage.

ryan7198d ago

My neighbor spent a year complaining about the HOA rules while his own gutters were growing a small forest. The real rot is always in your own crawlspace, not the guy across the street. We just don't want to pay for the ladder.