The Power of Comments

Comments matter.

Comments can be made on my own blog, not necessarily on yours. (Can’t you tell I’m on a Seth Godin bandwagon?!)

Comments are NOT a measure of blog influence.

Comments are nice for traffic.

Comments can be a pain to moderate.

Comments aren’t conversation, more like commentary.

Comments are made by 10% or less of blog readers (even loyal ones).

So WHY do comments matter?

:-)

All success
Dr.Mani

P.S. – Enjoyed the ‘spomments’ label, not the effect!

I asked this some days back:

Do YOU Measure Blog Influence by ‘Comments’ – Or ‘Audience’?

http://moneypowerwisdom.com/do-you-measure-blog-influence-by-comments-or-audience/

Dr.Mani

Ehlo,

Comments create the two way dialogue. Dialogues=conversations.

While, some people blog to be read, and as someone pointed out in a previous comment, those boggers don’t interact with their audience.

Others blog to conversate. Bloggers may drive the conversation, but participants do as well.

What’s a blog without a dialogue? An online poduim, an online news source? Both, but not a conversation.

Ever listened to a radio show without call-ins? It’s an interview.

It’s much more interesting when callers engage the conversation and I think the same is true for bloggers— plus you never know what one comment can add to the conversation to drive it forward.

Comments are the voice of participation.

Ehlo,

Comments create the two way dialogue. Dialogues=conversations.

While, some people blog to be read, and as someone pointed out in a previous comment, those boggers don’t interact with their audience.

Others blog to conversate. Bloggers may drive the conversation, but participants do as well.

What’s a blog without a dialogue? An online poduim, an online news source? Both, but not a conversation.

Ever listened to a radio show without call-ins? It’s an interview.

It’s much more interesting when callers engage the conversation and I think the same is true for bloggers— plus you never know what one comment can add to the conversation to drive it forward.

Comments are the voice of participation.

I find myself reading lots of blogs, but rarely comment. So you have inspired me to be better about it. At the moment I have two blogs off my site, and am in the process of joining the two together, or at least I think I will. So far, my experience is nobody comments, but for me that is ok, it seems to be more about reflection for me.

I find Twitter a better source on commenting. I check out a resource and then comment. I love Twitter for the right now stuff!! I guess I will post a link in Twitter if I want folks to comment on something in my blog and hope followers see it and respond.

comments are not the only measure of success of a blog, and not all blogs need comments.

Chris’ blog is a fertile comment ground because the people who read the blog are social media extrovert, and Chris always writes about topics that are open-ended conversation starters, hence the large number of comments.

comments are not the only measure of success of a blog, and not all blogs need comments.

Chris’ blog is a fertile comment ground because the people who read the blog are social media extrovert, and Chris always writes about topics that are open-ended conversation starters, hence the large number of comments.

First, it was nice to meet you at the SMB this morning Chris. Did you sneak off with a bottle of vinegar?

Second, what I just wrote above is an example of the value that I find in comments. They are a way for the blogger and reader to build their relationship.

The reason that I don’t read many blog comments is because I don’t have any kind of relationship with the writer. I don’t have the context about the comment writer that I do for the blog poster.
That said, comments can be a good source of discovery, I did click through a few links in this list.

I agree with everyone’s perspective on comments because it’s just that their perspective.

IRL as well as online, I am the type of person who needs to hear what others think about a subject, their opinions, their emotions; something other than what I think, feel about it. It helps for me to form a well-rounded, more informed decision. Because I know myself, I know that my way of thinking has its limits…I need others to help me to see it another way. Not to agree or be swayed, but to understand and appreciate that there are other ways of seeing the same thing, there are other ways of reaching a common goal.

Aloha,
“NEENZ”
InfinityPro.

I agree with everyone’s perspective on comments because it’s just that their perspective.

IRL as well as online, I am the type of person who needs to hear what others think about a subject, their opinions, their emotions; something other than what I think, feel about it. It helps for me to form a well-rounded, more informed decision. Because I know myself, I know that my way of thinking has its limits…I need others to help me to see it another way. Not to agree or be swayed, but to understand and appreciate that there are other ways of seeing the same thing, there are other ways of reaching a common goal.

Aloha,
“NEENZ”
InfinityPro.

Well comments are all well and good if you get a lot of them. What if you have a really passive audience or you’re like me and have little to no audience?

