The short answer: Yes.

Of course, there are a few caveats here, but let’s talk about the benefits of removing the NoFollow from comments.

For starters, blogs with DoFollow comments instead of NoFollow comments can bring in a bit more traffic than their stodgy counterparts. More people visit and more people comment. Why? Because they know their comments will benefit them as well as you. It’s a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Removing the NoFollow extension from your comments also helps build that all important community spirit. People will come back more often, read up on your posts, and make comments–because they know its not just a waste of their time. Adding in their URLs actually means something.

This backlink bonus for your visitors comes with a problem, though. A lot of people will try to exploit your generosity. Expect to get vast numbers of SEO “specialists” and spammers looking to score some free backlinks. In other words–you’d better be sure your spam filter is up to snuff.

The other problem is that your Google PageRank could suffer. Too many DoFollow links to unrelated sites could cripple your efforts to reach a PR 7, 8, or 9. Eh, its a small price to pay.

So what’s your story? Have you become a good netizen and switched to DoFollow links on your blog?