5 Steps To Impressing A Longtime Jaded Blogger With Your Comments

{ 370 Responses }

1. Rashmi Sinha says:
   Donna, this post is very well written. It provides useful information about being a good contributor by posting valuable comments. I read all the article and i mostly agree with it. The only part i disagree a bit is that disagreeing with the original poster. Sometimes he sees that as a thread, while it should never be like that. PS : All 5 points in a comment. How did i do?!
2. John Ernest says:
   Hey I found this post pretty amusing. They do say that the actual worth of a post is seen in its comments, so it is really important that the conversation flows, and the information is sent to and fro with the blogger and reader learning a lot more from the commentator. Aside from that, a good comment management scheme should also be implemented. I prefer to do it manually so that I can converse with who I would want to and learn from them as well.
3. Elena Anne says:
   Thanks for posting this, Donna. I find this topic in strong need to being picked on, and you did a smashing job of doing so. :) Besides the points that you covered (skimming being a troublesome one for me as well) I think that spelling is also important. Not as important as, say, the comment being related to the topic, but I just find it annoying when people misspell simple words, or don't capitalize letters at the beginning of a sentence, or don't capitalize the letter 'i'. I spell things wrong, but I try to spell correctly and use what I learned in high school to make a smart comment. Thanks again for posting this! I hope I can be remembered :)
4. zac says:
   I am sure a lot that you say will strike a chord with bloggers who had been around for a while.After a while you just got tired with the flattery that you know is fake. Like people say general things like "it is a great site!" or " I love your post!". They may be genuine but you just can't help it but start wondering " are they real"?. It is strange-When you first started your blog, even a small comment like " nice!" makes you float, but when you get a 100 "nice!" you think they are nothing but spam or efforts to get backlinks. Funny how life is, isn't it.
5. Trung Nguyen says:
   5 point you listed above are great, someone leaves their comment without reading the blog post and I'm also sure that why their comments are spam.
6. Sarah says:
   From reading some of the above comments i can clearly see Donna that a few people have not taken the time to read and understand your post. Which i find sad. I truly believe in your post and those few simple tips can really make a huge difference. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. Your making communication easier for us all.
7. Christina Gregoire says:
   DONNA, I like this post. Mea Culpa...or however you spell it. Cheers Tina
8. Jaime says:
   Well Donna :-) I can't tweet this as I don't use Twitter but I wanted to let you know I appreciate your post all the same. Blog comments have been the topic of conversation betwixt another friend and myself the past few days (real conversation, not comment conversation) since I have just changed my commenting system and I was thinking of writing a post something like this to encourage my "new" commenters (my old comments did not export very well) to do a little better than before. If I get around to do that in the next few days, I will likely link back to this post since you already did such a great job putting into words what I think!
9. Satrap says:
   Great tips Donna. I actually use your first tip all the time. In some case, the bloggers name simply isn't there, because they use "admin" or a nickname. But you can be sure that you can find it if you dig dipper. The about page is one place you may find it. Using someone's name ads a personal touch to your comment and just like in the real world, it makes the other person more interested in you and what you have to say.
10. Mark says:
    Reading the post is a number one priority in my book. If a commenter on one of my blogs leaves a comment that doesn't relate to the actual post, then more often than not, it gets deleted. I actually don't have a comment filter because all of the filters reject legit comments too. I actually wrote a post entitled: "The DoFollow Blog Commenting Primer" to try and help commenters. I think it did help many of my visitors. Thanks for the equivalent, Donna...:) Mark
11. Suraj says:
    Thanks for sharing such a wonderful article.
12. ashwin shahapurkar says:
    you are right. Many people do engage in building backlinks on blogs these days, thus leaving invalid comments. and i think this apply's to me also. will try to post useful comments here onwards.
13. Rodger says:
    I like the point about not over flattering. It is obvious that the point is just to get the link.
    • Codrut says:
      Exactly, and it sounds spammy too. I think we don't have to impress nobody, but show a genuine, natural interest in the post or opinion. And come up with our 2-cents, perhaps, a different view, and expand the discussion.
