October 28, 2009
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On Comments
So I recently noticed than an increasing number of news sites seem to be removing comments for many if not all of their “posts.” Here at Xanga, comments are considered the highest measure of an article’s worth (over article views, total page views, re-tweets, etc). However, other blogging services, like wordpress, don’t have that same focus, and yet manage to provide some form of feedback or encouragement to the writer.
I understand that Xanga is a community, and that many here enjoy commenting others as a way to keep in touch. However, I think there’s also a lot of pressure. Some don’t mind leaving behind an asinine “great post” or “hah” comment, but others won’t spend much time on a post if they think they can’t comment on it, especially because people sometimes get upset about non-commenting lurkers.
I like receiving comments, sure, but I also read plenty of posts I think are just fabulous which I don’t comment on. Sometimes, I just don’t have anything to say, and sometimes I just don’t feel like putting forth the effort.
Do you think that using the comment as the metric for success is an amateurish style? Does an entry with comments turned off (on xanga) or with no space for leaving comments (on other sites) entice or annoy you? Would you be more or less likely to read a post if you couldn’t comment or read the comments of others?
Comments (21)
I’d have turned off comments for this post, but then I wouldn’t be able to hear your thoughts on the matter!
I like to comment but if they are closed that is OK, if I have something to say I will PM the person.
I try to comment when I visit a site. I love the commenting on Xanga.
Eh, comments can actually put pressure people sometimes (but at least it makes people produce better content). Anyways I don’t actually care if an entry’s “comment-able” or not, as long as it’s good and not pointless then I’d read more from the author.
i think it depends on the intent of the post. if you are trying to inspire thought and provoke people to discussion, then yes, comments are the only metric. if you are just writing to inform or educate, it isnt necessary, the same with entertainment, thought with the latter it is helpful to know if your aproach to entertaining is working.
People write for a variety of reasons.
I’ve also noticed that comments aren’t the sole measure of success; Xanga is almost unique in its comment frequency. On other sites it may be common for an article with over 50,000 hits to have only 5 comments; on Xanga it would be weird for an article with only 5 comments to have more than 500 hits.
you seriously take this too seriously
Not being able to comment does annoy me, but if the intention for no comments is clear, and reasonable, then it is understandable. There are reasons for not opening up to comments.
However, comments are only a loose metric of some sort of “blogging success” because some people can post crap but due to popularity get lots of feedback. On the other hand, quality posts can be entirely ignored for a variety of reasons. I have noticed that other blogging sites, especially among news commentary or popular people, they tend not to engage in their blogging. I find any author that engages their readers (e.g., Krugman), for better or worse, is a better blogger than someone that does not (e.g., Mankiw). It really comes down to what their readers want, though. I find blogs that are not engaging are nothing more than a website that dishes up some information, commentary or analysis. Blogs that are engaging, on the other hand, are characteristically different and represent the nature of blogging–to be an interactive social medium. This does not mean we need to build a community, like Xanga has done, but it does mean blogging is about actually discussing ideas. Otherwise, we’d just have a fancy website where someone voices their opinions.
I’ve kept blogs where I had comments completely turned off everywhere, especially back in the day when you could turn off everything, I did. This was because I was purely writing just to write, and didn’t want to have to deal with comments. If someone wanted to come and read, fine. If they didn’t, fine.
With CHOW though, I have to admit, I use comments as a gauge to see how well an entry is received. For example, if I put something up, and it gets say… 80 comments, I know there aren’t as many people who like that particular dish/ entry as a post where there are 150 comments. I use the information to push the content in the direction that interests more people. Fact is, I don’t know what people want to learn or see, so I take their feedback, even passively, to determine where to go. Entries where people are especially excited (in their remarks), I know I’ll do something similar.
If comment counts are down, I know I’m doing something wrong. I have to admit though, if it’s down significantly, I tend to feel down myself. I feel as if I’ve put in a lot of work into trying to share something with people, and it’s rejected. It still kind of sucks to me, remembering when 300 comments per entry were the norm for me; back in the day.
Comments can be a measuree of success….unless you post a blog of one of those hot topics, and then people take sides on the issue, which causes said people to argue back and forth in the comments in an endless war of hitting the reply buttons whilst shooting off some intellectual, down-talking argument or petty, creative insult. Unless it was your aim to create controversy and childish squabbles-then, I suppose one is successful
i dunno,,, i like to get comments,, altho i know for a fact people are reading my posts without commenting,,, at least a handful are on xanga for the sole purpose of reading my posts,, which is one reason i put one up even if i dont have one,, so they will know im still alive…
i say,, on xanga,,, most have probably long forgotten their username or password,, but still get the email updates…
i like to comment on posts if i can,,, i have some subs that write poetry,,, how do you comment on poetry??? i dont have a clue…
if i do write something,,, its normally for myself… i dont suppose many people care what i actually think,,, hahahahaha
@mejicojohn - That’s exactly the problem. Sometimes I just don’t have a clue how to comment.
