e-brink,
Yep, I suppose not accepting a comment could be beneficial to your ratings, it's a tough one to call.

I agree entirely with your second coment that silence can be a killer. When I get over 100 views and only 20 comments I begin to wonder that the majority don't like my work, however, I just re-read the posted comments and move onto my next image. For me this is a sort of journey to see how far I can push myself, it is getting harder.
Thankfully I have not been subjected to obscene commenting.

Tony :-)