Tristan’s Note: This is a guest post by Tito Philips Jr. (see his info at the end of the post). I do not agree with everything he wrote, but I loved the passion that the he wrote it with. It’s something I’d never write, but I do think he makes some great points. That’s why I wanted to publish this piece. To read my thoughts on the issue, see my comment (it’s the first one). Take it away Tito…
My first contact with blogging was way back in 2003. Back then blogging was just a hobby and a medium for expression. It was beautiful. Then in July of 2010 I stepped into the professional realm of blogging. In those seven years, my eyes have seen a lot happen in the blogosphere and recently, I haven’t liked what I’ve seen.
What I Thought Blogging Was…
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t blogging about writing and reading articles for the purpose of learning? In recent times, I have noticed a rather unusual form of blogging totally far from what I thought blogging was all about. I have witnessed firsthand a weird kind of blogging with a whole new intent. This new intent of blogging is driven by the desire to make money (which in and of itself is not bad, of course). But that’s given rise to the unsettling trend of comment trading.
Why Is Trading Comments Bad?
Trading comments is the lame fad currently sweeping across the blogosphere that describes the intent and habits of bloggers to visit a blog for the singular reason to leave a comment behind to notify the blog owner that they were present.
I know, I know… Everyone is doing this comment trading thing, so you think you should also follow suit. You have read it over and over again that it is one of the best strategies for attracting traffic to your blog. So you head straight out and litter the whole of cyberspace with your worthless comments just because you want to pull in some traffic.
The whole idea is woven around the concept of give and take. People simply visit a blog not to learn but to trade comments because they desperately want to receive comments in return. The way I see it, trading comments is going to ruin the whole blogosphere if left unaddressed.
Let’s be sincere with ourselves here, do you get comments back from every blog you comment on? Obviously not. Do you know why? Because trading comments is futile without authoritative content.
Here’s what I mean.
In case you’ve suddenly forgotten, blogging means CONTENT MARKETING. This implies that to be a blogger you’ve got to know a lot about something (content) and must be willing to go about telling as many people as possible that you do (marketing). Simply put, in the blogosphere, content is the product we market. You are only as good as your content. Your worth as a blogger is judged by your content!
As a blogger, your content is in two parts: blog posts and blog comments. Your blog posts are articles on your blog or guest posts on other blogs and as free reports in the ebook format. For most bloggers, they think these are all that really matters, so they pay less attention to the other kind of content, blog comments.
Content, whichever way you decide to look at it, includes your comments. From the quality of the comments you leave on my blog, I can deduce how authoritative you are or not as a blogger. No matter what we may choose to believe, blogging at its core is still a knowledge driven business. What will set you apart and ultimately bring you great success is your level of knowledge about certain things you deeply care about.
Interestingly, as it turns out, many bloggers (especially newcomers) are learning this lesson the hard way. You cannot litter my blog with your lame comments and expect me to be inspired to check out your blog where you probably expect me to find authoritative content. Sorry. It doesn’t work that way.
What bloggers must realize is that, whether it’s an article you are writing or it’s a comment you are leaving, in the blogosphere every bit of content you create is a footprint that can never be erased.
For crying out loud, humans are the ones reading all of your content, be it a blog post or comment. People read them, not robots. So if you don’t have something outstanding to contribute to the blogosphere, stop littering it with your lame comments.
Your comments are invitations to the readers. When they suck, you suck. When they rock, you rock. The bottom line is that if you are going to pass through a blog and want to leave your footprint behind, make it a memorable one.
For me to come to your blog, you must consistently blow my mind with your presence such that after writing a blog post you are the first person on my mind whose feedback I greatly look forward to.
If you want to trade comments, trade quality ones. If not, why are you still blogging?
So here’s the big question to all you comment traders out there:
Are your comments leaving a legacy behind on the blogs you visit?
If not, seriously, don’t bother leaving any behind. Why? Because the purpose for which they are supposed to be written — which is to contribute to the overall discussion going on in the blogosphere — is being defeated by your horrible comments.
Why Exactly Your Comments Suck
In case you haven’t gotten the picture yet… Here’s a reminder of what I think about your comments: they suck. All you are ever going to get from me when I see your comments is, “Thanks, but no thanks!”
I am just so sick and tired of receiving lame comments on my blog and reading some more on other people’s blogs. For God’s sake, if people don’t have anything useful to add to the ongoing discussion shouldn’t they just shut the hell up?
Commenting has become so bastardized that many people now leave comments out of courtesy rather than out of inspiration. They have come to see commenting as an obligation they must fulfill as a blogger. Commenting has suddenly become a blogging necessity so everyone — both those who have something reasonable to say and also those who don’t — all seem to be having a field day. Here’s the bitter truth: commenting is not for everyone.
Commenting is not a register that you must mark to indicate that you turned up. Commenting is not an attendance sheet that you must sign. Commenting is not a guestbook that you must sign when leaving a site. You would be doing yourself much good if you learn not to say anything unless you have something SIGNIFICANT (unique and useful) to say. So many people have just taken commenting to be another way of gaining recognition. Well here is the thing… you are gaining recognition for being an idiot.
If only you can start taking your comments as seriously as your blog posts, then maybe, just maybe, you will eventually end up attracting the traffic you are so bent on getting through your comments!
A Winning Approach
When I decided to start leaving comments on a lot of blogs, I wanted to carve out a voice for myself. And I eventually did just that. On every blog I visited, I made sure I shared more than was needed; I made sure I brought the bloggers’ attention to something new which they weren’t aware of before. And guess what? Before long I got the tag as someone who dropped stellar comments. Every blog I visited made the owners publicly confess that they always looked forward to reading my stellar comments. And that was how my blog starting attracting the owners of the blogs I had left a legacy on.
Here are a few of the comments I left on some blogs. Please don’t misunderstand my intent for sharing these stories; they are not for bragging purposes. I share these links because they lend credibility to the fact that the underlying principle that forms the basis of a rewarding comment trading practice really works.
- Mark McGuinness of Lateral Action (and also my creative mentor) referred to this comment as a post in itself.
- Elise Moreau of Elise’s Review was the first blogger to refer to my comments as stellar comments.
- Farnoosh Brock of Prolific Living had to send me a mail to come defend one of my comments on her blog. I didn’t even realize such a comment would stir up what almost seemed like a controversy.
- JK Allen of Hustlers Notebook on getting to my blog from following my comments on his had to admit he didn’t realize I was a Nigerian.
- Patricia of Lavender Uses (a super commenter herself) replied my retweet of her blog post letting me know how impactful the comment I had left on her blog was.
- Tristan of Blogging Bookshelf shared a post by his girlfriend and my comment ended up as one out of the two comments she replied to. [Tristan's Note: This is one of my favorite posts on Blogging Bookshelf, even though we're not dating anymore]
How can you be a better commenter?
Ah… Great question!
1. INNOVATE: Seriously, don’t leave a comment if it isn’t offering something SIGNIFICANT (unique and useful) that wasn’t mentioned at all in the main article. The essence of commenting is to contribute to the ongoing discussion about that particular subject matter, if you don’t have anything innovative to include, just shut up!
Saying thank you or repeating what the author has already written about is lame. Add a fresh insight to the discussion and you will see not only the owners of the blog beating a path to your door, but other readers of the blog too. Always endeavor to add something totally new that wasn’t mentioned at all by the author.
2. INNOVATE: I have to say this again, because nothing else matters besides this. To make your comment count, leave a comment that stands out!
3. INNOVATE: Now I am sure you get the point. But there’s one last thing worthy of mention: don’t be stereotyped. I’m sure you’ve come across certain comment traders whose format for commenting is always the same every time and everywhere they leave a comment. You can tell the end of the comment just by reading their opening sentence. It is almost as if they have the comment already pre-typed and all they had to do was copy and paste it into every blog they visited.
Before you leave any comment on any blog, ask and answer these two questions:
1. What did the author forget to mention about this subject matter that I am aware of?
2. What I’m about to add that he forgot to mention, is it UNIQUE and USEFUL?
If you get a NO from any of these two questions, just move ahead to the next blog, don’t leave any comment. This only points out one thing; you do not possess sufficient knowledge about the subject matter being discussed. So hush. Every dog has its day.
4. Be STRATEGIC: I’m sure you are wondering what this has to do with commenting. Well… everything. Commenting is the networking aspect of blogging. You certainly don’t want to be reading every blog out there because there isn’t just enough time for that. So you’ve got to be choosy about the blogs you read. Why is this necessary? Stellar comments are the outcomes of stellar blog posts. There’s something about a well written article that will unlock your knowledge base and inspire you to leave a remarkable comment.
I know this might hurt some people, but it is the simple truth: some blogs aren’t worth reading. Why? Because they are poorly written. And when a blog post is purely written, it doesn’t inspire stellar comments. Therefore, endeavor to read blogs that deliver stellar contents and they will help you respond in kind with your stellar comments.
Another key thing to note about being strategic is to read blogs that offer contents that resonates with your passion. What do I mean? Not every blog talks about things you really are interested in. So trying to trade comments with such bloggers might not really yield the best results. Seek out blogs that share contents about the kind of things that deeply interest you.
This is very important because you can only give what you have. Visiting blogs that discuss what you really are not interested in, will only make the knowledge you possess seem irrelevant and attempting to trade comments with such blogger will be futile. After all, the whole point of blogging which involves writing, reading and leaving a comment is all about learning (acquiring significant information) and sharing (spreading significant information).
Be strategic because blogging is all about content marketing. This means that you have to learn from those that really share what you deeply care about and put your content in front of the eyes of those that really matter.
5 Ways to Add Something Unique and Useful to Your Comments
1. Mention a book that has talked about the subject matter of the article.
2. Mention an authority figure, a blogger, author, entrepreneur, celebrity, anyone that has shared a similar view about the subject matter of the article in question. And don’t just mention their names, share what they said and how it relates to the blog post you just read.
3. Mention statistical information that either justifies or negate the facts presented by the article in question.
4. Mention your own personal view or experience of the subject matter. In other words, tell us your own story/experience about the subject matter of the article in question.
5. Ask a deeply thought out question that the author’s article didn’t clearly answer. And be sure to check back regularly till he/she answers.
Your Turn
I’d love to hear your input. Here’s your chance to leave a legacy behind at Blogging Bookshelf, so go for it!
- Have you noticed the whole “trading comments” trend? What do you think about it?
