Some people blog about gaming. Some blog about flowering shrubs and trees. Others blog about Korean guitars. But no matter what the focus of your particular corner of cyberspace, there is one thing that all bloggers love.
Comments.
Comments are the lifeblood of any blog. For a blog owner, comments give us that reassuring sense that people actually DO read hat you spend hours writing. For blog visitors comments give you the opportunity to start conversations with people who instantly have something in common with you – a shared interest in the blog you are reading.
Visiting a blog and NOT leaving a comment is a bit like visiting someone’s home, walking round each room, opening their drawers, rifling through their cupboards, then just walking away without saying a word. As a home (blog)-owner, you know that someone has visited, where they have been and what they have seen. But you have no idea if they liked what they saw or if they hated it. Did they find they had something in common with you or were they uncomfortable in your space? Simply commenting “I loved it” or “It’s not for me” would make such a difference.
Comments don’t have to be long, or funny, or controversial. They can be anything. Any comment is a good comment. Unless it’s really bad.
I was recently reading a post by social media expert Chris Brogan [www.chrisbrogan.com]. He was happy to have reached his 10,000th subscriber to his RSS feed. But, as he says, it’s not about the numbers, it’s about the community.
It STINKS when you don’t get comments or when you feel like you’re putting your heart out there and no one’s really picking it up.
Very true, Chris. Leaving comments on a blog is really your civic duty. Like saying “Good morning” to the guy in the newsagents. Or saying “thank you” when someone holds open a door for you. It creates conversations. Without comments, a blog is just one person’s thoughts. With comments, its a community. From that community there comes a buzz that cannot be bought. And who knows, it may be that this buzz will generate relationships, which will lead to friendships. Which could lead anywhere…
Personally I have decided to set myself the goal of commenting on every blog i see. I really want people to comment on my blog, but how can I expect that if I don’t comment on theirs? So from now on, whenever I find myself on a blog, I will comment. Even if I just say “Hi, just stopped by to say hello”, at least the blog owner will know I have been and acknowledged their efforts.
Of course, in the FuelMyBlog community we have another way of commenting – Fuel comments. Instead of just multi-fuelling your favourite blogs with a “I liked the blog”, leave a comment. Say why you are fuelling. Start the conversation. You may find it is a learning opportunity – the blogger may well have different viewpoints to yours, different opinions. Engage them in conversation, open the debate and fuel our community.
And there are lots of tools out there to help you keep track of these conversations. Recently the FMB blog and forum were enhanced by the addition on CoComment [www.cocomment.com]. This is a technology that collates all your comments from compatible sources and allows you to track updates and generally manage your comments across all the sites you visit. I have found CoComment to be really useful and it will be essential as I embark on my “always leave a comment” project.
For blog owners, perhaps the hardest question is how to encourage your readers to leave comments. ProBlogger [www.problogger.net] has some good suggestions and one of them is to make sure your post asks a question.
So here we go fellow fuellers. Do you comment on blogs? Do you wish you had more comments on your blog? Will you join me in pledging to comment on every blog you find?
Lets hear it!
Great post! I don’t comment near enough as much as I would like, sometime I pop in briefly in the aim to come back later to leave a comment but that does not always happen
Also there is an element of shyness towards certain bloggers…just like in real life I guess
I love comments and when people comment on my blog, no doubt about it. But if I have nothing to say, I don’t comment.
And I think I’d stop looking forward to comments, if every second one was “hi, was here, have nothing to say, bye”. Comments like that don’t start a conversation, they start embarrassed silences.
I have two blogs, though, my personal one, for which what I said above is absolutely true and another one, where I deconstruct books [more or less, it's not as academic as it sounds].
It’s newer and I don’t know if I have a continuous readership (as with my personal blog), because hardly anyone comments. There I would love to get some response and whether or not people like the way I “do my thing”.
But forcing anyone [be it myself or anybody else] to comment is not the way to get things going, in my opinion.
