Are We Addicted To Giving Our Own Opinions

Agreed. By leaving this comment I'm proving your point :-) Great article as usual.

http://www.swichkow.com/Blog

I think it depends on how popular the person is who starts the topic or how popular the topic is. You can share a lot, but if no one else responds or likes it-it doesn't go very far.

Totally disagree. I hate it. It sucks. Go away!
Kidding... I just wanted to give an opinion.

So nice post charis. I really like this.Let me first preface by saying that I am a loyalist when it comes to my teams.I am 100% agree with you . The analysis you did is truly perfect.

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These tools have allowed us to give our opinion, are letting fingers do the talking right now. I see it 2 ways: to increase page ranking links are needed so as marketers we tell clients to comment on blogs to get involved in the community while getting a link Yes you will build relationships but for those who are starting out, they are more focused on building the link. The communication will come.

The interaction with people can bring long lasting friendships that continue to grow and we are introduced to people we never would have met. We start to trust and form our own expectations of people and rely upon them for some need. Some comment on blogs to build a link, some comment to become popular, and some just genuinely like the post and this is the compensation to the blogger. How does it change us - depends upon our mindset for why we engage.

This is a great post! Thank you, Chris. Just as in face-to-face conversations, opinions, judgement and gossip emerge. Also, as in life, some people are objective and some people take things personally.

We no longer live in a one-way communication world, so most people expect there will be those who agree, those who will provide counter-points and those who will pass judgement on the author. I appreciate those who continue the conversation - whether they agree or not - over those who simply call into question the credibility of the author or poke at things without providing solutions, other considerations or supporting logic.

The rolling commentary will always happen. However, as the sports commentators become engrossed in history, players and politics and thus provide a delayed report on a touchdown or penalty flag - driving some people to listen to the radio - people in new media will start to reference certain sources for information and other sources for opinions.

I like the way you posed the question of "starting a conversation or inviting commentary", I believe I will spend the rest of my day pondering over this. When replying to someone else's tweet,blog, facebook note, whatever, I'd think it would be commentary. Such as blog posts, many people post blogs not to start a conversation, but invite commentary through the "comments" button. This is what I've got off the top of my head, however, I am going to ponder this for a while and will see what I come up with. I will leave commentary if I come up with something else, something better.

Also, when you say "we've been groomed to give our opinion" I receive that with a negative connotation, now whether you meant it to be negative or not I do not know, but my opinion... on that is this: you make it sound as if people are almost, in a sense "nazied", or brainwashed, or playing follow the leader.. "groomed to give our opinion" like it's our patriotic duty to voice our opinion of the 2008 presidential election through twitter, and facebook. I'd have to disagree, I believe it makes people feel as if they are being heard. Regardless of whether they 'connect' with other twitter users makes no difference, how ever many followers you have does not mean that you have a connection with these people on the other side of the tweet. Many users just want to know that there is a chance that their opinion matters to someone.

You have brought up a wonderful point with this post. It does seem that everyone wants to offer an opinion, but there is a lack of true discussion that occurs, which seems to hinder the on-line learning experience that so many businesses are striving for. Even with all of the ways we are connecting with other people, there are too many times that we offer opinions without going back to see what others have said, realizing that it's likely that they will not be going back for a discussion, either. So, we remain a "solo" society even with so many ways to be linked.
How can we change this trend? What does it take to get a reply and a true discussion? (Even now, I'm wondering how I will find this particular post again to see if there has been a reply!) I am curious about your thoughts or suggestions. Commentary does no good without response.
Thank you for your thoughts!

I think the fact that social networking sites allow comments and criticisms is great, especially because not everyone reacts in the same ways to each blog post or tweet. What is important about commenting is that those who do so actually read the other comments and understand the conversation. Like some of the below comments say, I don't feel obligated to post on certain sites, but if I do comment, I want to do it with confidence and "rock" it. But I also don't want to just put my opinion out in cyberspace without considering the comments of others that may be different than mine.

The commenting option doesn't really serve a purpose if it doesn't create a giant conversation. Just posting an opinion without commenting on others, or at least the blog post, isn't enough. What an awesome topic--something I guess I've not thought about a lot until now.

