Dissecting Blog Comments

by Deb Ng on July 13, 2010

Bloggers take blog comments seriously. We’re irritated with spam and rude remarks and wonder what’s wrong with our writing or topic when we receive no comments at all. We spend copious amounts of time researching and devising ways to receive more comments, doing anything we can to cultivate an active community.

For many bloggers, a clear sign of success is the amount of comments received, but is it more about the comment or the commenter? Personally, I find the best comments come when I write thought-provoking posts that inspire discussion, rather than creating controversial or bandwagon-y posts designed more for the comment factor than for the sharing. Still, there’s no denying we all enjoy a heated debate or intriguing discussion.

If you visit blogs but don’t participate, or if you’re an active member of a blog’s community, you might be interested to learn how bloggers (or at least this blogger) feel about your comments.

Below is a look at some of the types of comments and commenters that show up on most active blogs.

When it’s more about the link then the blog comment

One of the first bits of advice a more established bloggers offer to newbies is to visit other blogs and comment in order to promote their blogs and their names. Sometimes this doesn’t encourage comments as much as it encourages links.

You can tell when someone is more interested in dropping a link than actually commenting because they do everything they can to get readers back to their site. Though there’s a signature line specifically for links, some commenters regularly drop links into the body of a comment. Some will pull a “I had so much to say I wrote an entire blog post on this – here’s the link.” Once in a while that can fly, but when it happens in every post it’s flat out spammy.

Also, some of those only in it for the link are fair weathered friends. They drop by, comment, and once their own community begins flowing they’re never seen again…unless they want you to link to their contest or be an affiliate for their ebooks.

We notice.

Commenting in support of the blogger

I’m not a fan of “Oh I so agree” comments that don’t really say anything. However, I’ve come to realize that many of those comments are from well intentioned commenters who want to show support for the blogger, or share that they liked a post, even if they have nothing else to offer as a comment. Comments are a terrific way to give something back to a blog you enjoy and shows the blogger you read and enjoyed (or didn’t enjoy) the post.

Stirring up trouble

Bloggers enjoy a spirited discussion. It tells us our words touched our community. As long as the discussion remains respectful, all thoughts are welcome. However, there are some people who comment to stir up trouble every time. Maybe they’re looking for attention or to get links, or maybe they just crave drama, but every comment is a rant or counterpoint delivered just to raise hackles. This type of commenter may not even feel that passionate about his point, he simply wants to create a rift in the community.

Based on past experiences, I usually ignore this type of person. If an entire community doesn’t play into his hands, he’ll go off to find drama somewhere else.

Anonymous Comments

I’m supposed to tell you anonymous comments are cowardly and we need to own up to our comments and use our our names, but I’m not going to do that. I can tell you that many of the people who comment at blogs are using made up names anyway. Moreover, plenty of people are being anonymous not because they want to create trouble, but because they simply want to protect their online privacy.

I know of a few anonymous commenters who don’t use a real name because they don’t want their employers to know they’re reading blogs on company time or because they don’t want people to Google them and have their opinions keep them from a job. I once heard from a woman who uses a fake name because she doesn’t want an abusive ex-husband to find her.

Anonymous commenting isn’t always cowardly or abusive. Take it on a case by case basis.

Active participation

This is what we live for! An active community who responds to our blog posts and discusses the issues. This is more rewarding than money and a bigger treat than ice cream. .Most of us blog in hopes of cultivating an active community. Really, there’s nothing lonelier than a blog post with no comments and there’s no bigger thrill than a blog post with comments


We love hearing from you. Your comments are feedback and teach us points we may not have considered.  Don’t be afraid to comment to tell a blogger whether or not you agree or if you liked the post. Most of us can handle respectful disagreement.

Now, why not visit your favorite blogger and leave a comment?

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  • http://conniereece.com Connie Reece

    I think there’s a difference between Anonymous commenters and those who use pseudonyms, for various reasons. Many newspapers are realizing that opening up for completely anonymous comments was a mistake: when there is no name at all attached to a comment, trolls have a field day. Just appending a name, real or otherwise, can bring the level of commentary down a notch.

