Are you one of those bloggers who answers the question completely, leaving no room for others to answer? Are you killing the blog conversation?
I’ve had a lot of appreciation and debate over the following statement from my article on How NOT to Comment on Comments:
Make your comments add to the conversation. Don’t just chime in because you want to see your name published on the web. Contribute. Give. Share. Exchange. Keep the story going. Keep the ideas flowing. Help us help each other by continuing the dialog.
At the time it seemed a new thought that it is the responsibility of bloggers to keep the conversation going on other blogs, as well as on their own.
There are two ways to kill a conversation on a blog:
- Write a Complete Blog Post: When you write a complete blog post, you leave nothing unsaid. Thus, your readers have nothing to add.
- Write a Complete Blog Comment: Whether on your own blog or someone else’s, if you say all there is to say, you leave no room for anyone to say anything.
Guess what the answer to this is?
Shut up.
Well, not totally. Just don’t finish your thoughts. Leave them guessing. Leave them with an answer to offer. Leave them room to breathe and reply.
Author: Lorelle VanFossen
The author of Lorelle on WordPress and the fast-selling book, Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging, as well as several other blogs, Lorelle VanFossen has been blogging for over 15 years, covering blogging, WordPress, travel, nature and travel photography, web design, web theory and development extensively as web technologies developed.
Great advice, as per usual. Thanks Lorelle. I’m really enjoying your book!
Wow, I never thought of that. :O
Still, I get more comments than I post, so this is still helpful for me. Thanks. :)
Hi Lorelle.
Yes, I know what you’re saying and I’ve been trying to implement this on my blog too, by asking small questions. It’s a great incentive for people to come to the blog, read, and be read.
Writing a complete comment cannot be a disservice to the blog community if expanding the collective intelligence is a goal. While extending inane chatter may be gratifying to someone looking to see a lot of words, I find pursuing truth as directly as possible much more so. I hope I am not alone in a the wish that critical thinking be applied in discussion. Quality of speech over quantity! Cheers.
Good point. I guess it depends on if garnering additional comments and conversation is one of the goals of your blog.
I would call this “strategic blogging/commenting”. To act the fool… Maybe, a good marketing idea, but it’s not exactly brilliant for a trustworthy conversation.