I believe it's important for a blogger to both give his opinion, through what he posts as well as answering the comments of his commentators. And it's also important for there to be lots of community interaction. The commentators should participate through comments. This will build real community. Now how does a blogger really make a blog interactive, being transparent and promoting conversation in which he desires to hear the opinions of his community? That becomes a little harder. Perhaps it has to do with the trust that his community has in him and the way the blogger has built trust up in his community -- both in the way they fill about him and each other. How can he do this? By being open to different ideas (as long as they are reasonable!), by being transparent, by sharing some of himself and perhaps his personal life, by allowing his community to share some of their personal lives, by valuing the opinions of his community. For the blogger to show he values the commentators' opinions the blogger could do many things: answer questions they ask in comments, help them in ways they ask when able to if they ask for something specific, send them information that is valuable, give them access to weekly memes, weekly features, or yearly contests so they'll feel part of a community (communities like regular features sometimes -- it makes them feel like they belong -- as they are part of a "club" that does regular things at regular times. A blogger could also foster good will / communication by asking "his community" what they want him to talk about in his blog. What features they like and what they don't. What kind of articles they want and what they don't. What they want to learn about and what they don't. What kind of regular (say weekly) features they want. All these things will allow them to have an input. So will ending posts with a question (like you do!). This will always allow the commentators (members of the blogger's community have their own voice. Thanks for a great post!

The more connectivity spreads, the more value there is in being connected. The value of each individual connection goes down, but the value of being connected as a whole rises to the point where it's necessary. And after that will become compulsory. And after that it will become automatic, and the idea of not being connected will be considered ridiculous. This seems to tell me that commenting isn't an addiction so much as it is a compulsion. It doesn't fulfill a base need; it fulfills an obligation we have to create value for others. It's necessary dues paying for living in a world where connectivity is not yet automatic. Those are my rambling thoughts for the evening :)

Hi Christian. I accidentally pressed that I "liked" your statement when I meant to "reply" to your statement. I'm perplexed by your way of thinking. I have never felt "obligated" to leave a comment on a blog. I don't believe, when I do leave a comment, that I'm fulfilling an obligation I have to create value for another. Nor do I feel that if I have more friends (connect with more blogger friends) the value of each friend goes down. Just wondering where you got your ideas from... Oh, BTW, connecting with me is not automatic, it is very deliberate...

I do see where you are coming from in a way, I suppose some people could look at blogging and Twitter this way. But how many people really do? Is that the way you really think of connectivity (community)? That shallow? That's not been my experience. Just curious... :)

krissy knox
connect w me on twitter:
http://twitter.com/iamkrissy

I love your comments Krissy :) You and I are more on the same page than you realize. Since I was tired, I failed with regards to choosing my words carefully. When I say I'm commenting out of obligation, it's not meant in a negative way. I see the power of social marketing and feel I would be an idiot to ignore it. In that sense, being involved in the conversation is compulsory.

If there were no internet, I'd still be rocking shit to the ground. It's what I do. Now that there is a way to connect with people this way, it's beautiful and I love it. But I do feel it's accurate to say that the value of connectivity has risen to the point where it's almost mandatory.

On that level, being part of the conversation isn't really a choice. It's not a real choice anyway. The choice that remains is not whether we want to be part of it. It's whether we want to do the work to actually add real value, stand up and really rock it. That's the stance I'm taking.

I believe that many, if not most, comment out of something other than true contribution. But it's not addiction, it's compulsion. To me, an important distinction. Would love your thoughts :)

btw, already following you!

Christian, :)

Thanks for clarifying. I do agree with you! There are perhaps quite a few readers who comment without attempting to add real value. In that sense, they are doing what they feel "mandatory."

They are, perhaps, even at times adding a comment just to get their name more well known, without taking the time to share anything of real value in their comment. I don't think this statement is too harsh, as I have had people stop by my blog and merely write "Nice post!" or something of that nature.

To illustrate my point, here is one example of what was happening recently in my blog "Sometimes I Think" -- I had a young lady reader who came by my blog daily. Each day she posted "Nice post." Then one Saturday I was really suffering as my husband was not expected to live. I had mentioned it in my blog. "M" stopped by to write her usual comment. I looked down and noticed she had written something different, so I became excited, looking to see what she said, thinking she would give me support. The comment read, "Hope you're having a great weekend, Krissy!"

From that point I realized that she was not only not taking the proper time to add a valuable comment, she was not reading my posts! And there was her obligatory comment, as you stated some leave.

I was somewhat stunned. How many readers do that?

