Sabine Brockmeier on 21.12.2005 at 12:44h CET
openBLOG is live for almost 3 months now and we have been collecting our first experiences with running a company weblog in the meantime. Case in point: Bill’s blog entry What’s the sincerest form of flattery?
has caused a bit of a stir and unfortunately evoked some rather defaming comments. While we were still discussing the possibility to delete the respective comments we received a fax demanding just that.
Someone who was called a liar and a cheater wanted those comments to be taken down.
We have no idea if these accusations are justified or not, because they weren’t backed up with any facts. So we decided to delete them. We really welcome any kind of opinion on openBLOG – including criticism. But no mud-slinging, please! Stick to the facts and back serious accusations up with links to reliable sources. That’s how the web works, right?
And btw: If somebody wants to call somebody else names, perhaps he should consider starting his own blog. 
Link to this article:
http://blog.xing.com/2005/12/running-a-company-weblog-some-interesting-experiences/trackback/
XING´s official twitter account
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I came across this blog today and liked what I saw. I’m part of a blog network made up of blogs about business, and we’ve had similar experiences with deciding whether to delete negative comments. In general, if the comments are obviously spam or completely irrelevant, or just vulgar, we delete them. Otherwise we let them stand. It’s not always easy to decide what to do, though, and my sympathies go with you. Enjoy your first full year of blogging in 2006!
My own blog’s been around since March 2005, and I’ve only had a few incidents of nasty comments.
The decision is somethimes difficult when there is criticism that cannot be backed up by facts, but the art of a good blog lies in a balance between objectivity and having a strong opinion.
I’m impressed with openbc.com, and this blog – a very nice look and feel.