Remember the first comment you ever got on your blog? Pretty cool to think that someone read your stuff.
I consider myself a lower-middle class blogger. I’m sure there’s another term out there that describes this better. Maybe it’s A-List, C-list or whatever but what I’m driving at is that I’ve reached a stage when it comes to commenting. No longer am I thrilled to death when someone comments. Not because I’m not interested but with readership comes comments. I stil read them all but it’s not like it was when I first started to blog.
I recently left a comment for a new blogger. She wrote a post the next day called Comment Goodness, which rightly promotes the value of the comment. Having asked my students to create blogs, I obviously want to be sure they know the power of the comment.
So it made me think that since they don’t get as many comments or at least haven’t been blogging long, for those, it’s like the feeling of getting a little bit of money when you have very little. I remember getting taken out for dinner by friends when I was in university and thinking how amazing it was. I was so appreciative.
Now on the other hand I read the Freakonmonics blog and they regularly get over 100 comments per post. Do they read them all? Do they care what people write?
When do you become so big that comments are more for the readers than the writers? This is the price you pay for popularity and good writing.
Just thinking out loud….no need to comment 
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August 3rd, 2007 at 2:49 am
If may not be necessary to comment but like you said it is always nice to know that someone appreciates your thoughts and ideas, no matter if you read them or not.
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:11 am
I think your primary motivation in writing a blog post should be egocentric. Write about something you are interested in exploring further. Having said that, it’s almost as hard to write in an empty blog space as it is to speak in an empty room. After a while the voice just tends to trail off…
After blogging “all over the place” on my project blogs, I decided this summer to give up the nomadic life and create a blog home, http://nexus.ontarioblogs.com. I’ve been fortunate enough to receive a few comments so far and I can say nothing has motivated me more to open a new write window each morning! I can’t see ever reaching the point where I’d fail to read comments, or respond back. I value the time and effort people make to take part in the conversation.
August 3rd, 2007 at 9:27 am
Thanks Diane. I now have to add you to my reader…if only you could be boring, it would be one less blog to read but alas….
August 3rd, 2007 at 10:07 am
We’re all looking for acknowledgment, recognition, acceptance.
My blog lacks comments, but then I don’t do it entirely for others.
It’s a way for me to meditate/ponder/sort out this phantasmagoria that is my life.
Communication with ourselves is important too.
August 3rd, 2007 at 11:04 am
I’ve left two comments on the Freakonomics blog and received a personal email about one of them, mostly because the author felt I misunderstood him (hey, I think *he* misunderstood me). So they do read all those comments. Today I unsubscribed from Ameriblog because I don’t have time to keep up with all the posts and because it isn’t fun to comment there–you can never be the first commenter, or even the fifteenth, although if you’re lucky you *could* be the 350th. By then the commenters have changed the topic of the original post so many times that it’s pointless.
August 5th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
So a blog starts being for yourself because no one else reads it, then becomes a conversation between the blogger and readers, finally you just pop in to your blog and pop out before the party gets underway;-)
I guess it depends on the tone of the post, and what the poster thinks a blog is for. If it is an invite to converse then I’d like a conversation, even if it is just a gentle ‘you’ve missed my point’.
Maybe more bloggers need to be clearer about the response they expect in the way you have in the last paragraph.
August 5th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Agreed John. It’s interesting because Stephen Downes linked to the this post and stated he reads every comment. I know many turn comments off because they’re not looking for a conversation. By default, I think it must be about conversation and as Jude states, the boys from Freakonomics jump in which to me is the biggest indication that the writer truly wants to talk and learn.
This is what makes this space value added for me. Yes, I mostly post for myself but I need others to enrich my learning.
August 5th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
The whole commenting thing on blogs is something I certainly wonder about a fair bit and haven’t figured out. It is still exciting to me when a post gets a few comments, but I rarely get a bunch. I think the moment novice bloggers get comments and feedback can be a powerful “a-ha” experience for them. I think the quantity of comments is far less important than the quality. No, I would bet the people who get over 100 comments per post aren’t reading them all. If they were, how could they do much else in their life that is worthwhile? I’m not sure.
BTW, I have tagged you for 8 random facts, Dean.
August 6th, 2007 at 7:50 am
Dean,
You’ve mentioned that many turn comments off because they don’t want to initiate a conversation - how many do you think turn them off because they think that the effort of weeding out the spam outweighs the benefit of comments?
I recently read someone’s blog who said he’d disabled comments because he wanted people to link to his posts & comment in their blogs, rather than comment on them on his site; as he felt that they were the more well thought out comments. I think that I can see where he was coming from, though I find that it makes for quite a patchy feel, as reader then has to go to several different places to see what others think.
Being able to read all the comments in one place has a distinct advantage (though when it starts to get to 350, I’m not sure that it’s that useful!)
Your point about students getting their first comments - especially when it’s from outside the class group is very true! My students are using Eduspaces, and they were very chuffed when they got comments from Elgg users who weren’t in the class group.
August 6th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
As a new blogger, I haven’t received very many comments. But the few comments that I have received have been exciting for me and I hope that doesn’t wear off.
August 6th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
I was one of the first 40 “running bloggers” at completerunning, which now has about 1,000. The comments were supportive and helpful, but I understand that many of the newest runners don’t receive many comments. Once a community exists, the newest bloggers have to search for and engage an audience since many of the blogs are saying the same thing. I suppose this exists in edublogging (which I’ve just started) as well.
August 7th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
thanks a lot for your post and i think i would be excited to see comments in my blog
August 13th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Today I got my first comment….not only that I was quoted in another blog which brought in more comments. You couldn’t get the smile of my face. To have acknowledgement that someone else out there is reading my blog and having an opinion on what I am saying is more motivating than ever. It opens up a new dimension in the blogging process….conversation….something I am learning to like a lot.
I can’t ever see myself not reading the comments….if someone has gone out of their way to respond and have something to say, then I the least I can do is read what they have written.