@tenshii_rage - haha, I’m not sure why you equate controversy with childish squabbles. I’m sure there are a lot of debaters who would be offended at that.
@chow@ireallylikefood - I think any xanga blog now would be hard-pressed to get 300 comments regularly. Traffic is pretty different now than in the glory days, I’m afraid.
@bryangoodrich - I suppose so. I never really thought that blogging was any more than some website with some guy’s opinion on it, though. The social networking, through places like myspace, etc, were set off from more “serious” bloggers.
@Frankenchrist - Seriously?
@moritheil - Exactly. Xanga seems to supply a much greater comment to visit ratio than anywhere else. Which is why it’s failure seems to surprise me, when so many people voice their preference for feedback.
If a post is good then I like to give feedback. The comments being off would probably annoy me.
@NikBv - There is definitely a divide between those “serious” bloggers, and those that are just people wanting a place to write out their ideas or opinions, even if that line is very blurry. I just think that one thing that characterizes someone who is trying to do more than voice their opinion is one that engages their readers. What makes a blog different than, say, news reports? The fact that on a blog we can comment and discuss the author’s ideas with the author themselves. Even when online news is essentially a blog format that allows comments, you rarely see the author engaging the readers. It’s a place for the readers to discuss amongst themselves. Krugman’s op-eds, for instance, resemble this, but you can go to Krugman’s blog and actually talk to him directly which separates his op-eds from his blogging because they are different by that very quality. While there is nothing objectively definitive here, I think commenting with the author is an effective measure of the division of web content from casual bloggers, to new news media to serious bloggers.
I can understand its use, and it is pretty accurate to some extent, but not completely, because, like you, I am one of those people who sometimes have nothing to say. I do always comment, though, even if it’s just to say “I don’t know what to say.” But I know you’re not the only one who sometimes doesn’t, which is why I know that comments are not everything. The thing is, if its measurement we want, comments (and Recs – I sometimes get comment-less Recs) are all we can go for, because how do you measure if someone reads, loves it but says nothing?
Good post.
@bryangoodrich - I think that’s why the -ish sites confuse me and a lot of xanga. At least initially, they didn’t have that conversation between the author and the readers. Now, on occasion the authors will visit the place where their post was featured to join the discussion, but for the most part comments there remain either unanswered, or solely between fellow readers. Do you think this means the -ish sites are somewhat a corruption of blogging?
@NikBv - I think the -ish sites are like the op-eds of blogging. That’s all they do is present the opinions of certain bloggers by hosting their material, and that is all the -ish sites generate: commentary of some blogger’s opinion that coalesces with the -ish identity. It isn’t blogging. It’s a portal to blogging. Is that a corruption? Not really, since like op-eds it provides something people want–an opinion they can agree or disagree with categorically. We expect the opinions presented there to fall into an extreme for or against the -ish topic. It brings other bloggers a central place to see that commentary and maybe provide inspiration for their own blogging. I have no idea, those incentives and interests are to the people that actually frequent -ish sites. I next to never visit them or care to associate with them. Obviously they might provide an outlet to certain Xanga drama or themes that propagate our blogsphere. In that sense, they facilitate part of the Xanga community. I also do not participate in any of that, and at most I might jump onto a topic if I find it actually interesting enough, but then I’m doing it because I was exposed to the interesting topic, not to compete with other bloggers and add to the drama circulating some topic (what was the last one, the rape issue?).
For my purposes, the -ish sites are pointless. For other people, they like them. But then certain people gotta have their Washington Post, Newsweek or New York Times commentary, too. We like certain filters of information, trends or opinions, for better or worse. The -ish sites are no different, but op-eds are not news, just like the -ish sites are not bloggers.
At this point it is a bit lame you add my 2 cents, as it has already been said. That being my number one reason for saying nothing.
Oh yes it is amateurish if you are just a writer. But if you want a discussion on a topic, what better thing is there than a comment?
Im not a serious blogger. I like reading others entries most of the time, but if I see that its l o n g and d r a w n out, I might skim over it and not leave a comment. Especially if, after reading others comments, I wouldn’t have anything worthy to say myself. I get intimidated by what other people might say sometimes, so I just keep quiet. I usually get the biggest kick out of what others are commenting on more than the blog itself, especially if its controversial and theres differences in opinions. And yes, Id prefer for others to leave a comment on my blogs, if only to say a measly word or two. But thats just me thinking….
Ah, good point!
=)
some ppl turn off comments deliberately for the sole purpose of writing for themselves. for me? i enjoy feedback and what others have to say.
If I like a post but have nothing to say I just leave 2 eProps as my token “hey-nice-post!”…that way the writer doesn’t have to feel obliged to respond to my comment which had no point…or if the point has already been made in the comment ahead of mine; but that way I still show that I read it/appreciated it?