Back in 2012 I noted that one of Jenna Mills' goals on Desperately Seeking Surnames for 2012 was "Post more comments to other bloggers on their blog itself not on Twitter, Facebook or Google+".
In the intervening ten years it seems that genies post even fewer comments on my posts than they did in 2012. Perhaps what I write isn't worthwhile, people don't actually read my posts but comment anyway or maybe they find it easier to comment on other social media platforms. Maybe I am just old-fashioned and need to move with and appreciate current trends.
While I appreciate the comments made on other social media channels I believe that this practice dilutes the value of the interactive element of the blogging platform. I am often heard to say that Blogging is a two way street and I feel that blog post comments should be made on the street where the post resides not on some other social media thoroughfare like Twitter or Facebook.
By keeping the threads together in the comments area of a blog post the initial post can be enriched by a compilation of comments that build on each other to add value and opinions. With all comments neatly stored together various opinions can be explored in one space. Those comments made outside the blogging platform may just be loose threads that do not add value to the original post.
I'd love to know what you think on this topic.
18 comments:
I agree with you. I have a few dedicated followers who makes comments and I try to comment on friends' blogs. I should try harder to post comments on other blogs that I read. It is gratifying when you know someone has read your post.
I don't really mind where people post their comments, I am always delighted to hear from them. That being said I agree the conversation is most usefully had on the blog itself, particularly as it will be found much later in time on that site instead of disappearing into the ephemera of the internet never to be seen again.
If I leave a comment on social media, it's with the hope that someone else might go and read your post. I can see the value of commenting on the actual post, so will do both.
Great reminder. Thank you.
How I agree with you, Jill. I have noticed a decline in comments on my blog, and of course like you I wonder if my writings are of less appeal. But I also admit I am not commenting as much too, and now am trying to make more of an effort to check my Blogger reading list and read more posts. My blog posts are also on Facebook - occasional comments, but readers are clicking “Like” more, which saves the effort of composing a comments.
Looks like many of us like to take the easy way out.
I really appreciate the small band of folk who regularly leave comments on my blog - THANKS.
I'm reposting this comment from Laura on Facebook here as it makes two points as to why we should comment on the blogs.
"If you comment on Social media, it can help that SM post perform . However, comments on the blog itself remain accessible over time, and Google looks at the number of comments on a post in how it ranks that post in search results. This is one of the reasons we like to do "Blogs this week." It lets bloggers give other bloggers are little help with their SEO."
Such an interesting topic. Remember, I like posting comments on the blog, because that helps the blogger's SEO.
I try to leave comments on blog sites for posts I enjoy and/or learn from. I need to get back to doing that more often.
Hi Jill, I used to comment a lot on blog posts however the number of times comments fail to publish means I have mostly given up. I tried earlier today with the google sign in and also the Name/web address option. Both failed. It also requires me to copy and save the text as every time I try to publish the message is lost. It can be a Blogspot or Wordpress.com blog.
Here is the one I saved to notes earlier today.
"I used to comment more too. Often now I feel I have nothing to add except a lame “great post” so don’t comment. I rarely felt the need to leave a comment on social media as I agree the comment with the blog post has much more value. Social media comments have such a short life. Just remembered one of the other things that stopped me is problems posting/signing in. After losing many comments that took ages to type up on my phone I just gave up."
Every time this happens I stop commenting until I forget.
I am now trying on my computer, as a final option to bring to light the point that if comment publishing fails might have stopped others also. Mind you if they are having problems we will not hear from them. And it will continue to be rare for me to comment with these publishing difficulties.
Regards Fran
Whilst I use Social media a fair bit I agree and prefer the interactive element you mentioned when commenting on a blog post itself. Having said that, I haven't done so in a very long time. Mostly busy with 'life' and I prefer to use my computer for this kind of thing rather than my phone. I started a Family History blog late last year and fully intend to follow, comment and immerse myself into the Genealogist world sooner rather than later. Ann
Excited to have a few comments from genimates old and new.
I guess it depends why you post. For me, my blog is really only written for my family & 'hopefully' descendants, so I don't feel any slight if there aren't any comments. Still, I agree with @Anne Young above that if there are comments it doesn't matter where.
For blogs I follow, I read in them in "Old Reader" where you can 'like' and 'star' but there isn't actually anywhere to comment.
I prefer to comment on the blog post. I feel comments get lost on other social media channels. However,sometimes I'm frustrated by difficulties getting comments to post depending on the device I'm using.
Hi Jill, this is a great topic. I prefer to comment on the blog and always have done. I often miss comments on social media. And then there is the subject of sharing. I prefer to share a blog post from the blog, rather than share a social media post. Occasionally I will share a post from social media, but not often. Thanks for the food for thought.
Late to the party as always. It's been a busy week. Lots of babysitting. Jill I just love getting comments on my blog and yes, in these funny times, I think most of the comments end up on Facebook. But I get it. We all lead busy lives and leaping from one platform to another is just not high on people's priorities. After all the effort I put into my blog posts of course I am keen for feedback or observations or recognition but then I have to remind myself..."Have you commented on anyone's blog today Alex?" Haha! So I spend a lot of time writing blog posts and then I can easily spend a day or half a day reminding myself to read at least five other blog posts and comment on them. I want my comments to be considered, as Fran remarks, not just a "lame" comment (I fear half the time mine are just that!!). And yes, to go to all the effort of composing the perfect comment only to be rejected by some spam stopper is somewhat of a disincentive. But we'll soldier on as we always do :)
I just noticed several more comments and the common themes from this thread seem to be that life is busy,the platform at hand makes it easy to comment, there can be barriers with commenting directly on posts, people appreciate receiving recognition for their efforts, posts directly on a blog are valued and BTW @Alex - all comments have value.
Lately, I've been having a terrible time leaving comments on Blogger blogs. For some reason, I keep getting errors when I sign in to Google, and the comment won't post. After a few tries, frustration just makes me click away. I wish Google would fix whatever they're doing to keep some of us from leaving comments!
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