@SylvieD I know how feeling, with so many blogs its hard to remember to comment each time. I think if we all commented 10% more than we do already though, imagine what an impact that would make across the whole community!
@kalafudra I would never dream of “forcing” anyone to comment, and I certainly wouldn’t want people to feel that they can;t visit my blogs without having to comment. Clearly my examples in the post are ideal situations and I know people will not always want comment. I too would soon get bored of 50 comments on each article just saying “Hi”. However, I think people take the time out of their day to read an article, starting at the top and reading all the way to the bottom. Hopefully, they have some thoughts about what they have just read, be it “What crap” or “Yeah I agree” or jsut “Meh, that was irrelevant”. If we all just took an extra 30 seconds after reaching the bottom of the article to fill in that little box labelled “Add a comment” then we would all benefit. If what you read didn’t make you feel anything, then it’s quite ok to not say anything. Sometimes that happens. Communities are not formed by coercing people to interract, but sometimes people need encouragement. And if they see others commenting then they are more likely to do so themselves. So those of us who are confident in doing so should make our voice heard when we can for the good of those who aren’t.
[...] have just written an article on this subject over on the FuelMyBlog blog [here]. It looks like it may turn into a very big debate, which is, after all the whole point! Why not [...]
Hi Richard
I was thinking only this the other day!
My readership is on the up but this is not reflected in the quantity of comments I receive. I’m not sure if it’s because my blog is not particularly topical, controversial or if, as you say, I don’t ask questions.Maybe it’s just plain boring..haha! Maybe people are just shy, or in a hurry…who knows?!
But you’re right, there is such a lovely feeling when someone does make the effort.
Makes it all worthwhile!
Sarah
Well how could I NOT comment on this post?! Whenever I recieve a comment on a blog post, it gives me that little extra boost to write more and write better because I know that someone out there is actually reading what I have to say. The same goes for when someone links to you
I try to comment as much as I can these days, oo I’m commenting now
I think a lot of the time it is to do with the posts subject though and I have had a few comments, you know who you are 
but more would be nice, so maybe I should ask more questions in my posts.
Great post Richard B. How could I leave without leaving a comment … ?
Wonderful post Richard!
I think many of us are guilty of the ‘if I don’t have something to add, I don’t comment’ thought, but you’re right… we should at least acknowledge being there.
However, sometimes I feel comments are both good and evil.
If you don’t get many, you wonder if what you wrote was lousy. If you get tons, you try reply and sometimes, replying to comments keeps you so busy you end up without time to go visit other blogs, or even without time to write new posts!
Great post and so true.
I have peeks and troughs of commenting which is all purely time related (oh and slow PC too at the moment)
Note to self … must try harder
I hate comments and commenting and I’m refusing to comment on this post about commenting ……… no comment.
Actually, if I left a comment on every blog I fossisk, I would have little time for anything else ….. and I’d be in the divorce court for neglect.
I receive a lovely load of stooooopid comments but I know that there are about 30 regular readers that don’t comment – I have their IP addresses …… be warned!!!! – tee hee
….. and I rarely comment over here – the stat counter is lying …… 964! ridiculous
Stoopid comments … from who??
My wife and I have a dining blog and very very seldom get comments but really with our content of restaurant reviews and chef talks I cant see that there really is much to comment on. However I do try to comment on others blogs when see something that provokes a good question like this one for example
@70’s I don’t know where to start ……
Wow, great responses folks!
@Sarah: Your blog is certainly not boring! Keep up the good writing and maybe a few more people will start commenting. There are lots of tips out there for publicising your blog – maybe thats a future post on here!
@Girliegeek: Yes, we all need a little pat on the back now and then and receiving a comment certainly gives you that.
@Karen: You have a great blog and I’m sure the comments will come, especially if you reciprocate. Asking questions and canvassing for opinions in your posts will certainly make a difference.
@tnb: It would be churlish not to!
@fracas: Thank you, you are too kind! Indeed, there is that danger if you get too many comments that you spend too long replying. But I guess if it ever got that bad you could do a “Sorry I haven’t replied” post and explain that you are just too popular!