The 80/20 rule most likely applies. 80% of us are just out there slinging crap, hoping some of it sticks. 20% of us are actually working it, trying to make a difference. Of that 20%, 80% aren't any good at it yet but earnestly trying to learn, and 20% are actually rocking it, connecting with people and building an audience. For those stupid comments, I hope you just click "delete" and don't let it ruin your day. I honestly believe the majority of spam comes as a result of ignorance, not malice. That doesn't make it any less spam, but knowing it's not malicious should take the edge off a bit, hopefully :)

I think it is a way to create a new community. I have built relationships through blog comments and I think this is a good thing. It makes the real life relationships that much easier and it is a lot easier to break the ice if you know something about the person.

you=douchebag who thinks people give a shit about you writing on the internet. You look like a terrible version of John Kruk

Chris, I think we are indeed becoming addicted to commenting on everything. I am not yet convinced this is the best thing that can happend, but it does turn us from consumers to producers. And it's also my oppinion that it is one step in the direction of a global (or at least grous) conscience.

For the content creators, giving an opinion is how we show readers what is worthy of their time and what is not. The majority of internet users are not content creators. Those of us who create content may forget that fact. We are the tour guides showing what has value, what does not. Our opinions help to shape where the Internet is headed. There is no question that changes occur so fast here that there is little time to create the rules. So our opinions help move the conversation. But, then again, that's just my opinion...

I like the paradox of inviting comments to a blog about comments...

and yes I felt an overwhelming urge to share that insight. My spidey fingers were tingling at the possibility.

I agree - we’ve gone from very cautiously giving our opinions to behaving like we are always entitled a say. We’ve gone from reading books and recommending them to others to only.

Chris,
It sounds like we are maybe talking about talking. Instead of creating and having a voice. The thing about giving feedback and comments and opinions is that we don't have to necessarily put our whole voice out there. Sitting down and writing a blog post, a letter, a book, takes our whole self and is risky.

Here's to hoping for more voices, deeper conversations, and better relationships!

I think it's always been a very American thing to give your opinion, stand up and be heard, be counted as an individual, etc. -- to the point where many people seem to give their own half-informed opinions equal if not greater weight than those of people more deeply educated on that particular subject, who actually have something to teach them if they would open their minds, shut up and listen. If only we as a culture promoted the value of critical thinking with as much intensity, but as public schools continue to slash and burn arts programs that's not too bloody likely. There's so much emphasis put on Having a Voice but not so much, it would seem, on Developing Something Worthwhile to Say.

Maybe the clutter and chaos of the Web is a good thing: we'll go deaf to all but the best, the most lucid, the remarkable, whatever.

The great thing is, there *is* space here for everyone -- it's like the great metaphorical dinner table where everyone has a chance to get a word in edgewise -- whereas in real life, group conversation tends to get dominated by the loudest and most aggressive, because the rest of us are too polite (or even helpless) to stop them.

And we'll have to learn to listen more carefully in order to hear through the noise.

I think most of the stuff that passes for "opinion" is just people reacting to something.

The word opinion actually implies a relationship to fact. To have a statement qualify as an opinion there should be an alignment between a point of view and some factual information. Most of what I see is emoting and reacting -- not opining.

However, the opinions that surface when you can tune out a lot of the emoting, reacting and shameless self promotion are really quite intelligent and beautiful, and most would have no other means of surfacing.

When these elements of the human experience align with data in a meaningful way to actually provide resonance for others -- this sort of intersection is where the beauty in all of this surfaces for me.

Very thought provoking Chris - thank you. The comments are great as well, I particularly enjoyed those of Bruce Flinn and Chris Bailey. My contribution is re your final question... "What does it mean to the larger ecosystem?" The sharing of minds leads to discovery; in all its permutations. At minimum we walk away with greater perspective.

It’s all in how it’s used. Too many people, if they are honest, get into social media initially or push their clients into it because of a “What’s in it for me / It will elevate your platform” perspective versus “It’s an amazing way to stimulate conversations and contribute to something bigger.” Again, intent. Maybe my vantage point is skewed. For me, when commenting on blogs, it’s not as much about trying to give my “opinion” for the mere sake of voicing my thoughts. It’s more about engaging in the dialogue with the content creator and with others. I actually spend a few minutes reading over other peoples comments / opinions in addition to the main post. When the content creator and others interact then the spark ignites to create dialogue. The medium (blog, twitter, etc) is the water cooler. It’s up to us to hang out and converse. The ability for people to share content has also helped me get to know others better (virtually). When I follow someone on Twitter and pay attention to the types of things they Tweet and especially what they retweet, it gives me a better glimpse into the things they like and what makes them tick. That is helpful.