- Do you leave good comments? What makes you think you do or don’t?
- How many great comments do you get on your blog vs. crap comments?
- Do you care how good the comments are? To what extent?
About the Author
Tito Philips, Jnr., is the unusual CEO of MADphilips who blogs about business and entrepreneurship on naijapreneur! He’s currently recruiting an army of change-agents at UniteNigeria to help in the rebuilding of his motherland. Connect with him on Twitter @MADphilips
Tristan’s Note: Be sure to check out everything Tito’s doing, but leave a comment here first :)
{ 80 comments… read them below or add one }
I loved this post. I don’t agree with certain things that Tito said, but that doesn’t matter. My goal with this blog is to provide my readers with interesting, relevant, and actionable tips. I think Tito’s post fills all of those requirements. This post provoked a response from me, and that’s something that all of the best posts do. And at the end of the day, I guess that’s what I really want to do with this blog.
I’ve long been an advocate of this comment trading thing. In fact, for a long time I had in my comment policy thing at the top of my sidebar the line: “If you comment on my blog, I’ll comment on yours.” It was a great way for me to get a lot of comments on the blog when it was young.
The single most popular post on my blog (see it in my Popular Posts sidebar widget) is essentially about comment trading. That post has 200 freaking comments on it!
Frankly, I don’t expect every single comment I get on my blog to be genius. They don’t have to be works of art. Tito essentially says, “If you don’t have something good to say, don’t say it at all.” I disagree with this. If you’re on my blog and don’t have anything groundbreaking to add but still want to leave a comment, go for it! I still think that this is a valuable comment.
Now of course I do hate the two-line “Great post!” comments, but if someone takes the time to leave a real comment on my blog, I’m grateful for it. What can I say? I like knowing my posts are appreciated. Would I prefer a big epic comment that provides value to my post and my blog? Sure. Will I be more inclined to check out your blog if you leave a freaking awesome comment on mine? Yeah, of course!
I guess what I’m saying is that as far as I’m concerned, your comments don’t have to be great, because I know mine aren’t always great. But your comments do at least have to be good. They have to be genuine. Don’t spam my blog with your one-sentence comment. I will visit your blog once to see who the idiot was that crapped on my blog, and then I’ll delete all of your future comments and never visit your blog again.
You said: “The way I see it, trading comments is going to ruin the whole blogosphere if left unaddressed.” Don’t you think that’s a bit dramatic? I just don’t see this happening. I think a lot of people enjoy trading comments because they like getting lots of comments. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.
You said: “Do you get comments back from every blog you comment on? Obviously not.” No, not 100%, but pretty dang close. But then, I like to think that I do leave quality comments…
I love this: “blogging at its core is still a knowledge driven business. What will set you apart and ultimately bring you great success is your level of knowledge about certain things you deeply care about.” Amen to that, brother.
You said: “So if you don’t have something outstanding to contribute to the blogosphere, stop littering it with your lame comments.” I think the problem with the blogosphere is that there are too many lame blogs, not lame comments. I mean sure, there are a bunch of lame comments out there, but again, I don’t think they’re ruining the blogosphere.
I laughed when I read this: “So many people have just taken commenting to be another way of gaining recognition. Well here is the thing… you are gaining recognition for being an idiot.” Hahaha. So much hate, Tito!
Now, you said not to leave a comment if you can’t add anything significant. Well I just took several of your quotes and write a little bit about each one. Did I add anything significant? No, not really. But I think plain old commentary and a “Yay” or a “Nay” is just fine sometimes, too.
Anyway, thanks for the awesome post, Tito. This is what the blogosphere was made for – sharing and discussing our ideas and thoughts, as different as they may be. Bravo, man. Bravo.
I was wondering whose comment to reply to first, but i guess it’s obvious -start from the head! :)
Thank you Tristan for the opportunity to get this off my chest, seriously you don’t have an idea of how long I have been nursing this. It almost drove me insane. So this here, is a huge opportunity and I am grateful.
I didn’t know you and Amy aren’t together anymore, i feel so sorry about that. I only hope it was for the best. Wishing you well on your new search for love.
Back to trading comments….
It’s just me really, I like GREAT work, not sometimes, but all of the time! I just don’t think you should be giving the world your least, when you can actually give them your best. I often use a simple rule of thumb for most of the things I do, and that rule of thumb is this:
“What if I don’t live to see another second after this?”
Yea, after writing that last sentence, what if I dropped down dead? What would you Tristan remember of me? Would it be that I just left behind my greatest work or comment on your blog, or would it be that I just littered your blog with my lame presence?
This is what I usually strive to achieve in everything I lay my hands on to do. I just think if anything should be WORTH doing at all, then it’s only fair WE GIVE IT OUR BEST SHOT!
The whole passion of writing this post, is to call out the genius inside each and everyone of us. If you ask me, I just think in most cases we are just trying to be lazy or ‘smart’ as they say it. I mean look at people like Patricia from Lavenderuses.com or people like Jk Allen or Elise Moreau, they consistently leave great contributions behind on every blog tirelessly. It isn’t that they are finding this easy to keep up with, it is just that they have realized that it is WORTH it.
The point of doing anything at all, is to give the most and get the most. I don’t see why we should settle for less, just because we don’t want to push ourselves to bring out the dormant genius in us. The world is a better place, not for the sake of those who only do what is convenient, but because of those who do what is inconvenient but necessary.
Great contributions, in whatever form we want to look at it, comes with great sacrifices.
You can tell me thank you for writing a great post, I don’t have any problems with that, but go beyond that comfort level, and at the least, point out the experiences that the lessons you learnt will correct. We never can tell who will stumble upon our contents, [posts and comments] so for that reason, let’s strive to always make every content the best we can give at every moment we get. Not because it is EASY, but because it is WORTH it!
Aren’t this the reason why we all blog? To make the world a better place by challenging the status quo? Why then are we more interested in preserving the status quo just because it is somehow inconvenient?
Tristan, your comment was SIGNIFICANT [unique and useful]. I am glad i am not the only one who has said this so far, you can see for yourself in the comments below. :)
Hi Tito (and Tristan),
I’d have to say that as far as trading comments goes, I don’t consider myself a comment trader. I leave comments where I feel inspired to do so, and sometimes, even when I read an inspiring post, I still don’t always comment. Sometimes, I just don’t have the time, the mental energy or perhaps one of my kids came in and interrupted my flow.
But I can’t say that it’s the trading itself that’s bad, but more of the fact that leaving a poor, one sentence “I’m-just-here-for-the-link” type of comment, that is bad.
I like the way Tristan goes out of his way to interact and comment on his readers’ blogs, I think that’s a fantastic way to build a blog’s community.
I don’t think a comment has to always be completely new and innovative, but it does need to indicate that a commentator actually read and understands the post. I’m interested in hearing what people have to add, but I don’t mind hearing about what they’ve learned – that means that they may regurgitate a bit of what I’ve already said. But if they’ve gained something from reading my post, I want to hear about it.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I clearly don’t enjoy reading spam, one-liners, but comments don’t have to be stellar as long as it’s evident that a commentator is genuinely there to connect and share their thoughts.
Really, for those who just use comments as a way of marking the register or signing a ‘guest book’ so to say, is just not so cool. I believe we can do much better than that and this post was intended to let those kind of people stay off my blog.
Hearing what people have learnt even though they have to regurgitate what you had said is not too bad, this however should not always be the case or else that would become your brand. It would stick like glue and sooner or later, people can guess you will just help them rephrase what they had just said.
The point is to always try to do our best at every given chance we get to make a meaningful contribution. We all have something significant to offer, we just have to learn to dig deeper. Sometimes, I get to a blog and I am lost at what to say, but then because I have set the standard high enough, the words start to come out that help me make a meaningful contribution to the community.
When we really do want to make a difference, the whole universe will beat a path to our door and ensure that we CAN!
I admire you commitment to greatness. From the perspective of the commentator, I can definitely feel what you’re saying. When I leave my comment, I want it to be remarkable – I want people to get excited when they see my smiling gravatar. So I most definitely agree with that.
It’s difficult for me to rule from either extreme though, because there is a fine line between, lame I’m just signing your guestbook, to wanting to engage, but not necessarily offering high quality. As a blog owner, I think you can sense when someone is just there for that reason.
Great post! (Pun intended!) :)
In all seriousness, I really enjoyed the article. I think “litter commenting” – done without adding any value – is futile. Not only do you waste the readers’ and your time but you’re also not likely getting the targeted traffic that you want. Someone who is clicking to your blog through a litter comment probably isn’t looking for what you’re offering since your comment doesn’t tell them anything about you. Unless your audience is everyone in which case there are probably bigger issues.
Adding value is key but I’m not sure I completely agree with the “significant value” factor. Come to think of it not every interaction we have with others is significant. Sometimes it’s nice just to catch up while at other times conversation might be more in-depth. It’s just the nature of things.
Comments also seem to have the implied notion that it’s informal and casual. Significance and added value doesn’t really come to mind at first. Trackbacks seem like an alternative that might be – though to be fair I am not familiar and haven’t used them. Would love to hear your take on it though. :) Thanks for sharing!
First, I have to say this (mostly because it’s important to me): your grammar is awesome. I understand that most bloggers are about great content, good discussion, etc: but I am a grammar girl at heart. No way you can pee me off more than polluting your content with shitty grammar.
Second note: On comment trading…i see a lot of that. It’s… Well, it reminds me of the 12 year old myspace girls who go, “I’ll trade spam for spam and comments for comments on my pictures!!!! <3!!!!"
Yeah, think about that the next time you try to whore yourself for comments :)
Anyway, I don't feel that comment trading – of sorts – is 100% evil. Perhaps that's because I do it simply to say, "I was here; i saw, I read. I love it. Write more." I guess it is like signing a guest book.
Regardless, I did like this article. It's putting my brain to work… Which is exactly why I read it. :)
Thank you for saying this;
“Regardless, I did like this article. It’s putting my brain to work… Which is exactly why I read it. :)”
That is exactly what the post was created to do – bring out the best in us at all times, whether we are on our blog carving out contents in form of blog posts or at another person’s blog writing out contents in form of comments.
We weren’t created for mediocrity, we have only just chosen to invent that. Originally, it wasn’t part of our biological configuration. We all are truly, capable of creating our best work, not some of the time, but all of the time. We only just have to make up our minds, that this is the only permissible level we would operate from.