    My commenting on blogs, sad to say, is down overall. It takes time to write a thoughtful comment. It’s a lot easier to hit the Tweet This button or throw out a short response on Twitter. Comments have become very fragmented. But you’re so right that nothing elevates a blogger’s pulse rate like a few good comments. It makes all the work that goes into writing a blog post (which can amount to several hours) worthwhile.

  • http://getpaidtowriteonline.com Sharon Hurley Hall

    Thoughtful post, Deb. I must admit that sometimes in the past I have left comments to register that I thought a particular post was good, even if I had nothing to add. These days, I tend to do that through tweets, likes or shares and only comment when there’s something useful to say. That means that I leave fewer comments, though.

  • http://wordsforhirellc.com/blog Karen Swim

    Deb, as Connie and Sharon both said, the ease of hitting buttons to show support has dramatically impacted my own commenting. You are right though, I am over the moon when I get comments on my own blog. Nothing feeds the blogging writing soul like an active community.

  • http://imcelebratinglife.com/ Moondancer

    I think most people enjoy seeing comments on their blogs. It feels great. I started blogging several years ago.

    A few years ago, I took a break from my regular blogging and just focused on writing about gaming. The communities (or at least the ones I was part of) were slightly different. I saw a lot of linking to posts through social media sites like Twitter or Facebook, however, many still engaged in the commenting on blogs too. I really liked that.

    A few months ago, I started a new blog. In some ways it’s similar to what I’ve written in the past, however, I have noticed that there’s a lack of commenting on many of the websites that I enjoy. It’s quite a change from a few years ago, and from the gaming bloggers I’ve been interacting with over the past few years.

    Recognizing others through the variety of social media out there is great but try to remember that it’s nice to leave comments on other peoples websites too.

    I’ve been on a few websites where I’ve wanted to comment however the writer either made me jump through hoops to comment, or in rare cases comments were closed. The comments off always puzzled myself, since the writers would occasionally ask questions in their posts (they knew they had their comments disabled.) I wanted to participate in their community, however, I was unable to do so by leaving a comment on their blogs.

  • http://www.bloggingteacher.com/?utm_source=comment&utm_medium=comment&utm_campaign=comment Paul Cunningham

    I don’t leave enough comments. Its sometimes hard from the RSS reader or iPhone to do commenting. But I understand how nice it is because I always enjoy seeing comments on my blogs.

  • http://marianlibrarian.com Marian Schembari

    There’s this super-specific blogging community that you only understand if you’re knee-deep in the trenches. So maybe my friends don’t 100% get why I dig comments, but anyone else with a blog understands how vital they are to not only your site’s survival, but to your sanity/ego/motivation to move forward with your life.

    We judge a blog entirely on its comments. I could give less of a sh*t if you get millions of readers every month, but if you’re getting 100 comments per post you are the cat’s pajamas. If you’re in PR you understand that reaching out to bloggers is important. But which bloggers do you contact? Those who are part of something bigger? The columnists for AOL? The biggies on HuffPo? Or do you go to the ones who have established their own little “cult followings”? People like The Bloggess or Marie Forleo…

    To be perfectly honest, the reason I comment on blogs isn’t because people ask. From my experience, both with my own comments and seeing why other people write, here are the top reasons I comment a blog post:

    * The blogger has said something I agree or disagree with strongly
    * I want to congratulate someone on a new job/baby/engagement/personal success
    * Something is hilarious and I want to add my own experience
    * Something is so amazing I couldn’t possibly leave the website without letting the blogger know how amazing they are but am too lazy to write an email (There is a fine line. Remember that.)
    * There’s some form of list, usually in advice-form, where I have something to contribute

    This is a great post!

  • http://kommein.com/not-responding-and-the-me-too-mentality/ Not Responding, Pile Ons and the Me Too Mentality — Kommein

    [...] negativity wasn’t on my blog but on others.  Sometimes the negativity came in the form of comments under extremely respectful blog posts in rebuttal of  something I wrote, and sometimes the blog [...]

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