It's allowing us to harness context for relevancy.

We see posting or comment or review that's composed of several elements. We then seize on the element that bares a resemblance to relevancy, adopt the comment/post/revew and adapt it to fit a new context. Thereby creating the unending and ever-evolving conversation.

On the bad side: Clutter, TMI, Ego's, irrelevant noise, and time filtering challenges. On the good side: Freedom of speech. I'll put up with the bad side for freedom of speech.

Little - since most us still remain only interested in our own opinions. Only now we have outlets to release them on the world - instead on yelling them at the TV, newspaper, radio, bored spouse, etc).

I did want to add that when popular topics or trending topics appear on Twitter, I respond to people who ask a new question or wonder about a unique facet of that trend, rather than those who simply retweet the same headline a zillion times. Even popular topics can be given a new slant and conversation can continue. I like to ask people for their take.

Comments could be artifacts if taken up individually, but I see them as shaping the conversation for the larger group and accelerating topic awareness or even consensus. The immediacy creates instant interaction between opinions and the ongoing introduction and evolution of new ones.

In the same way a flock of starlings wheels and shifts direction together, a running commentary seems to react and correct for the benefit of the group.

The strong voice in the wilderness can now launch a swarm of commentary and help spark, shape and solidify the conversation before the first echo fades. The challenge these days is not being heard, but where to be heard.

… at least, that’s my opinion.

Hi, Chris:

To the question, "How does it impact how we interact with people?" in my opinion the answer depends largely on the availability of anonymous comments. It's no secret that anonymous commenting brings out the worst comments, but it can also embolden commenters to participate when they might have otherwise moved on.

As ambassadors of our personal brands, we're encouraged by consultants and bloggers to participate in forums and discussions with full disclosure, to be visible not only with our identity but with our insight. But participation comes at a price; we're exposed to criticism....ironically, often anonymous criticism. Everything is under scrutiny. The end result? Disclosure is discouraged, we post as a guest...and our comment is dismissed because we are hiding.

In the end, I've personally decided the reward is worth that risk. You may protect your brand if no one can attach anything to it....but you'll never develop it either. It's forced me to consider my comments, spend the time to formulate an intelligent, rather than knee-jerk, response--before I click "Post."

I left a comment early today about not being able to comment or participate in the conversation about this. At first, I thought perhaps that was the point of no comments, to indicate that the conversation stops when people can't comment and that comments need to inspire conversation. I tried to DM you and got a weird server error so I hope you got my DM at Twitter. You've made me think and added to my knowledge and basis for future conversations. Good posts do that, inspire conversation. They are open-ended, leaving room for debate, analysis, discussion, etc.

Some of us have ALWAYS been addicted to giving our opinions; we're the people who were the most thrilled with the invention of bulletin boards, then the Internet, then email lists and forums, then later social networks. Whenever someone says, "Why would I want to read about what some guy had for breakfast?" asked ask, "Don't YOU have something you want to say?" And they never do, because if they DID, they would already be on a social network, saying it.

Can we learn anything while we are busy commenting on everything, should we listen more? I try too, if I am busy thinking about what I'm saying next very seldom can I remember what was being said.
Thank you

Another great topic, Chris. It got me thinking about evolution/revolution in the media space in general terms. All the way back to Gutenberg, wondering how his invention changed "social commentary". In his case, it added fuel (more to talk about), but didn't give anyone a voice except for the author.
Now we have the situation where anyone with a smart phone or a computer has a voice and everyone suddenly is an author. What does it mean to "starting conversations, versus voicing opinions"?
Well for one thing, there's a whole bunch of people "talking" about vacuous bullshit and finding more and more places to spout it out. So one has to be careful where one reads and shows up, but we had to do that from the date the first bookstore opened.
But to try to give you a direct answer to "how does this change us?" - is this not merely an extension to the debate about the King and his Content? Opinions, after all, are a form of Content and if they are worthwhile and useful, we like them. If they tend towards "vacuous bullshit" we tend to throw them away or stop reading quickly. And if they're really good, they spark conversation. So I think all the new authors are simply grist for the mill. It's how we add something like 11 million times all the words in books to the net each day. It changes us by broadening our horizons, exposing us to stuff we might otherwise never read. (And, sure, most often we would never want to read it either, but the next button on our machine is one click away).

