Come one everyone grab a cup of coffee and gather around. I wanna have a little chat. Today I would like to talk about something we rarely address. But I feel it is time to get it out in the open. What is it you ask?
“Comment Pressure” and the accompanying “Comment Guilt”.
In the 9 months since I have joined the blogosphere I read countless ‘blog-help’ articles on the importance of commenting on other blogs to help direct traffic back to my own. I have read countless posts by other bloggers APPOLOGIZING for the lack of comments they have been leaving because, God forbid they were too busy actually living their life. I have even seen some bloggers dish out grief to others for not commenting ENOUGH. So now this commenting thing has become obligatory and constrained. We judge the success of our own posts by the number of comments received and not the quality of the content. We visit other blogs and feel absolute guilt if we don’t leave a comment or two behind. Not because we want to join in on the ‘conversation’ of the post (which a genuine comment can achieve) but rather to show our bloggy friend a little ‘comment love’. Seems to me we may have gotten way off base. Now I appreciate ALL my readers equally. Those who chose to comment and those who do not. Many of my closest friends read my blog but rarely (if ever) feel a need to comment. And you know what? I am totally okay with that. But I never want to make my readers feel GUILTY about not commenting. This is a place of entertainment…a fun place. Okay heck…a glamorous place.
It was over coffee with my FABF Suzanne that this topic came up. She asked me ‘how would you feel if tomorrow you woke up and all the blogs you read were ‘Comment Free’?” My first reaction was “RELIEF”. Actually I do read a few blogs that are already comment-free and I read them FIRST every morning. Why? Well because all I have to do is read and enjoy. I do not have to comment or worse feel bad about NOT commenting. Because of this I am now considering making my blog “comment-free”. I want to start a revolution, a movement for other blogs to become ‘comment free’ as well. I would make my e-mail accessible by a single click button on my side bar for anyone who really wanted to open a dialogue with me. So I would still be available to chat. And of course CERTAIN posts (like this one) which are asking for direct feedback make it impossible to eliminate comments all together. So first- I must (very ironically) ask for COMMENTS from you. What do you think about comments? And more importantly- do you think it is necessary to have them to keep your readers?
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
To me comments will always be nice to get but they’re not a necessity. As long as I blog truthfully the way I want and feel then I’m being true to myself.
If a blogger types in the woods and there’s no one there to comment….is the blog still read? (or something like that).
Gosh, I WISH I had that problem. A comment or two would be nice once in a while!
Hmmm. I think comments are good if they are relevant to the post or for the purpose of reaching the writer (although e-mail could achieve the same goal). I think going comment-free depends on the type of blog. Some blogs/posts are of the type that don’t beg any questions or comments. Others seem to invite commentary. It is nice to know who’s out there looking in. Just my two cents.
–MomZombie
I never leave comments just for the sake of traffic. I DO leave them when I have something funny or clever to say that I think will make me seem prettier or more popular. But never just for traffic. I mean, a girl has to have some principles.
Sometimes I write what I think will be a very well-received post and no one comments and I start to imagine all of the reasons why they haven’t, the myriad ways I might have offended someone. I get a little self-conscious and have to sit on my hands to keep from deleting the post. But the feeling passes and eventually I get over it. It doesn’t stop me from looking forward to comments but I do know that the world keeps turning without them.
I love the interaction of the comments. Our family and friends use our blogs as a way of communicating and staying close so comments are important. I am happy when anyone else reads the blogs for fun but my main purpose in writing has never been traffic. I have to admit that I am a little sad when I spend a lot of time on a post and get no comments. Just my own insecurities, I guess.
I don’t leave enough comments,but to be fair, I don’t care how many comments I get.
I don’t leave enough comments,but to be fair, I don’t care how many comments I get. If you made your blog comment free,I would still come here to read it.
That’s an interesting question. I do, occasionally leave comments for traffic, but ONLY if I have something that I feel is relevant. Does that make sense? The thing is, if I make a stupid comment just for the sake of traffic it would backfire. See? I’m in a slightly different situation than you, though, because I have ads on my site that require traffic to get paid. I want a good dialogue and good comments and lots of readers. On the other hand I have to provide interesting content consistently so that I don’t drive people away with drivel. I’m not offended when someone turns off comments; I read anyway if it is someone that I enjoy reading. If it is that important then I do send an email. Part of building my traffic to get paid has included reading and commenting on other blogs-I really try to make real connections with people that I would also try to make IRL. For instance, your boys are close in age to mine so commenting on school, boy toys, boy things, etc. is relevant for you and me (I hope). You won’t see me commenting on someone’s blog (as much, anyway) if they have all girls, or girls that are my boys age, because boys and girls at this age are pretty different. Building a community, online, is much of what I like about blogging, and comments lend themselves to community. I don’t think there is community without them. However, if you (or whoever,) is blogging for themselves, or writing more ‘magazine’ style articles that don’t require a community there is no need for comments.