14. Abhimanyu Singhal says:
    Alright alright, I am guilty of this sometimes too ;) Lol
15. Jon says:
    You are right John, but remember that there are many people out there that comment and have no interest in backlinks. The web is split into two parts now - websites mostly run by businesses that are populated entirely by users, and websites geared mostly for webmasters. The latter attracts way more comment spam than the former. On one of my sites I get hardly any link drops at all, most people that comment have a real point to raise and are only interesting in discussion. Also, a lot of SEO's are behind comments, I often see patterns from lots of comments from certain IP ranges coming in at once, as if an SEO firm is targeting all the sites on my server, really weird. None of the comments ever get passed.
16. Mani Viswanathan says:
    I'm certainly impressed by a commentator when he/she calls out my name directly & mentions some additions points to add up to the list, as you've mentioned!
17. Karan says:
    Well blogging is all about discussion. To make your blog popular and lively you need to consider it as a social network and engage into discussion.
18. John says:
    Hey Donna, you are right. Many people don't know how to engage properly on blogs these days. They only use them for their back linking. While I do try and take advantage of this I do also try and make valid and thought out comments. thanks for the post.
19. Trevor B. Reed says:
    Hi Donna, really enjoyed your post. I think I have usually done a good job of commenting, but it looks like I can step it up.
20. cam says:
    The other thing I have found helpful is if they let you know what their keyword are to incorporate them so their page becomes more keyword dense. You do have to make sure it makes sense though.
21. Joe says:
    Congrats Donna on a well deserved prize in the Comluv contest! Joe :D
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Thanks, Joe!
22. Rhea Drysdale says:
    I cannot remember the last time I made a comment on a blog that was not simply thankful or a response to comments on something on Outspoken Media. It's shameful really. I can get easily distracted, so I try hard to just focus on what's in front of me which has for the past year and a half been clients, work and internal communications. I try to read what I can, but I'm relying on email, calls and Twitter almost entirely to maintain relationships. This was a great reminder that when I consume a piece of content that is original, provocative or simply well-said I need to take a minute out of my schedule to honor them. It's absurd to expect that in return and never give it. I'm going to give myself x time per day to actually read and comment on posts from those I trust. Donna, you rock, thank you.
    • Jon says:
      The best way to thank someone is not to leave a comment on their blog (although this can really help in a bricks and mortar business where the "thank you" is a testimonial for a good job done) but to write about your good experience on your own blog, or elsewhere, and link back. This should benefit them more!
      • DazzlinDonna says:
        I'll appreciate a thanks in whatever form it's given, Jon, and of course I know you do too. But you're right - an excellent way to thank someone is to share a link to their efforts either on your own blog or in the social realm (or both).
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Always happy to be a reminder that we need to practice what we preach. :) Thanks for reminding me that I'm not the only one who doesn't always live up to that goal.
23. Rebecca Leaman says:
    I can't argue with any of your points there, Donna; in fact, you may have heard the faint distant echo of my "Huzzah!" when I hit this line: "I want to know what you think about the topic I spent time writing about." Not because I mind getting off-topic comments (as long as they're related to the topic of the blog as a whole) - sometimes people just want to ask you for help on something, and there's no clear-cut place to do so that exactly matches or they'd have to search through oodles of old posts to find a more appropriate post)... but because, as a blogger, I guess that's what I'm looking for / hoping for most of all in comments: an idea that what I've researched and thought about and written up has been received and proved useful to the reader. (Um, you're not really truly all that jaded, are you? All the people - me included - you've helped over the years... hope your devoted readers have given you a bit of juice to go on with!)