Hey Tristan and Tito!
Thanks for sharing a thought-provoking piece – I think that even though I wouldn’t agree with everything, there are certainly some gems here.
I’m fairly new to blogging, so for me, the ‘trading comments’ thing is important – particularly to build up a following and a presence online. HOWEVER, I would never trade comments for comments’ sake – it’s just not in my personality and frankly, I don’t have the time! Like with this comment – I’m taking the trouble to write a proper comment – not just a ‘thanks!’ or a link.
I wholeheartedly agree with the point made on being choosy about blogs you read and comment on, and making sure they resonate – after all, you’re only going have that extra knowledge/ability to write good comments on something you’re actually interested in.
I found the ’5 ways’ section very useful, and will be incorporating this in the future. However, I think that requiring that all comments be ‘groundbreaking’ or ‘innovative’ is a tad unfair. My view of blogging is that it’s very much a beta form of communication – the only way of knowing what works or whether people liked what you produced is to just get it out there, and tweak it along the way.
Finally, to answer Tito’s questions:
- Yes, I’ve noticed the ‘trading comments’ trend, and I think it’s OK
- I think my comments are good, and some people have said they’ve been interested in what I’ve said. And just because someone doesn’t immediately tell me/Tweet etc. about how wonderful my comment was, doesn’t mean they haven’t mentioned it somewhere else. So I try not to sweat it too much.
- Great v crap? Well, not a whole lot of people see or comment on my blog yet, so I don’t really know. But I haven’t notice any ‘crap’ as yet…Also, to avoid ‘dud’ comments, the blogger can set some ground rules on their site. See my friend Jenny’s ‘Comment Policy’ page – http://www.zero-gravity-life.com/?page_id=244 (she’s just started blogging herself)
- I do care about comments, and hence I have a policy of always responding to each and every one – a technique I picked up from Tyler Tervooren of Advanced Riskology http://tylertervooren.com/advancedriskology/#
One final note. I consider myself a nice person, so I sometimes I like to comment to show a blogger my appreciation of their work, and of sharing it with the world. This is neither groundbreaking nor innovative, but I think it makes the blogosphere a nicer place, and I think we could all do with a bit of that sometimes.
Sarada,
Nice comment. Thanks!
Let me start by saying I didn’t think trading comments were bad, I have just written this post as a way of suggesting tips on how to be a better comment trader. I trade comments too, and that is why it hurts when I do so with all my mind and get mediocre comments in return. That was how this post started brewing in my mind, the fact that many don’t take as much time to leave valuable feed backs in return and yet they expect mine in return. The painful thing is me being myself, try to give my best in every case and that made me think why do mediocrity thrive? How can bloggers be better comment traders? And thus this post was born.
Comments can be in varying forms, but for most cases, as I thought, it is a form of fostering collective learning and building better blogging relationships among bloggers. More like a way to connect like minds.
Thank you for your comment.
Hi Tito .. and Tristan – as you say .. really informative post – and I hope is read by many. You’re right inane comments and just saying I’ve been here, I’m new – follow me back (sometimes without the please) are useless and irritating.
The most interesting part of this – apart from the etiquette understanding – were, Tito, your words: “As a blogger, your content is in two parts: blog posts and blog comments. Your blog posts are articles on your blog or guest posts on other blogs and as free reports in the ebook format. …. Content, whichever way you decide to look at it, includes your comments.”
Content rules – I agree .. no-one will read the post .. if it is inane, riddled with grammatical errors, not enlightening etc etc …. However your sentence ” From the quality of the comments you leave on my blog, I can deduce how authoritative you are or not as a blogger.” … is correct – as long as you’re referring to that subject … not in general as a blogger. I cannot comment authoritatively on the art of blogging … but I’ll be here to learn, and may leave a general pertinent comment … and I then become part of the community and someone may be interested in coming over and visiting my completely different blog ..
We as junior partners in the whole blogging sphere .. have to start somewhere .. however realising we can’t leave the words ‘good post’ .. really doesn’t help anyone. For now I acknowledge anyone who comments on my blog, but I know as I grow then I’ll have to leave a general comment of ‘thank you’ and reply specifically to relevant informative comments.
I hope people learn from the comments they read .. and get to ‘learn’ a little more of the person behind the blog – again as you so rightly say .. comments do that.
Thanks – have great weeks both you … very relevant post – Cheers Hilary
Naturally, we can only give as much as we have within us. Not in all cases can you write stellar comments most especially if it is on certain areas that you don’t have ample knowledge. In cases like this, a very sincere encouragement would be nice if you do let the author know the areas that resonated with you the most.
The reason why the commenting was invented was for feedback, the most we can all do is give the sort of feedback will also like to get under a similar situation. For me, I like getting significant feedbacks because they contribute to my overall development as a human being and entrepreneur. So it’s only natural I give quality feedbacks myself if my desire is to be met. Call me old fashioned, but I would always choose QUALITY over QUANTITY.
The kind of community I want to have on my blog are those who also share this mindset. Only then can we go on to really create the kind of lasting impact we all deep down crave for.
Acknowledge them Hilary, it’s ok to acknowledge them. In the end, it’s not you who gets tagged for littering the whole cyberspace, it’s them. What they don’t realize is that the relationship they are trying so hard to foster will be dainted in as much as their comments don’t make so much difference. They will be left out on the long run, and this is what this post is trying to address.
Bloggers like Leo Babauta and Seth Godin and a couple of others who disable commenting on their blogs knew what they were doing. In the end, they still became authority figures not because they traded comments, but because they created outstanding contents.
So my point is this, your lame comments might get their initial first clicks, but if your contents aren’t anywhere authoritative to keep the comment trading going, you will end up having to lobby for comments. Why lobby when you can create fresh comments that can make a difference?
The choice again is not mine, but yours. Do whatever you so please, in the end, the game is for the strong and not for the weak. You either UP your game, or get left out by the sidelines.
Welcome to the blogosphere, the competition is stiff only those who are unusually unique and useful will stand the test of time. There are no rooms for mediocres. We are suffering enough information overload already. STAND OUT or STAND DOWN.
Hi Tito .. thanks very much – fortunately I never really did leave ‘great post’ .. and have always had interaction from bloggers and again I always interact and communicate on my own blog .. I managed to work out the sensible way. I realise Seth, Leo et al’s reasons for ‘comments off’ approach – it’s just very worth while reading their posts. Thanks for replying – appreciate the time .. Hilary
I agree with a lot of what Tristan responded with, but I will add my own thoughts.
A comment means different things depending on the blog it is being left on. On my blog, my aim is to develop a small community speaking about the ideas I am writing about. The valuable comments are the ones that respond not just to my post, but to other commenters. That way the conversation grows from reader-author to reader-reader-author-reader, etc.
On a site like BoingBoing or TechCrunch, comments act like votes in support of the products or news items being presented. TechCrunch may profile a new social media company, but the best way to judge whether it is actually worth checking out is by scanning through the comments. A comment that says, “Pure garbage” is much more valuable in that space than a three paragraph long comment full of unique links and book mentions, etc.
For the most part, I agree that blogs are about learning, but not always. Some have evolved into entertainment purposes, and others are more about commentary about political events, music/movie/book reviews, or plain bitching about problems in life. People didn’t start reading Dooce to learn what it was like to be a stay-at-home mom, they read to be entertained.
I don’t see anything wrong with bloggers comment trading, as you phrased it. It’s the name of the game. It’s one of the best ways to support your fellow bloggers, because they’ll know that you took the time to visit the site and respond. Retweeting a post does not mean you read it, so isn’t a true sign of support.
I comment on blogs not to leave a legacy on the site, but to present my thoughts, expand on the conversation, and use my comment as an invitation to visit my site. It’s quite fine to sit and craft a post-worthy comment, but you have to keep in mind that this is Tristan’s blog, not mine, and with a click of a button, he can delete your comment. It’s up to the host blogger to curate the comments if he so chooses, but he may be better off to close off comments completely and take the conversation into Twitter.
In the end, asking people not to comment is a form of eugenics. Every human, every word and opinion they want to say has an inherit value. It may not be valuable to you, but it could be valuable to someone else. I sometimes read lengthy comments that are directed at the author and find no value in them because they don’t give me the opportunity to jump in and add something of my own. It’s a closed conversation. Other comments (the ones you seem to find invaluable) are more interesting to me at times because I can develop my own response to it quickly. That’s unlikely to happen while reading through some of your example comments.
Hi James,
I don’t think I condemned Trading comments completely. My intent with the post was to suggest better ways to be a comment trader. In the post you would see I referenced Patricia from Lavenderuses.com as a great comment trader, that’s to show how much value I and a host of others regard her presence on our blogs. She has gained a good readership as a result and has set herself apart by so doing.
The comments on sites like techcrunch and the rest big names are quite not comparable to those of a growing blog. People go to such sites not necessarily to trade comments as it seems, but to get themselves out there in the public. There is no way Mashable or Techcrunch will return favours to those who comment on their blogs just as Tristan or any of us in here would do. They are made bloggers already, comments on those sites are more like guests at a party. You just showed up not necessarily to attract the organizer of the party, but probably to just catch fun and hang out. The intent is quite different from growing bloggers like us who want to trade comments with each other as a way to grow our communities.
People read blogs for various purposes, yes, I agree. I am sure that’s not why most of us visit blogging bookshelf. We do to learn and those blogs for other purposes beside learning may not be too concerned about the comments of their visitors. As different blogs attract different kind of community. The central theme of this post was for those bloggers like many of us who produce informative contents that sells our expertise about certain things. These are the people whose intent for reading blogs basically revolve around learning, I think?
Maybe it’s my generalization that seems to be causing the differences in viewpoint here. So I will try to make some clarifications, I personally value intellectual blogs and bloggers, those kind we refer to as “thought leaders”. Maybe I thought that was what we were all in this game for, to learn, share and connect as intellectuals in our various fields. From this post and a whole lot of comments I have gotten, I am learning there are a whole lot of others with varying views about blogging and thus, I have taken the corrections and will just find my own CLAN.
I was sooooo tempted to say how great this post was and how helpful it was, but it sounded to much like comment spam. But it was interesting
I never accept any comments like that because they are lies, I never say anything helpful in my blogposts so anybody that says I do is wrong. My blog is just vague ramblings about stuff, usually written whilst hungover.