The whole point of putting my artwork on the web was to open a direct line of communication with my audience, but so far I still have to beg for comments on twitter. Begging sucks.

@Bob LeDrew & @chrisbrogan – I like the idea of having some kind of graphical representation of all the ideas and thoughts out there on the web. Jonathan Harris (http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/144) has created some compelling applications that do just that by giving the data on the web visual representation. Visit these two projects to see what the web’s visual footprint looks like, they are fascinating and I would love it if this was the model for the future of how we visualize data online:

We Feel Fine-
http://www.wefeelfine.org/

Universe-
http://universe.daylife.com/

Nice concept, Chris.

Will you be doing a post on trackbacks too…

I think Dr. Johnny Fever said it best on WKRP as he was demoted to late night DJ spinning tunes asking the question bloggers ask all the time “is there anybody out there?”.

Comments are important validation and great inspiration to visit other sites.

When done well, they add to the content already posted. They provide different avenues of thought or information. They add flavour and colour. Pehraps they even provide an intelligent contradiction. Sometimes they stimulate more people to chime in and add to the discussion.

When done poorly, they become an echo chamber of “me too”, are lazy adds that are meaningless, are fame whoring and in my current case, spam.

Overall, I believe comments are a sign of a healthy site but not the end all and be all. I’ve personally have a number of passionate fans for my blog that eventually became clients as a direct result of my blog posts and yet, never left a comment.

Nice concept, Chris.

Will you be doing a post on trackbacks too…

I think Dr. Johnny Fever said it best on WKRP as he was demoted to late night DJ spinning tunes asking the question bloggers ask all the time “is there anybody out there?”.

Comments are important validation and great inspiration to visit other sites.

When done well, they add to the content already posted. They provide different avenues of thought or information. They add flavour and colour. Pehraps they even provide an intelligent contradiction. Sometimes they stimulate more people to chime in and add to the discussion.

When done poorly, they become an echo chamber of “me too”, are lazy adds that are meaningless, are fame whoring and in my current case, spam.

Overall, I believe comments are a sign of a healthy site but not the end all and be all. I’ve personally have a number of passionate fans for my blog that eventually became clients as a direct result of my blog posts and yet, never left a comment.

Great idea!

Posting on blogs is one of the strategies I used to make my blog the 8th FASTEST GROWING blog out of 1.3 million on WordPress. This tip, and 7 other ways to grow your blog can be found here:

http://martyfahncke.wordpress.com/2007/08/14/8-ways-to-promote-your-blog/

Some thoughts on comments:

> It is in the comments that conversations take place.

> Some blogs exist to foster conversations, others to broadcast information.

> If the intent of the blog is to foster conversation, it is important that the author of the blog be engaged in the conversation by joining it in the form of replies related to key points (realizing that it may be impossible to reply to all posts.)

> If the intent of the blog is mainly to distribute information rather than to engage in conversation about the information (or to spur conversation elsewhere,) a comment feature isn’t necessary.

> As mentioned by others, a graphic representation of the relationship of conversations among blogs would be helpful, as would combining the RSS feeds for posts and comments.

> Comments can be a valuable form of research and enable blog authors to identify issues and ideas that might otherwise go unnoticed.

> Making a post of just comments was a super idea, Chris!

For my various blog projects, I often don’t comment back, if the post is sort of a “Thanks for this!” or “Enjoyed the post” type of thing- if the comment extends the conversation, then it’s natural to respond.

I am not shy about leaving comments, but I try to wait until I have something meaningful to add, or something I feel passionate about before dropping my two cents into the mix.

I love this conversation about comments, and the ability to foster them by just out and out asking people to contribute- that is a great way to break the ice, so to speak.

I’m totally on the same page as whitney. Commenting just to comment is pointless (for me), if I’m not going to add value to the conversation then I’m comfortable with just being a reader/observer.

I read a ton of blogs and find myself incredibly engaged in many different discussions or topics. I find it daunting though to read through an enormously long list of comments, but I usually do it if the subject matter is compelling enough and if I want to comment. My logic is that I should know what other people are saying before I put in my 2 cents; I feel obligated to leave informed comments. Sometimes this turns the time I allot for blog reading into hours, but I suppose that is my own time management issue. Is there a rule of thumb around the percent of comments to read before commenting yourself? (I think I read about 75% of the comments here and that took at least 15 min.)