Chris, interestingly enough I wrote a short post ( http://bit.ly/2hqklT ) this morning on Bill Walton, the recently retired basketball announcer. He made a living about having an opinion about everything and then taking it to hyperbolic proportions. But here's the rub, as noted by Chris Ballard: "All along, he assumed that we as viewers would arrive at our own convictions in the end. He was just there to spur us along."

My takeaway? Be bold in my convictions, but don't force them on others as if they were gospel truth. It's okay to have an opinion and share it, but recognize that its one of many opinions. Instead of talking incessantly, its good to listen every once in a while. There's a lot of wisdom out there if we take the time to notice it.

Well here I am about to weigh in with an opinion. I think the medium dictates to some degree the message you put out there. Commenting on a blog is more of an opinion, because it doesn't really allow for RT conversation, whereas twitter in particular you can have RT conversations about subjects with people via text.

Gee Chris I don't know if I should comment or not. Have the tools changed me? Yes. I'm a 9 to 5ver that's behind 2 PC's all day with little interaction with the outside world. I thirst for knowledge in my field and the blogosphere provides it plus so much more.

The nature of the post often times defines whether it will start a conversation or result in opinions. Doesn't the conversation continue outside the realm of the post? Is the post the ice breaker? Do the connections made through comments then turn into virtual relationships that in turn become people to people meet ups at industry events. How many friends (the face to face kind) do you now have as a result of meeting them through your blog?

These are amazing tools for breaking through the barriers - how else could I a virtual unknown in your world have a chance to talk with you like this. Have these comment buttons and share links impacted me? A emphatic YES. - Bruce

I think it can be extended even beyond this, Chris. Is there a danger that those of us actively participating in this space become ring-fenced in our thought processes and develop a form of Beltway Mentality for the Web?

So even if we have true conversations (as opposed to simply hit-and-run commenting), are we having the same conversations with the same people too often and not seeing enough influx of thoughts and opinions from outside this world...?

Just needed to say this is something I've been thinking about...that for all the conversations, it's still a pretty small world in here.

There are other communities though that delve into other subject matter that would give a broader perspective (just in general....nothing point to Chris Brogan in particular). It's just that with the ability to tweet and retweet the same articles we are all still reading the same thing, just will a few more bells and whistles in the process.

Coming to that understanding has been important for me so I can easily walk away from the medium and do something else. So it's not bad news.

Too funny that your comment feature got wonky NOW, after THIS post. I honestly thought you were trying to make a point,...or something! Great that it's back up for you....and glad I wasn't really missing the hidden meaning.

James, I thought the same thing too, and had to wait hours to post my comment. I thought this would have been the perfect way for Chris to prove his point; switch off comments and see how antsy people get :)
Yes, we are addicted Chris; a look at yesterday’s ‘Content is not King’ comments will ascertain that. Humans are social creatures and Social Media has tapped into this to produce a discerning reader with an opinion on everything…”just show me the comments section so I can them give a piece of my mind”. It’s great to know that someone wants to hear what we have to say and makes for better interaction, understanding, closer ties and a smaller village. We have also become more forthright and more demanding of what we feel is ours by right.
Hey, that looks just like the suggestion box we have at my library..

Does it change us, though? Or simply add options?

We've been sharing and stating opinions long before social media. Word-of-mouth recommendation; letters to the editor; protest banners; customer service lines; consumer magazines; and more.

That leads to further commentary, which is then starting conversations.

So I don't think it's changing us; just giving us something other than a cardboard funnel over our mouths.

Agreed. I enjoy referring people to Kneale Mann's pivotal post from this past summer -- http://onemann.blogspot.com/2009/05/new-aint-ne... -- when he relates every idea is a reinvention of the one before it. Social media ain't new, so why do we treat is as such?

Kneale absolutely rocks the marketing house for sure, Ari - very smart mind and very underrated. Thanks for the reminder.

The Kanye West/Talyor Swift fiasco is the perfect example to this post. Whether you liked either artist didn't matter, everyone had something to say about the event. People simply wanted to put in their two cents. Even President Obama had something to say about the event (calling West a jackass). Social media now offers everyone the ability to speak their voice.

not only can we express our views but it's very easy to reach a wide audience from the safety of our homes.