That is why I use scribble scran for my blog, people cannot comment without an account and I don’t want random people annoying me, also it has to be said that my blog is not very good, and not very interesting.
John
Tito – Nice Job here man. I think you certainly own the right to display your feelings behind this subject. It’s really weird out here in the blogosphere and I’ve noticed the trend that you’re speaking about.
The way I made my claim to fame (I use that word very very loosely) is by my commenting. Seriously, it’s how I started to drive traffic to my site in the early days. But I initially thought of blog commenting as a means to promote what I was about. So, I commented from the heart and didn’t really care how long my comment was, I just went until I was finished. I wasn’t trying to be unique or anything – just share an honest glimpse from the heart.
I do find that there’s a natural element of reciprocation that comes along with commenting. And I think that’s cool. In business this happens, offline, this happens as well. Company A refers a customer to Company B. Company B in times will refer a customer back to Company A. it’s a common business practice. Anytime I get a new commenter I’m compelled to checkout what they’re up to, and in doing so almost always leave a comment on their blog. Sometimes the subject matter isn’t something that I can passionately comment on, so I leave a short paragraph explaining what I liked to support their cause is all I do. Do I find this to be a bad strategy….NO. Because there’s no strategy behind it.
I don’t believe that every comment has to be a masterpiece. Not everyone comments for the reciprocation. Sometimes it’s just simply out of thanks. So, if somewhere to leave a comment on my site: “Thanks for sharing”, it doesn’t bother me…because it is what it is. Now, for those people – they won’t catch any eyes and stand out as unique – but in their defense, that may not be their mission.
When it comes to people who want recognition just by having their gravatar show up – now that’s an issue – because in time, people catch on that their content is weak. If they display poor content in comment format, consistently, then it’s safe to assume that they’re content is of the same fashion.
I’m going to say that 90% of comments left on my blog add value to the topic at hand. I think this is a great number, considering the number of comments I typically get. For the stragglers (Thank you, great post, etc.) I welcome those as well. I just don’t have a reason not to. Everyone isn’t opinionated, and they have no hidden agenda. I think “thank yous” are kind gestures – I say it all the time. I usually say it with a few more words…but still, I welcome them.
In my opinion, this trend isn’t nearly as significant as the one with all these young kids claiming to be entrepreneurs, telling people how to brand a business,and all this and that but have zero experience in running a business. I think the biggest of issues is content regurgitation, and flat out bad content all together – leading people in bad directions who follow. Sites like [all of yours] are great examples of how to bring it; with a personalized touch and an influential tone.
Great job Tito on this. Very opinionated view-point – one that certainly challenges the status quo – I love that. You are a production machine of high quality content…and that never fails. I love it! Keep up the great work.
and, of course….PEACE!
I just want to say if there was a shorty award for being the best commentator EVA…it would go to YOU! You by far leave the most rich comments on the web circles I’ve run through.
And…I totally agree with you.
And…Thanks. :)
You’re far too kind Marlee! I just try to “tell it like it is” (bad English and all)!
Hi JK,
Your comments I so look forward to. Sincerely, they are worth a hundred one or two liners combined. I would rather have comments like yours that help me become a better person than have those lame versions.
The way I see commenting is also for building relationships and when it comes to choosing those people I want to hang out with, I am very stubborn. If i am bending over to make sure you get the most from knowing me through the contents i create, i think it’s just fair you also raise the bar too, for only then can the relationship be mutual.
The business examples you sited, are very valid. However, I think in most cases, it’s not all businesses that we just blindly send referrals to. Why? Because we are careful about our reputations. We don’t want to send people to businesses we can’t trust that they will deliver the kind of quality the referral has come to know our business for.
The same way blogging works. I get discouraged sending referrals or even hanging around low quality bloggers. In the end, I want to promote those worth promoting. You want the best, give the best. This is just the message I am passing through this post. Bloggers should not try to be “smart” wanting to do little on their own part and expect others to bend over for them.
Thanks for your encouraging words and perpetual support. I’m so grateful.
Hi…I found this a difficult post to read because it flew in the face of just about every other lesson I thought I had learned on leaving comments. As a blogger that works hard on producing content I want comments. I actually want comments that disagree with what I say so that a debate could ensue. I want to know people are on my blog and felt compelled to leave their footprint on it.
I am kind of left in two minds here – should I leave comments on other blogs or not? I am not a am mass commentator on other blogs. I actually believe that this is one of the reasons why I get few comments on my own blog. I will maybe leave 5-10 comments per week at the very most. I get (on average 2).
The comments I leave are not left to leave a footprint. I do try and make them worthwhile and of value. But I do know that like everything else I have good days and bad days with quality.
Now I am tending to wonder whether my lack of comments is because my content is not great. But then again I get plenty of people who read it telling me, offline, how they love my blog. This must be because of the niche I am in.
I have said a few times that I blog because I love doing it. I am not making money from it, I don’t think my niche lends itself to that very well, but that is not my aim in blogging.
Maybe I can try harder.
Simon,
Try harder, but this time be smarter. Watch the blogs you comment on and try to make each one really outstanding. Not that it will immediately increase the number of comments you will get, not exactly. But it will get you in the network or association of those you really should be hanging out with. It is better to be in the company of those who are passionate about what they are doing just as you and are willing to spend the time and effort to get there slowly but steadily than to be with those who want to circumvent the rule by playing cheap.
Ask yourself, what you really want out of all these? Do you want to be the Simon who is trying to get attention or the Simon who commands attention? Outstanding comments stand out and once you have outstanding blog posts too to go with it, it will soon become clear who the true winner is; those in the company of mediocres or those who hang out with winners.
Choose wisely, not all that glitters is gold. True Gold is purified by fire…..
Just remember: haters gonna hate. Sucky commenters are definitely not indicative of a sucky blog. Maybe you wrote about a touchy subject, or it was a slow news day. If you’re getting trolled, you’re still getting traffic and exposure.
Okay, I had to do a double take to see who wrote this post before I left and decided to never comment here again.
There are probably as many reasons to leave a comment as there are commenters. Each person has their own way of communicating with the blogger. Some are spam, some may be what one considers bad form…so what. The blogger has the choice of stopping spam and of keeping or deleting the comments. He ultimately decides what community he his building and how he is going to build it.
I can’t tell you how many times I stop by sites that I love to read and really do not have much value to add. So RT and maybe a simple note of appreciation is in order.
Tito, don’t worry I will not be commenting on your site. My comments often “suck.”
Sheila, that’s nice of you to say… I guess you are among the rare few who can boldly say that. However, what I appreciate is the contribution you made;
“The blogger has the choice of stopping spam and of keeping or deleting the comments. He ultimately decides what community he his building and how he is going to build it.”
This I think is the crux of the matter. I don’t delete lame comments, never done that nor do I think I will. That is not my concern, my concern is that what they hoped to achieve with their lame comments, which is maybe to get one in return from me won’t be achieved. Because I wasn’t impressed enough to want to go into a blogging relationship with them. Their comment can stay and they are free to keep coming, but I won’t be reciprocating. Meaning, you will be seen just as you wanted, but I won’t be seen anywhere around you just as you had hoped for.
Again, it is not me who loses, it is you who keeps shortchanging yourself by delivering poor value. Maybe it is just me who is taking this far, but aren’t comments more like products? How well do you convince prospects, by delivering your worst service or products or by giving your very best?
You decide, the decision determines the kind of customers your business will attract and keep. That’s not for me to help you to decide, that job is yours after all, you are the one who needs the bloggers attention.
Hi Tito – I’m a relatively new comer to the blogoshpere and I can definitely relate to what you’re sharing here.
Commenting has been a tremendous boost to my efforts. I’ve left a ‘thank you’ in simpler terms after reading an article that was so thorough; I didn’t have something of value to add. I genuinely wanted to author to know I appreciated their work.
Having said that, there is no point in commenting where you don’t add to the conversation and connect in a meaningful way. Bloggers can smell a douchebag a mile away and leaving a comment for anything less than a genuine thank you or adding something of value to the conversation is a waste of time.
In most cases, this activity is done out of ignorance. It’s a complete waste of time that will only hurt, rather than help your blogging efforts.
This post will make bloggers who are seeking to improve better. Now that’s a worthwhile reason to blog. I’m happy to have found this resource to learn from and when I see folks like @Jk Allen spending time leaving comments on a blog, they immediately go on my regular reading list.
Cheers to your work and this post Tito!
Thank you Mark for these words,
“This post will make bloggers who are seeking to improve better. Now that’s a worthwhile reason to blog.”
I really do not understand why some bloggers would rather choose to settle for mediocrity when there are no limitations to how far we can grow. I wrote this post with the intent of inspiring co-bloggers to do much more than what’s convenient. I didn’t think there would be anything wrong with advocating that we bloggers raise the bar when it comes to trading comments. The whole blogosphere would be better off where we have people really involved in having thought enriching conversations than just being mechanic in their conversations.
I am still waiting to be corrected, are we here on the blogoshpere to celebrate MEDIOCRITY or we are here to promote QUALITY?
Writing a stellar comment, in the end, is what we must all strive to do. Be it a thank you comment, make it a stellar one in some way. If it is a contrary view, make out something from it. Whatever stand you take, be sure to make your comment really, really memorable in some way.
This is what I had hoped this post would inspire.
There’s another invidious trend going on where bloggers use a “killer headline” to attract attention to a post with a controversy they make up just on the spot.
While this post is full of great suggestions for someone that wants to use comments to build further discussion and build relationships, the statement that “comment suck” would lead me to think I was going to be reading a “do and don’t” piece or a rant from hermit.
When I see a fresh comment that says “me too” or “great post” from someone I know is not a bot, I would want to point them to the bit about innovation here but won’t.. I’d prefer to not tell my readers “you suck”
Full Discloser: I use the same tricks often in writing headlines, knowing that most of the discussion I get today is on Twitter and Facebook and valuing the relationship with my readers, no matter where they engage me.
Since the headline is my doing rather than Tito’s, I’ll field this one.
I don’t think this post is a controversy that Tito made up “just on the spot.” This is clearly something he’s been thinking about and stewing over for a while. And judging by some of the commenters who side with Tito, it’s been brewing with other people, too.