I tend to disengage from blogs that don’t allow commenting. If I’m going to take the time to read the post and, if I find I have something to say in response, I love to post a comment. I really don’t get Seth’s logic at all.

(Though I tend to agree with Jenn about reading all comments before adding your own – there just isn’t enough hours in the day to do so. I need to go back and review the section in Tim Ferriss’ book on speed-reading!)

Chris, your new blogging concept is brilliant! Such a win for everyone – along with synthesizing the voices and perspectives of your community, it’d be like collaboratively raising visibility.

I tend to disengage from blogs that don’t allow commenting. If I’m going to take the time to read the post and, if I find I have something to say in response, I love to post a comment. I really don’t get Seth’s logic at all.

(Though I tend to agree with Jenn about reading all comments before adding your own – there just isn’t enough hours in the day to do so. I need to go back and review the section in Tim Ferriss’ book on speed-reading!)

Chris, your new blogging concept is brilliant! Such a win for everyone – along with synthesizing the voices and perspectives of your community, it’d be like collaboratively raising visibility.

In my opinion comments make a Blog a participative conversation and instant feedback. Many times I will look at the post and the comments without commenting myself. In terms of measurement they do indicate that the post was interesting enough for the person to comment.

Brands and corporations maybe cautious in comments and may prefer to get their feedback in email rather than comments (Example:Google Blogs). In the later case I would all it a 2 way conversation but in private – as along as they responded to every email.

Gosh, I had no idea that everyone took blog-commenting so seriously! I mean hey, I love comments as much as the next guy, but whether I get 30 or 15 or 3 doesn’t matter to me all that much. Some posts inspire ‘conversation’, some inspire people to leave smart-ass remarks (which, naturally, I love because those’re the kind I typically leave for others)…sometimes I answer comments IN the comments, sometimes I answer a couple of them only, sometimes (especially for new commenters) I’ll send a quick email.
Sometimes I do none of the above.
If people are interested or entertained by what you have to say, they’ll be back. I don’t think it’s at all rude NOT to answer the commenters.

I AM more likely to pay a return visit to someone who leaves me a good comment, especially if they make me laugh.
I leave comments here and there, and I have a small core group of ‘blog-friends’ that I visit nearly every day and usually leave a comment with them.

I could care less how many “hits” I get per day, but then again I don’t do any advertising and I’m not trying to do any market research. But what’s the good of striving to get 10,000 hits each day when you get no comments or feedback?
I guess it’s good for marketing & advertising, but I typically stay away from those types of blogs because 8 out of 10 of ‘em bore the ever-lovin’ crap out of me.

Chris, I love comments. The idea behind my new blog was all about creating community. You and I spoke about this when I first began the project.

I too find that a small percentage of people actually participate. Many visitors are happy reading, but not commenting.

I think that’s natural.

This same thing happens in life. Someone steps up to a group of people to listen in, but then smiles the whole time and doesn’t participate.

A plugin I especially like is the “subscribe to comments” which allows people to

1. subscribe anonymously via email and be alerted to new comments and

2. enter a post and then subscribe so that they can continue with their original participation much like having a conversation

in reply to Jenn (#46), I read about 20% of the comments at the top and then the last 4 or 5 at the bottom.

As with you, it’s my own time management thing. If the post is good, and the original comments compelling, I read.

comment length is also an issue.

I love receiving comments, mostly because I’d rather have a conversation than dictating to an audience.
I like leaving comments when something moves me in a profound way. The one thing that I can’t bring myself to do is leave “me too” comments. Not often, not unless I want my thoughts visible to the person writing because I really strongly agree with their points.

Then I’m trained to that point of view by a virtual community that had to pay attention to server space and discouraged me too comments often.

Should “me too” comments be posted or withheld? When we’re having a face to face conversation are my thoughts important if someone else has already voiced my thoughts for the most part?

This comment conversation reminds me of my radio days. When I was doing contests (caller 10 wins a $100), or call-in’s (tell me about the wild critter you’ve caught in your house)…I knew that a very small percentage of our listeners would actually participate.

Research shows that well under 10% of a station’s listeners will participate. The majority of listeners just prefer to listen, even if it means listening to someone else win, or to someone else’s story. They are entertained without being part of the entertainment.

I think the same thing goes for blogs. The majority of our viewers, just like to view. They like to read our content, and the comments left by others, and that’s it!

That is….unless you are viewing this blog!