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Ah yes, it's that feedback that actually helps us to grow as bloggers too, isn't it? If I know if my post has struck a chord - or not - then I know better how to post next time. But if they are just talking for talking's sake (like a spambot would do), then that valuable feedback is lost. Am I truly jaded? Good question. I know that just when I think I might be at that point, I usually have something happen to make me change my mind. Naturally, it's usually people who do give me that extra juice. But I'm definitely more jaded than some; perhaps less so than others. :)
      • Rebecca Leaman says:
        Well, I guess if you are feeling a tad jaded, it's been rightly earned by six years of exposure to the inane, abusive and just plain irrelevant; to bots and new-and-improved bots; to scrapers and scammers and self-servers; and the rest of the lowest common denominator. Glad to hear that those precious rays of sunshine & feedback are still finding you from time to time! :)
        • DazzlinDonna says:
          I can promise you this - no amount of exposure to the inane, abusive, irrelvant; bots, scrapers, scammers, or self-servers can possibly make stand up to comments like the ones that have occurred in this very post. And that makes the writing of this post all that much more worthwhile for me. There have been rays a-plenty here. Rays a-plenty.
24. fantomaster says:
    Couldn't agree more, Donna: What you're essentially pinpointing are all those factors (both "small" and "big") that make up what - well, human relationships in general, no? If we forget about this little fact (and it's pretty easy to do in an essentially faceless, eminently anonymizable virtual environment), we might as well drop blogging (and tweeting, and facebooking etc. etc.) altogether and leave it all to the bots. Because then, we ourselves will be just as interchangeable as they are. Which, of course, really translates to "expendable"...
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      We're all just bots anyway, aren't we? LOL, right, right, exactly - It's important that the person commenting doesn't come off sounding like a bot. It's getting harder and harder to tell these days - those bots are starting to look a lot like humans, ya know. In fact I know a few humans that could learn how to be a little more human from a few bots I know. ;) But no matter how good a bot may be, they probably won't be good enough to actually impress me - fool me, sure - impress me, no. Not yet. Unless you're working on something I didn't know about. ;)
      • Doc says:
        I think it may not be all that long before one of the idiots that has enough spare time to design smartbots will come up with one that can fool some of us, at least some of the time. Sad, but true, I think. As for the comment stream, I think that's the best measure of our success as bloggers. When my traffic recently managed to climb out of the cellar to a more decent level (10 or 20 hits a week, up to over 100 a day), I was thrilled! But in analyzing how and why it happened, I realized that the number of comments remains about the same as before. From that point of view, I don't think I've accomplished anything but perhaps some more effective SEM. And that's not why I blog. If I look at it from an SEM standpoint, it takes on a different perspective: Traffic is great, but only conversions pay the rent. And for me, someone that leaves a comment (excluding our little-blue-pill-peddlers) is a successful conversion. An RSS subscription is better than nothing but until they leave a comment, I'm left with an empty feeling.
        • DazzlinDonna says:
          So what are you doing to encourage more comments, Doc? What do you think you could do better?
          • Doc says:
            A fair question... one that I should have seen coming. ;-) I got VERY busy a couple of days ago, and haven't been able to give it a hard look yet, but one thing that jumps out at me is that I was putting up information, with a call to action... off site. No questions, no asking for suggestions... rookie move, 'cause I gave them no reason to believe I even WANTED them to comment! I definitely need to correct that. The particular push I was on my last three or four posts did accomplish their purpose, but I might have gotten some really good suggestions, had I thought to leave the door open. Ah well... we live... we learn. Right?
            • Jon says:
              One day it will be just bots/machines running the Internet. They will slowly take over all operations, take over the bank accounts, domains, servers, and we will have no place here. Bots creating comments, content, discussions, news. Suddenly reminded of a comment someone once made about tracker funds (investments) - if everyone decides to run tracker funds, what are they all tracking? We are the market, we track ourselves? Or chose the path? Same with the Internet. Don't let the bots take over! Judgement Day for the web?