You said that the “comments suck” part would lead you to think that you were going to read a “do or don’t” piece. Uh… Isn’t that what this post is? I seem to recall lot’s of don’ts along with several helpful dos. If you were looking for a personality-less, boring list along the lines of “how to comment better,” then I’m sorry to have disappointed you :D
Do I try to make my headlines as “pull-you-in” as possible? You’re darn right I do. Putting the right title on this post was essential. That’s my job as the guy behind this blog. Tito’s original post didn’t accurately convey the feelings and reaction that the post stirred up in me. I knew the title had to do the same thing with the headline.
Is this particular title misleading? No, I don’t think so. Because Tito very clearly says in several places things along the lines of “These comments suck” and “I don’t want them on my blog.” And because what he talks about is so 2) different to what other bloggers are saying and 2) wordy (you should have seen it before I edited it!), I figured it was appropriate to call it a manifesto. Oh, and because a manifesto is a “public declaration of principles or intentions” and that’s exactly what this is.
Thanks for taking the time to leave such a great comment, Warren. I really do appreciate it! I’m off to trade comments with you on your blog now :D
Good points.
I was thinking of my comment more as satire than a position.. rereading, I don’t think it came out like that… Let’s settle on calling it sarcasm.
I love getting comments. Truth be told, I hate having to delete some spam.. I enjoy seeing how much effort some put into it. :)
As long as a human is engaging in conversation, I’m their fan. Much easier to converse with someone that can write more than three words.. but after a few thousand replies to RT’s on Twitter, I’ve become pretty creative.
:)
Ok. First of all @stella beat me to the “Great Post, Tito!” joke. But, I was going to note it’s a three word comment so maybe it would make rank?
Secondly, BRAVO Tristan for posting this on your blog. When I starting diving into the core of Tito’s content, I was thinking, “wow, a lot of this is so contrary to many of Tristan’s advice and actions.” Clarifying your view points in the comments was a brilliant move, and I think allowing Tito to share his opinion on this matter on Blogging Bookshelf has added insane value to the blog as a whole. Maybe it’s the lawyer in me, but I love the symbiotic existence of differing opinion.
Lastly, hat’s off to Tito. I love your boldness and well-thought out argument. I agree with a lot that you’ve said, however I don’t think it hurts to tell someone you think they did a good job with an article if that sentiment is sincere. People need to be encouraged, even it if that is all you have to offer. I read many great posts by bloggers that don’t conjure up anything particularly useful for me to add, but I still think they did a great job, and I still believe they deserve to know that.
As for comment trading – I don’t think it’s always intentional. There are a number of blogs that I comment on regularly and “show up, make attendance” because they write great content AND I SUPPORT them. Maybe the didn’t blow my mind, but they stepped up to bat, which is a helluva lot more than I can say for many bloggers – and I think that should be praised. Call it kumbya commenting or cyberspace littering…I think it has it’s place.
I do agree that you have to be choosy about where you comment, but I think most people actively participating in the blogosphere are pretty smart people. Comment sycophants and floozies are easy to spot– and frankly, they get ignored. I’ve see it happening.
Above all, you did a great job of practicing what you preach here. This post is an epic example of what really KICK-A** content will do. It will compel people to leave a comment, and perhaps that is what we should strive for most. Nevertheless, I’m human. I’m not always on my A-game, and sometimes my content may be mediocre, but I get up to bat every time it’s my turn and I believe that will serve me well in the long run.
Thank you again for such wonderful work here Tito.
Looking forward to commenting on your stuff more in the future! ;)
P.S. It would have been funny and ironic if this post received very few comments…but it won’t. It’s too good! :)
Marlee,
To those who write what leaves an impact on us definitely worth the encouragement. From what I have read so far from the comments, I think a lot are misunderstanding me. Encouragement is not wrong or not welcomed, they are definitely a valid form of feedback and they are significant. However, going beyond the encouragement, to let the community know what the specific impact the post had on you would be great and that’s a lot more.
But again, that is left to the reader, whether they truly really read something impact full. What I just don’t like is when commenting becomes a routine rather than the contribution it is supposed to create. At the least, we should just give as much as we would like to get.
JK Allen, mentioned something in his comment, that about 90% of comments on his blog are quite useful. I am not too surprised, because one can only reap what they have sown. In the end, it all boils down to individual preferences and choices, in most cases, we just end up attracting the kind of person we naturally are.
Thanks for the encouraging words Marlee, it made a difference.
Wow, well I am not gonna add anything awesome with this comment, and I am sorry for that. I just got suddenly very unsure of having brought anything truly good to Tristan’s blog with my comments at all haha :p
I mean, not like I am not sure of my thoughts or beliefs, just that maybe sometimes I am commenting for the sake of “participating” rather than to provide some useful insight.
I do that as much as I can, but I admit I commented in the past even just to say how much I agreed with some points of a blog post.
There was an assumption made right from the start that is wrong. We aren’t all in it for “content marketing”. My personal blog is just that. Personal. It’s to keep my family who lives 200 miles away in touch with my kids. It just happened to get a following.
That being said. There is no such thing as a bad comment (unless you count spam that way). I don’t filter out my comments based on what I think of them. I even publish the ones that completely disagree with me!
The assumption, is the majority. Most bloggers are in it for content marketing and it was on this premise that this post was written.
Comments disagreeing with the post, are certainly welcomed. That is not the point I was making, by all means, contrary opinions are much valuable than them one or two liners we see these days.
I’ve long felt like I must be alone in fighting this battle – I trash a lot of comments because they, as you so rightly put it, are just a footprint to let you know that they were on your site (and insinuating that returning the favour is subtly requested). I’ve seen a good amount of backlash against this kind of behaviour recently and it’s a pleasure to see because I’m tired of getting the 10-words-or-less comments thanking me, or congratulating me.
In the same way that a one-sided friendship isn’t very sustainable, the same is true in the blogging world. Just because someone shouts at me saying “hey, look at me!”, I’m not very inclined to do that. Relationships are (for the most part) built on intelligent and interesting conversation.
On a completely separate note, how did you get that checkbox into your comment form for signing up to your newsletter, and what newsletter service does it integrate with?
Cheers!
Thank you so much for this comment Dave. I like the way you pointed out that it is much like a one-sided relationship. That is what really pisses me off. Like trying to bend my arm to do them a favour. if you want my attention or friendship or readership, then give me a great reason to. And not just try to scam me with your lousy cheap comments. You want to trade, trade with quality goods simple.
I will not settle for less for whatever reason, even though the whole world does. I get to live only once, and by all means, I want to make this journey a memorable one!
Don’t hold back Tito – say what you really think! ;-)
Seriously, I know where you’re coming from with this. On the other hand, I’m mindful of the fact that some people are new to blog commenting, don’t know the etiquette very well and this is their equivalent of saying ‘hi’. So I do try to work out whether the commenter is a comment trader/spammer or just a newbie, as I don’t want to discourage the latter.
But if people really want to get attention from bloggers, they could do a lot better by following your example and leaving genuinely thoughtful contributions to the debate. Much better to do that on one blog a week than just say ‘hi’ in six different places a day.
Thank you Mark for taking out the time to drop by here. I really appreciate the support. I am aware of the fact that some bloggers are new too. And they might just be getting into the game, my main concern are the ones who what to get up there by being cheap. In your words, they can visit so many blogs in a twinkle of an eye and litter everywhere.
While some may find this rewarding, I just think in the end, it’s about choosing the company you want to keep as a blogger. For me, I want to be found in the company of GREAT minds and not MEDIOCRES.
Hi Tito,
This is a refreshingly honest post about blog commenting. I don’t necessarily agree with all of your points, but it is great to see someone TAKING A STAND FOR ONCE!
Sorry, I get a little hyper when I read posts on Tristan’s blog for some reason.
Anyway, I have not really noticed any obvious comment trading. I have seen people trying to develop relationships with others, but that is a good thing. But, I kind of see what you are saying – there are quite a few blogs out there that just regurgitate the same old information. There is no reason to read them.
More often than not, I pass on leaving comments. And that goes for posts that I like too. Sometimes I am inspired to add something and sometimes I am not. Generally, though, a good, well thought out post about a subject that is not about boring (I read a post about woodworking earlier today) and includes some kind of new insight, will make me want to comment.
Truth be told, what you once thought blogging was is currently what I believe it to be. To be less clear, I believe that what it is now is not what it once was thought to be and what it will be is surely what it could have been. I don’t know why that just came out, but I am not erasing it.
Anyway, loved the fearless way you presented this.
Have a great day!
Thanks Mark!
The way blogging was back then was majorly about connecting and learning, people then really were sincerely concerned about these two metrics. But now, because of the need to make a profit through traffic, people’s motives have kind of become questionable as their many who just want to bend the process and turn in the money as soon as they possibly can. Following get rich quick techniques like dropping quick one or two liners as comments just in order to get other people’s attention now became more rampant.
Sometimes, I just read comments and can almost tell that the soul or mind of the writer was not there at all. And then I wonder, did they do that just in the hope that I will stop by their blog and repay the favour? Certainly not why I do what I do, I am in this, both to learn, connect and earn, but I will wholeheartedly make a difference while pursuing all of these three.
Thank you for your input.
Hey Tito and Tristan, I better make this an AWESOME comment for this type of blog post, hahah. :)
First of all, thanks so much for the mention. Tito’s comments on my blog are always jam packed with value and insight, so I never get tired of reading them.
I most definitely noticed the whole “trading comments” trend since I started Elise’s Review and when I actually started this whole commenting thing. You can tell when someone is in a hurry and just wants the link back or to get recognized by the blogger for commenting, which usually just annoys them in the process because it’s garbage. It usually involves an “I totally agree with you” answer and a “thanks so much for writing about this” way of ending it.
One of the best pieces of advice I took from this article is to mention what the blogger missed on talking about. Or better yet, provide constructive criticism or even an argument. Maybe a lot of bloggers wouldn’t appreciate comments like that, but I accept them with open arms!
Oh, and I do agree with Tristan’s comment on this–I don’t think comments always have to be genius really, but I think they should add some sort of value, even if it’s just a sentence or two about what you think or what you experienced.
I’m definitely tired of the “I agree + OMG thx 4 sharing!” crap. How pointless it is. if someone agrees with a blog post I wrote, I appreciate when someone tells me why they agree and back it up with facts and opinions.
The comments I get these days are pretty awesome. I love the ones that try to challenge my opinion.
I definitely care how good my comments are, which is partly why I failed that 140 blog comment challenge in 3 days with Brankica and Steve. I wanted to leave good comments and it took me a lot longer than I thought to provide good feedback. Oh well. It was a good learning experience.