@70steen: It’s true that fitting in all these conversations around a day-job can be hard and this will inevitably lead to peaks and troughs as time allows. I often find that its a good think to do over a nice bagguiette et fromage at lunch time
@Daddy P: As the undisputed king of comments I don’t think you have anything to worry about!
@Jonathan: Great blog and those photos are wonderful!Its true that some subjects lend themselves more to open conversation than others. But keep at it and don’t overlook the power of publicity. Perhaps you could leave some flyers or business cards in each restaurant you review to point people to your blog?
@Richard B: Thanks for your kind words, I’ve just posted a question on my blog, I hope some of you stop by to comment
I try to always leave a comment but there are times when it is all I can do to keep up with the reading and the comments slide.
I feel pretty good now that I am getting comments on my blog. I try to visit everyone who posts a comment and comment the commenter (as what you’re doing). I find that does make a big difference in the amount of traffic that I receive.
Here my conclusions from reading this post:
1.If comments are lifeblood of any blog at least two of my blogs are DEAD!
2. No one reads what I write but fortunately I do not spend hours writing. Some people see what I cut and paste.
3.Probably I do not have anything in common with my visitors.
4.Most of my visitors are similar to Arséne Lupin,Fantomas ou Rouletabille,Ocean 11,12,13…
5.I track my visitors in a feed widget so I prevent myself from being traumatized from lack of footprints, oh, sorry, ink prints
6.Any comment is a good comment unless it’s invisible.
7.If not having comments stinks I must go immediately to the supermarket and get a sea-lemon freshener for my blogs-maybe the stinky odor is the reason why visitors don not take a minute to comment!
8: I put my heart out and he got rotten out there…another reason for getting a sea-lemon freshener for my blogs!
9.Oh,please, don not invent another civic duty!
10. My blog is just my thoughts! I don’t not have a community from where to get a buzz that cannot be bought. I cannot but hear the silence of community and the thunder of my own thoughts!
12.I am never, ever, going anywhere as without a community I can say bye-bye to relationships, friendships…I am LOST for good!
13.I AM DEPRESSED!Thank you Richard!
(Eheheh!Great post!I do not mind if people do not comment my blogs.I comment when I find a reason to do it.)
@Annie: I know it is hard to always keep up with commenting and reading. There are only so many hours in the day after all. THink of it a bit like flossing your teeth – it’s a bit of a chore, but its for the best!
@Carla: You’re right, what goes around comes around – the more you comment, the more likely people are to comment to you. That’s how we can all make a big difference with just a small effort.
@Belhina: Wow, looks like I really hit a raw nerve there
Different types of blog will always generate different types of communities and not every community will be vocal. Not everyone is looking for a conversation from their blog and that’s totally up to them. Everyone gets out of blogging what they want to and no-one should ever feel compelled to conform to one set of “rules”.
Ehehehh!!!;-)
I actually do more stumbling than commenting but occasionally I leave comments. Recently I started combining the two by leaving a comment the same as I would leave in a Stumble comment and using it as both with copy/paste. It’s streamlined ya know?
[...] Feed the conversation, fuel your community I actually do more stumbling than commenting but occasionally I leave comments. Recently I started combining the two by leaving a comment the same as I would leave in a Stumble comment and using it as both with copy/paste. It’s streamlined ya know? Fuelmyblog’s blog gets to the importance of comments in this post. [...]
Although I agree with you I have to admit I don’t always leave a comment. Sometimes it’s because other people have made really witty remarks or said the same sort of thing I would have said, so if I can’t think of anything interesting or different I’d rather not leave a boring comment.
@Damien: Sounds ike a good plan!
@Sablonneuse: Indeed it can sometimes seem like all the good comments have already been made, but it’s always worth your opinion into the mix
Incidentally there is more good debate around this subject over on ProBlogger (http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/10/12/should-blogs-have-comments/)
Worth a look