That’s what I thought. Clear as mud.
Wicked topic. I only leave comments if I have something to say. I’d like to believe I like traffic more than I like comments.
I don’t want to change Marcy’s topic, but I would strongly encourage all bloggers to have an email address on the blogsite so they can be reached privately. Sometimes a post I read moves me in a way that I would like to share something with the author and not the entire world wide web. I will dig and dig and dig and I am often unable to come up with an e-mail address. You can remain private if you use your blog’s name as your email address and not use your personal name.
Now, back to the topic of comments … I just get really excited when I look at stat counter and see that people are staying longer than zero seconds!
Yippee ;)
When a blog is more a conversation and less a column, I like comments. I like to read other folks’ take on what’s been written, and enjoy a chance to connect with the author and her readers by commenting myself.
I only comment when I fell I have something salient to say, or if I have a snide comment (the sarcasm is strong in this one). I won’t comment just for the sake of it, and I don’t feel bad when I have nothing to add to the author’s words.
I love to see comments on something I’ve written, but I’m not pressed if no one says anything – I figure, I didn’t hit a button or make the connection, or maybe I actually said something in such a way that they felt they couldn’t add to it (in which case, score one for me!!). Whatever.
I think comments are a fine way to hone ones skills and to connect to the larger community. I’d miss them, but if you didn’t have them I’d still read ya.
Shade and Sweetwater,
K
If something catches my eye, I usually take the time to comment. I’ve read all those “commenting on other blogs is necessary if you want to increase your own reader base” articles, too. That’s certainly not why I comment. And I don’t comment on everything I read.
For my own blog, I LOVE LOVE LOVE it when I get comments, but if nobody comments I’m not freaking out about it either. I love interacting with people who read my blog and also with those who read the blogs I comment on.
I think ‘no comments’ would make it feel more disconnected than the internet world already is – and I wouldn’t like that much.
I love comments. I love leaving them (to add something to the post, if there’s something that I can share along the same lines), I love reading ones other people have left on someone else’s post, and I especially love getting them. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy- like I’m in a conversation with friends instead of just reading something on the internet.
I also am quick to comment if I think a post is especially funny or poignant, just because I want the poster to know that I appreciated their thoughts. I’m not looking for a visit back, and I don’t think that I’m owed a comment back from them. Sometimes I just like letting the poster know that they did a good job.
Of course I’d still keep reading The Glamorous Life if it becomes a comment-free zone, but you can probably expect more emails from me, if that’s the case!
I like to leave comments and receive them so, I wouldn’t want them to go away. I don’t think they are obligitory and I certainly wouldn’t be mad at someone for not leaving comments for me.
When I first started I got a lot of comments a day. But then I didn’t have a kid with another one on the way! now I still get them but not as much and to be honest it sometimes bums me out. But then I don’t have time to comment much either! So I guess it’s a give and take!
I’ve been all over this map. My blog age is going on three years, and it’s been only the last year or so that I’ve had any readers. Pick any post from 2007 and check the comments — zero? two? — and see what I mean. My readership didn’t exist before I ventured out and started leaving comments.
And now, now that I know how fun it can be to drop a zinger (if I’m lucky) comment, I’m hooked, and my readership soared. It’s like crack — the one-liner comment crack. Only I rarely keep it to one line, so maybe it’s like coke. Dunno, I never did drugs.
What were we talking about?
Kidding. As I said, I’ve seen all sides of this issue and still prefer the interaction of comments. But the tyranny of blogging must be recognized, or we all burn out.
– Laurie
Ah! Comments…
I, sadly, was guilty of writing a blog-guilt post the other week and I feel very sad to have done so… even apologized in the following post.
Yet, I love comments! It honestly just feels so good to know that someone is reading the stuff that I love writing…
In terms of commenting on other people’s blogs, I usually don’t because I still haven’t quite gotten the hang of talking to people I don’t know about things they’ve written (I am kinda of ready to be done with that shyness)!! When it’s the blog of someone I know, I love to comment, because I know how good it feels to get a comment on my own posts.
There’s my comment confession.