Anyway, again–thanks for the mention! And speaking of blog commenting, I’ve fallen way behind on it. Like, WAY behind. Blargh. It will be something for me to work on this spring hopefully once I’m out of exams.
GREAT post! (And I’m not just saying that for the sake of comment trading. :P)
Elise thank you for coming out here to share your views about this controversial issue with us. Dropping a genius comment means dropping a valuable comment. The length [quantity] of the comment is not the key focus here, but the depth [quality] of it. You can have a two sentence comment that is rich in meaning than a 10 lines comment that beats around the bush. What dropping a genius comment suggests, is to really think about what you have to add than just spontaneously crapping out a poor one. The point is just to help people realize how important it is to really start taking our comments as serious as we take our posts and therefore put in the necessary creative and energy into it. As our contents include blog posts and comments.
I appreciate your feeedback. Thanks once again!
Tito, aloha. Provocative post, to say the least. In the spirit of adding something the blogger may have missed, let me give you my perspective.
Because you have been blogging and commenting for a long time, you may not remember your comments from the beginning or maybe you were always a great commenter.
I am new to the world of blogging and commenting so didn’t even know what I didn’t know. When I first started leaving comments, I did leave “Great post” type comments because I did not know that was “wrong” or “disrespectful” to the blog and its readers.
As time went on and I read more blogs, comments and books, I learned how to comment more effectively. Interestingly enough, as I carefully read the blogs to make certain that my comments were worth posting, I became a better writer both for my blog and for my comments.
Along the way, I have met many wonderful people like Tristan, Dino and Brankica who have been patient with and helpful to a newbie–even though my comments were less than stellar. They no doubt recognized that I still had on my training wheels and meant no harm.
Next time you see a comment that is not as well crafted as you like on your blog, remember it may be by someone new to the world of blogging and commenting who wants to show their appreciation for your work yet does not the “rules” of commenting.
Thx for stirring the pot. It will be most interesting to read the other comments. Aloha. Janet
There always room for newbies and you can tell when you see their blogs. But, that is not the case here. For every newbie blogger, you certainly started blogging because you had a conviction to share and learn about certain things, what your comment will do, is just show us how well you are learning or how much you have learnt. Being a new blogger is no excuse for making meaningful contributions to issues discussed on blogs you visit, unless those issues are out of your area of interests. But if they are, by all means, you should have more than just a thank you to share with the community members too.
Commenting is how we all tap into one another’s knowledge base as bloggers. I want to learn from your wealth of experience and knowledge as well as you hope to learn from mine. The goal therefore, is to strive to increase your knowledge and experience in the given field you have chosen to operate from. Your contents, comments or blog posts are you products that you offer us. We want them to always be the best, whether you are new or not. Give us your best, before you started take the time to think about the value you want to add to the blogosphere. No business is exonerated for poor quality just because they just opened up!
Likewise, no blogger should give excuse for being new as the reason for not creating meaningful contents.
Hey, it’s still better than spam! I don’t know how much spam you get every day, but i can guess it’s more than these “lame” comments you get from us :)
I always try to leave relevant comments if i find the article interesting, i wouldn’t really say they suck.
And from what i see above, you have good readers, better than most, leaving interesting comments.
Ah man Tito, I knew you were an excellent commentor, but now I’ve discovered that there’s an extra side to you, which I must admit, I like a lot.
This idea of ‘comment trading’, I didn’t realise this, but I was doing this for quite a while. I’d comment on other people’s sites purely to get them to comment on mine. I’d even think, “I wonder what x will say on my blog now?”. Every time, even for big sites such as CopyBlogger and LifeOptimizer.
I guess you have to be happy to comment, to share something useful, innovative and enlightening. If the author doesn’t think that your comment is that great, then that’s their problem, but if YOU believe that you have written a comment that’s worthy of reading, then that’s all you can do.
If there was ever a post that would get meaningful comments worth reading, it would be about meaningful comments worth reading. Good job Tito :-)
Thank You Stuart,
The most important is putting your mind into it and that is what every blogger expects from one another. The presence of mind after reading every post and really stretching yourself to make a meaningful contribution to the on going discussion. Like you said, if you have done your best, most times, the blogger on whose post you left a comment would recognize your effort and thus seek you out to foster further friendship and that my friend, is what blogging is about. Let your best work spread and bring you the kind of network, business or reputation you so desire.
Thank you for writing this post. I found it when searching for other people who might feel imprisoned by the “trading comments game”.
I enjoy blogging as a way to chronicle my progress in training my Thoroughbred horses. I have insightful blogging “friends” who leave comments on my blog and I, in turn, visit their blogs and comment. Unfortunately, recently I feel that I have to visit and comment and it is driving me crazy. I like to read all the blogs, but commenting has become so arduous with Blogger eating comments and everyone has word identification turned on (I do not). I have seriously considered quitting blogging because of the supposed necessity to trade comments.
Your post has made me feel slightly liberated. I am tired of feeling like I need to “sign in” each day. It is more than “your comments suck” – it is just a world full of excess words.
Thanks for making me feel like I am not the only one observing this.
Hi Juliette,
I am so relieved to know that you are relieved too. I can totally relate with this feeling of routine that comment trading eventually creates. If you ask me, I would say it is sipping out the passion out of blogging. Personally, I just had to make one hard decision about it and decided that no longer will I be compelled to repay every blog comment on my site, unless it made so much difference to the overall content of the site.
I began to notice this trend, when despite how much content was created, only a handful of people showed up to comment. The rest seemed to wait till I first came to them and dropped a comment and then they would follow suit, more like a game. So when I began to notice this, I then told myself, I will choose the blogs to comment on, those who sincerely value the kind of content I was passionate about creating. I literally began sifting through blogs and only hung out on quality ones.
That way, the pressure reduced, and ever since I have been concentration on creating more valueable contents on my blog as well as those of the few ones I have picked out to associate with.
You don’t have to quit blogging, you only just have to be picky. Comment trading should not be a routine we must compulsorily follow. Comment, only when you feel led and have something SIGNIFICANT to contribute. That way, the pressure will be turned into passion and your comments can truly stand out instead of being spat on. In essence, let your your passion be your guide and not your peers. Follow your heart!
Tito,
First off, right from the first two comments I think you and Tristan showed what commenting should be. You both had large, meaty and thoughtful posts. Me likely.
Now I think this is a daring topic. I come down on it pretty close to Tristan. I do believe in comment, “trading” to a point. Sometimes I do feel obligated to go and visit someones site when they come and comment. Fortunately most people that comment seem to have quality sites, so it is not too much of a chore, but more than once i found myself straining to say something semi positive about an article i wasn’t crazy about for one reason or another.
I do see your point there. Sometimes i simply choose not to comment on those. I have too much stuff going on now to spend too much time worrying about that. Fortunately, like I said I do like what the the majority of people write so it is not a huge issue.
As for the comments themselves… some are great. Most are good, and of course there are some that are obviously there for a link and a comment. I do try to answer them all, and usually check out their site. But to a point… again I agree. Certainly, “great post” and then bailing is worthless. Hopefully they at least “try” to make a connection or bring something like their opinion or viewpoint to the table.
I guess in a nutshell I agree with some of the frustration, but I think that many people that I have experienced may be looking for a “trade” but they bring something solid to the table and are blogs i would like to visit anyway, so it is not always a “bad” thing.
Hi Steve,
It’s good hearing from peeps like you who seem to have painfully climbed up to the place of having quality comment traders as members of their community. This is what every blogger looks up to, an engaging community of readers who really are in interesting in what you have got to offer than in just trying to attract your attention.
When you truly find yourself around a community of those who relish and add to your work, then the whole point of trading comments becomes worthwhile. But being in the midst of those who want to climb on your shoulder to get up there without reciprocating with some valuable, then i’m sure no blogger will want to stay in the company of such people for long.
Honestly I thought I was reading a work of Simon Cowell ;) , I really don’t consider myself a comment trader. I don’t comment on blogs that I don’t have anything to say. but if I agree to what’s in the post then I will comment. for me a comment is a way of telling the writer that you read the article and you agree with his/her opinion or not. To leave a comment so rich in quality is an art itself and I’m glad to have read this. At least I know what other people expect.
Hi Tito, I get your point. Its always bad to see commentators who do comment on our blog, just for the sake of link building or showing the presence. But what can we do about them. You have written an article here which rightly indicates what we do when we want to leave footprints on someone’s blog. But how many people are going to read this entire article and follow this principle.
Its hard to say this, but we need to accept the fact, that we can’t change those kinda people who do comment just for the sake of showing their presence. Even though it sucks, they don’t give a ***t about it. So when the next time we see such comments, the best possible one we can do is trash them or spam them.
Sathish
After having read what you wrote here, I’m quite lost on the first words I’m about to write here as I don’t want them to sound ‘lame’ and I don’t really blame you here. I wonder what Chris Brogan will have to say about your post here. As for me, I’m not really a fan of writing long replies as I might as well just send you a request to guest blog on your site if I do. Brevity works for me in posting comments and yes, it’s the art of putting shock + value that works for me best. Besides, you can’t really please everybody on the social web and there’s always a delete option for those “Thank you, nice post’ comments.
Shaleeen,
I wouldn’t totally consider leaving your best comments as a way of pleasing everybody. It’s just a way of adding value. Do we strive to be our best and do our best, because it’s others we are trying to please? Definitely not, so stretching ourselves to leave great comments is not really about pleasing anyone, it’s more about practicing what you preach or doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. It’s just an art of sowing and reaping.
Ofcourse, that’s the way I see it.
Bravo!
I love this. There were lots of moments reading this article that I literally laughed out loud. I have this problem a lot, too. Not with commenters, but with leaving my own comments. Sometimes I genuinely want to join the discussion, but I have a.) nothing new to add, b.) a great/funny/interesting story to relate, or c.) anything clever that comes to mind just now.
But sometimes it’s SUCH a great article that I can’t help but at least comment on my feelings toward it, how it made me think, and how I plan to apply what the article discussed in my own life. Sometimes, for me, that’s enough. However, according to this article, my comments STILL suck!
Back to the drawing board. =)
Delena
No Delena, according to this article, your comment, the way you put it;
“But sometimes it’s SUCH a great article that I can’t help but at least comment on my feelings toward it, how it made me think, and how I plan to apply what the article discussed in my own life.”
Is a classic case of awesome commenting, you went beyond just saying thanks. You went into details and gave the others an opportunity to see the principle the author wrote about in action. You used your own life as a blueprint for others to see how to make us of the knowledge gained just beyond the suggestions of the author. And this is what comments do for the community. It help to make the knowledge base of the community bigger and fosters more growth and development for bloggers.
Thank you for this break down of how to give a sincere feedback about a post that made an impact.
Great post
:-p
Great post but sound I may be a “lame” by dropping short comment here!. Ride on bro, Proudly Nigeria!
Hi Tito,
You make some pretty interesting points here, and, while I agree with many of them (leave valuable comments, for example), I disagree with several others as well. But I think that’s what makes a valuable blog post – one that evokes emotion and inspires others to comment.
You write, “Everyone is doing this comment trading thing, so you think you should also follow suit. You have read it over and over again that it is one of the best strategies for attracting traffic to your blog.”
Well, no – I wouldn’t say that it’s the best strategy for attracting traffic. In fact, I’ve always heard otherwise from bloggers until visiting Blogging Bookshelf. Most A-list bloggers actually advise guest posting instead because you have a much higher impact and chance of acquiring new RSS subscribers.
Commenting is just the first step to networking and getting your presence out there. By leaving a genuine comment, you’re letting the blogger know that you appreciate his/her stuff. Your comment doesn’t have to be rocket science – quite the contrary. In most cases, other bloggers will appreciate comments expressing gratitude, asking questions, agreeing with certain points that you made in the blog post, offering encouragement, and so on.
You said, “People simply visit a blog not to learn but to trade comments because they desperately want to receive comments in return.”
This is simply not true the majority of the time, and, when it is, these comments are marked as SPAM and not displayed on the blog to begin with. If the person doesn’t even read the post, isn’t interested in learning anything new, and simply submits a comment, the comment appears generally and sometimes doesn’t even relate to the post at all – which is why these comments so often find themselves filtered away in the SPAM folder.
Besides, why waste time and submit comments if you’re not even going to read the blog? How does this benefit you? Often times, you get so little incoming traffic coming from each comment, that it’s hardly worth the effort of just commenting and not getting anything from the conversation (blog post and other comments).
Tristan, himself, wrote a post on how it takes 100 comments on other blogs to acquire over 100 comments on your own. Comments take time to write (unless you’re just spamming the same text over and over, which usually doesn’t get passed the SPAM folder anyway). In order to write 100 comments, you’ll need to invest a lot of time – time that’s utterly wasted if you’re not learning anything from the experience or blog posts you claimed to have read.
I don’t know about you, but I personally read blogs to get something from them, learn something new, and apply what I’ve learned to my own business and lifestyle. I generally leave a comment after most of the posts I read – I always have something to say, a point to make, or an idea to share after a good reading. Sure, the incoming traffic is all well and good, but that isn’t the primary reason as to why I comment. If that was the case, I would just spend my time writing guest posts and receive a much greater return for my efforts than just submitting comments throughout the day.
Most of the time I comment just to be part of the community, share my thoughts, and listen to the thoughts of others. If I learn something incredibly useful, I’ll tell the blogger thank you. If I read something seriously exciting and discover a new idea, I’ll let the blogger know. You don’t always have to write blog posts within your comments for the comment to be appreciated and valuable. And there’s nothing wrong with simply saying thank you.
I do agree that your comment must be one of quality, and I agree that those who do leave comments should take them seriously and have something valuable to say. But define value. What valuable is to you may not be valuable to someone else. At the end of a hard, depressing day, you might find an uplifting comment thanking you for something that you did incredibly valuable. In fact, that one comment could brighten your day considerable and make the next few hours before bed more bearable.
Sometimes the blogger may just want to know that his/her advice is helping someone else or making a difference in another’s life. Sometimes they may just want to know that their blog is being read and that they’re not just talking to a brick wall. After all, if you were having a conversation with your friends and they would ONLY speak or reply to something you said if their words brought something new to the table or they had additional tips that you didn’t already mention, would you enjoy your time with them? If that were the case, chances are, they would remain mute half the time; would you enjoy such a one-side conversation?
I wouldn’t. Instead, I would probably wonder about their hearing.
Christina
Very well put Christiana and seriously, I wonder where all these came out from? Somehow it boils down to the point I was trying to make in this post; share something really insightful. Tell me your point of view about what I wrote, and that is exactly what you have just done. Whatever made you do that certainly will make me set you apart from all the rest because your comment caught my attention.
Thank you’s, encouragements are all good. But just like fast foods, we shouldn’t be having them all of the time. They eventually become a bore, at least coming from the same set of people. When I get exceptional contributions like this, they are like Christmas gifts and I am like ‘wow’ I have got to check out this person.
What I did with this post, was to make bloggers see how they can use comments to better set themselves apart in a community rather than just showing up and doing the usual stuff. People might not be able to give their best comments every time, but they shouldn’t be giving their average comments all of the time either.
As you said, I read to learn and that includes the contents in the comments too. So if all I keep getting every time is just thanks, think about it, do honestly think I will look forward to such comments every time I write a post? But On the other hand, when I get deeper feed backs like this, do you think I would not be eager to have more?
This post isn’t about me, it’s about the bloggers who drop the lame comments. After all comments with just two words add to the numbers of comments on my blog. But what does the blogger who drop such comment get? That is the point of this post, to alert such bloggers that those strategies aren’t as effective in getting the kind of attention they probably desire unless they are prepared to drop high quality comments.
What the comments does to me is one side of the equation, what it does for the commenter is what I tried to capture in this post. How it projects that person in the mind of the author is what I am concerned about. If your goal is to trade comments with another blogger, then you should trade with better comments if you really want to preserve the relationship you have initiated. This is the central message I was trying to pass. If somehow, through my writing I have not been able to communicate that, then I guess this will set the record straight.
With better comments, we build better blogging relationships and foster collective learning.
I hope this sums it up better?
Hey Tito,
Thanks for the detailed reply!
I can definitely see where you’re going, and I absolutely agree that getting thank yous from a commenter every time you post something is less than ideal. As I mentioned in the previous comment, that’s the type of thing spammers would do and most of those messages are simply marked as SPAM anyway.
I was basically referring to the occasional thank you – I believe those are fine every now and then. I don’t mean comments that simply state, “thank you” and that’s it, but rather the comments that describe how your info has helped the person on the other end, with the overall message of thank you.
The original message that I got from your post was that your comments must kick ass 100% of the way, and if it doesn’t, you should skip commenting entirely. With that reasoning, readers who actively contribute to the conversation of a certain blog might be too stressed out to comment (because most of their focus will be on whether or not their comment is ultra high quality or not), increasing the weight on their shoulders and eventually scaring them off from the comment section altogether.
You see, I want my readers to know that I value their thoughts and opinions. I want them to come out more and express themselves – to know that, whether they disagree with me or not, it’s OK. There are so many lurkers who are just too afraid to express their thoughts because they fear criticism and what others might think of them once they’ve done so.
So I welcome comments – all comments, as long as they are genuine (not of the spammy variety). I won’t frown on someone just because they may not have anything new to bring the table. Just by taking the time to write down their thoughts and get their voice out is enough for me, because it shows that they are truly trying to contribute and give back to the community.
Now, I’m not saying everyone should feel the same way – I welcome all opposing opinions. And thanks for taking the time to clear things up, Tito! I really appreciate it. :)
Christina
I think of comments as a discussion. I am in several book groups and I think of blog commenting as similar — the blog post is the book, the comments are the discussion about the book. No one is going to have brilliant commentary every time, but the general expectation is that you speak when you have something new and original to contribute. A discussion is a step beyond a conversation, and everyone who adds something should move it forward. I too get frustrated by reading through lots of “great post!”-type comments.
Hi Cindy,
You were able to craft out in some way the real message behind this post which is;
“No one is going to have brilliant commentary every time, but the general expectation is that you speak when you have something new and original to contribute.”
The general expectation is what this post was written to help others achieve. That we try in most cases to say what is original and useful to the on going discussion. I didn’t think that was too much to ask of fellow content creators?
Thanks for having your say.
While I agree with the basic gist of this post, you have come across as a bit condescending. Let’s say someone comments on a lesson-teaching blog: “Hi. This was a great post. I enjoyed reading it. Thank you for sharing your insight.” It’s not adding anything of value to the post. It’s not complementing the post with additional helpful information. It is, however, acknowledging and showing appreciation for that the time and effort the author took to help people by sharing his or her knowledge. And that’s a good thing. Everybody wants, deserves, and needs a little pat on the back, a little encouragement every once in a while. It’s not always easy to find, so we should all be grateful when it comes our way.
I do agree that comments should have value and not be solely for want of something in return. I see value in some “lame” comments, though.
Diane,
Your last sentence captures the essence of this post,
“I do agree that comments should have value and not be solely for want of something in return. I see value in some “lame” comments, though.”
You have chosen what value is to you and that is ok with some “lame” comments. No one can tell you what to regard as value or not. We all have our individual preferences.
In the same spirit, I find value in unique and useful comments, because they make me become a better person. I wrote this post to identify with those who probably share the same values as I do. It will make trading comments with them so much rewarding.
I didn’t in anyway want to be perceived as condescending, if there were some points I sounded that way, I stand to be corrected. After all, comments are for pointing out what the author missed out in the post. Kindly point me in the right direction :)
Thanks for having your say!
Goodness, I was very troubled by this post and I wasn’t overly sure why until Diane said it for me; it comes across as condescending and, I must add, elitist. Whereas I agree that there are times when some comments that one receives on their blog aren’t really worth responding to, I know that I would never tell anyone that I don’t want their comments on my blog.
I tend to write long posts, and the last thing I expect is for every person who responds to write a comment as long as that; as Shaleen said, if things got to that point on a consistent basis I might as well ask someone to write a guest rebuttal or supporting post instead.
I’m of the opinion that not everyone who’s going to leave a comment on my blog is going to write like Tom Clancy or Ayn Rand, and I think I appreciate that greatly. Sure, offer something of substance, and at least address the topic I was writing about. Sometimes the best that can be offered up is someone agreeing or disagreeing and saying why, then moving on. But to denigrate the people who have taken time out of their day to stop by my blog for a visit, maybe a quick read, and then decide they were inspired enough to say something… I’d never slap anyone in the face like that by writing a post like this one. You did say some good things, but in the end I think you hit the 30% correct limit that Louis Farrakhan sometimes hits when he’s making a speech somewhere, and, as you know, most people still aren’t all that happy when he’s done unless they’re his normal audience.
Mitch,
If a post about how to be a better commenter is condescending and elitist, then I really wonder which post isn’t since we all write about how our readers can improve in some way or the other in the different areas we choose. After all, we all write about the things that we’ve tried and that has worked for us at some point. If that is the case, then we all are condescending and elitist. To suggest ways of how bloggers can better do what they really need to be doing is what this post is about.
If there is one thing this post will do, it will help us question our motives for blogging. Do we really want to help by sharing what we have learnt and experienced or we just want to trade?
If content is what we produce online as bloggers, I do not think our comments should be left out of the equation either. Content I want to believe is content irrespective of where they are placed. This is the central message underlying this post.
If condescending or elitist is how you see it, I stand to be corrected, help me see what is condescending and elitist about it.
Thanks for having your say.
First, I need to mention to Tristan that I didn’t get notification of your response to me, nor any of the other responses, so you might want to look into that.
Second, to respond to your question, it reminds me of when Frank Robinson became the first black manager in baseball. Frank Robinson was a great baseball player, the first person to be the MVP in each league, achieved the Triple Crown, hit more than 500 home runs when it meant something, and was a first ballot Hall of Famer. But in his first stint as a manager, he failed miserably. His teams couldn’t win, and he was fired early into his third year.
What was his issue? He forgot that not everyone could be Frank Robinson. He went into his first managerial stint thinking he could push people to be just as good as he was, and it didn’t work. Sometimes, people are just as good as they can be in certain situations, and lambasting them because they’re not you, if you happen to be great at something, isn’t going to get you anywhere positive.
There’s the elitist part. You write great comments and thus expect everyone to do the same, but life just isn’t like that. And in writing it the way you did, it came across as condescending; “I’m better than you because I write great comments, and if you can’t do it then don’t write anything on my blog.” You can’t really be missing that, can you? I’m not totally quoting you on that but look at your headline; it’s pretty much the same thing.
Does that mean people get a free pass for one liners, or comments that have nothing to do with the post? Absolutely not. But always expecting other people to be as loquacious as you might be in commenting is going to leave your blog a very lonely place… and I know you don’t want that, right?
Thank You Mitch for the reply.
When I sent this post to Tristan, it had this headline;
“Trading Comments? How to be a better trader?”
Somehow, Tristan mentioned that it wasn’t ‘catchy’ enough and that is why he came up with the headline you have on this post. This was not the headline I wrote this post with, for some reason that headline is what is misrepresenting the intent I wrote this post with and I can’t change that now.
If I didn’t want to help and just wanted to brag as it is being made to sound, i wouldn’t just the tips that helps me write better comments. This post was about those tips fro those bloggers looking to comment better.
Now I don’t expect everyone to be me, all I am stating is that if you want to do this comment thing and get the most from your efforts, here is a better strategy. Or else, don’t bother doing it the way you are because it might not get the result you want.
“More like commenting, you are doing it wrong” and here’s how to be better. What I sense is that the getting better part of this post is being left and the don’t comment part is what is being seen only. And that again, is because of the headline Tristan deliberately gave the post. Somehow, if it had come with the original headline:
“Trading Comments? How to be a better trader?”
my intention to help would have been better communicated. In anyway, what is done is done, i didn’t mean to be elitist, I only meant to help. If that makes any difference, then I will be happy to hear from you.
We came to this business to share and to learn, picking up good qualities from one another. With this post, I just wanted to point out some good qualities of writing better comments. It is only those who desire to be better that will see that angle and from the comments so far, I think they are a handful of them. With that, i think the post fulfilled its purpose. We owe it to one another to raise the bar in what we do, while we cannot force it down on ourselves, we can take a stand on what we think is best.
Thank you for your reply once again.
Very true.
I started a blog several months ago. What amazes me is there are people who have to have, absolutly nothing to do, except search for blogs and leave comments totally unrelated to the blog. A number of them did not even make any sense.
I understand exactly where you are coming from
Ah, so the title wasn’t yours; see how it all starts! Maybe that’s why we hate the newspapers, because of salacious headlines that stir the pot. Anyway, I knew your intention was to try to help, and I’m glad you’ve stated that once more. And I appreciate how you’ve taken my criticism; it also was meant only to be constructive. I’ve been around a long time and I’ve noticed how language has changed, and, as you can see, I kind of consider myself the defender for those who might not be the “challenging” type. We’re on a good plane again; thanks for your responses.
First off, that’s odd that you didn’t get emailed the responses to you… Hmmm… Sometimes the plugin behind that (ReplyMe) goes on the fritz, but hopefully it’s working now.
And yes, the headline is my doing, not Tito’s. Yes, this headline was indeed intended to stir the pot, if by stir the pot you mean get people thinking about what they’re really doing with their blogging and commenting and maybe even make people feel a bit uncomfortable. Was the title deliberately provocative? Yes. Maliciously so? No.
I don’t think it’s salacious, and I don’t think it’s inaccurate.
Let me share with you what I said in response to Warren’s comment, which was somewhat along the same lines as yours:
“Do I try to make my headlines as “pull-you-in” as possible? You’re darn right I do. Putting the right title on this post was essential. That’s my job as the guy behind this blog. Tito’s original post didn’t accurately convey the feelings and reaction that the post stirred up in me. I knew the title had to do the same thing with the headline.
Is this particular title misleading? No, I don’t think so. Because Tito very clearly says in several places things along the lines of “These comments suck” and “I don’t want them on my blog.” And because what he talks about is so 1) different to what other bloggers are saying and 2) wordy (you should have seen it before I edited it!), I figured it was appropriate to call it a manifesto. Oh, and because a manifesto is a “public declaration of principles or intentions” and that’s exactly what this is.”
If you really do find it salacious, then I don’t know what to tell you. While some (most?) of us might not necessarily like hearing that our comments suck (and yours clearly do not fit into that category, either as I would define it or as Tito has defined it in this post), I don’t see the title as being lewd or obscene, which is the definition of salaciousness. Edgy? Maybe a little bit. Obscene? Hardly.
Tito’s original title about comment trading didn’t make sense to me, let alone appeal to me as an attractive headline.
Tito said in response to you, “This was not the headline I wrote this post with, for some reason that headline is what is misrepresenting the intent I wrote this post with and I can’t change that now.”
I’m going to have to go ahead and call BS on that one. Here’s something that I wrote to Tito in an email after I received his guest post and before I published it:
“I think that the title needs to be stronger. I haven’t thought about it much, but I’d probably change it to something like “Your Comments Suck, Stop Commenting on My Blog” or something along those lines.”
Again, that’s me talking. And then Tito replied:
“Thank you for the reply Tristan, honestly I do think great minds think alike. You know, the first title that came to my mind when the idea for this post came up was “why your comments suck!” and here you are also thinking in that line, very funny huh?
I am ok with all of the suggestions you made.”
And again, that is Tito’s response.
While I grant that there is a minor difference between the title as I suggested in that email and the one I ended up using in that post, they’re not THAT different, and I find it distasteful that Tito levied that blame solely on me, or that he was not aware of what I was doing. I’ll gladly take responsibility for it because otherwise I guarantee this post wouldn’t have generated as much great conversation as it did, but Tito isn’t innocent.
Thanks for all the great dialog, Mitch. It’s been really interesting! As I said in my first comment on this post, I don’t agree with everything Tito said and I’m not defending his position, but I feel like there is something to be learned from this post, whether you’re offended by it (or agree with it) or not.
First, I did get this notification, so it looks like it’s working again.
Second, salacious might be a bit unfair; controversial definitely would not be. And I’d have to agree that the title definitely matched up to the content in the article. I don’t think I’ve ever popped up headlines like that unless I was kind of angry, like the post showing underneath me right now. Titles have never been my strong suit; I went through close to 100 for my book before finally settling on the one I did, and even then some people didn’t like it; so be it.
Yes, it was a stimulating conversation, and that does show how a controversial post can get people’s juices flowing. I’d like to think everyone handled it well also; I think that’s the most impressive thing. However, why do I get the feeling that you’d have never written a post like this? lol
You get that feeling because you know me too well :) It’s true; I’d never write a post like this! But that is the allure of allowing people to guest post here. If I could write it, why would I want someone else to write it for me?
I think the most interesting part of this to me is that the comments on this post really are massive and value-packed! There aren’t any one-liners here, or the kind of “crappy” comments that Tito talks about.
Just wandered into this from a Google search and while it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, it’s struck a few chords. Or maybe church bells, those are suitably resounding.
Let me come clean first and say that no, I didn’t read it word for word. This is in part because I was, having grown disillusioned with the idea of comments in and of themselves, searching for pros and cons to including them on your blog. It’s also to do with being slightly pushed for time (I have a post to write on a new, skeletal blog for college) and having figured out from what I did read that I’d like to come back later and browse through your stuff more thoroughly.
Have a question to ask now, so I’m asking it before I forget!
When I started out I happily kept up with the comment trend. Then less happily when it took up all my time, but I carried on like a good sport. Then I stopped because I had better things to do, and only comment on a few blogs – even then only when I have something to say. This hasn’t hurt me.
What I’m wondering is whether a blog even requires them to be successful. In my main blog (the one commentluv links to) I’ll keep them, because that’s part of the community and goal. This new one I’ve started is there specifically to document the creation of an artificial intelligence prototype and back up the interactive documentary I need to hand in to complete my course. I’d like interaction, because then I have more to talk about in my evaluation, however I won’t have much time to respond/keep track and all the other activities associated with the comments themselves.
I’m uncertain whether it’ll work at the moment (hence my Googling!) but I wondered if using polls on key posts and making email contact or something similar easier would accomplish a similar effect. Any thoughts on the subject?
Thanks a lot! And as I said, I’ll be back to read more fully later =)
I disagree with almost everything you have written. Social media is about engagement, interaction and relationships. There is a lot of value in learning and I agree that we should strive to do so.
But blog posts aren’t set up to be lectures and it is ok if you let the author know that you appreciate their work. While I wouldn’t approve or advise writing nothing more than “good post” each time, I wouldn’t have a problem with it upon occasion.
Sometimes less is more. You don’t always need 800 words to say that you wish people would leave smarter and more insightful comments just as sometimes it is ok to say “nice post.”
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