            • DazzlinDonna says:
              Ah, the rookie becomes the master with one simple word, "Right?" Of course, you knew that all along but just forgot. I've forgotten more times that I care to think about. It's ok to have to be reminded once in a while, right? ;)
      • DazzlinDonna says:
        Jon, if and when the bots take over, then you and I have will have the perfect opportunity to create the next big thing. We'll start fresh, creating Internet 10.0 or whatever version it might need to be by then. And of course we'll become rich from our efforts. ;)
25. jsteele823 says:
    Hi Donna, Just thought I'd also mention that when commenting, you should make sure you're not bringing out something that was in the original post. There's no need to repeat information that's already been presented - it just wastes space & time. Oh, and sometime a little humor helps :)
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Oh heck yeah, humor is a great way to get my attention. Anyone who gives me a good chuckle will definitely be remembered. Even a good knock-knock joke - if it's relevant to the conversation - would work, but seriously, just an all around good sense of humor thrown into a comment can sometimes make my day. And that's always memorable. Great point!
26. George Bounacos says:
    Donna, I have to agree with your points. From the first 10 comments or so, though, I have to say that I don't find keeping up with several dozen blogs difficult. Of the major ones I follow, most post once or twice a day. I tend to carve out chunks of my weekend or early morning to catch up. But reading big comment trails? That's hard. And this may be repetitive. ;-) I wanted to share though that your comments about respect are key. When someone comes to my corporate blog or to a blog on a site I have an interest in and trashes people because they think they're anonymous, I often have to restrain myself. I'm not talking about the con artists (someone posts from an IP associated with a company I didn't write nice things about), but the nasty, mean comments. Them? I have no problem blowing away their comments.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      I totally agree, George, that it's really difficult to read such a long comment trail. I'm really thinking hard about how to handle this in the future. Is there some way that comments can be structured differently, to make it easier? I'm not sure but that's where my thought processes are heading. And oh yeah, those trolls that show up now and then deserve to have their comments blown away. No doubt!
      • Mitchell Allen says:
        Donna, I remember at least one blogger's solution to long threads - he collected the best of them and created a second post with all of the comments! You have about a week's worth of material, right in this post :) Cheers, Mitch
        • DazzlinDonna says:
          Totally right about that Mitch! And in fact, I do plan on putting together all the great ideas (and there were so many!) into one or more posts. It would just be crazy not to sum up all the incredible information that flowed here. I'll be sure to let everyone know when I've done so!
        • Doc says:
          That's a great idea, Mitch! Donna, with all these responses, you could write a BOOK! ;-)
          • DazzlinDonna says:
            Or an ebook at the very least! It actually will be interesting to see how many different topics - different, and yet still related - I can summarize into posts. We've covered a lot of ground here. It's been fun. :)
27. Dave says:
    Out of curiosity, of the people who are commenting here, including Donna, of course, how many venues (blogs, your own blog, forums, etc) can you effectively monitor and add comments to? I stretch the opportunities at more than 4. I may read through venues but not comment. In fact 4 is definitely a stretch.
    • Jon says:
      That is a good point Dave. I struggle to follow more than 2 forums, and this is the only active blog I am commenting on at the moment, other than my own site. This is really the key to building a loyal community. Like any service you need people to want to come back and catch up. In a way this is how forums have worked well in the past, at least the smaller more personal ones. Large forums like digitalspy just have too many users, you never get to know anyone. Maybe I will have to drop a forum to spend more time here..... but who to drop. Cre8 or Fud?
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Well, for blogs, RSS feedreaders make it easy to keep up with lots of blogs. I have 58 subscriptions in Google Reader now. Of course, I don't comment on all of them, but it would be fairly easy to do so if I wanted to. Time of course is short, but as long as you have the time, it's not as difficult as it might seem, at least for the first comment. Now, keeping up with a thread of comments later requires some kind of reminder or else it would be a huge stretch.
28. Mike says:
    Donna: Earlier you referenced how even opinions that bother you are okay as long as they are courteous. Well, what happens when one person keeps commenting and this person always has a contrarian view......and it starts to aggravate you?
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      At some point, I'll usually just say something like, "Well, we'll just have to agree to disagree. I think we've argued the points completely now, and there's no use beating a dead horse, so let's just end the back and forth now." I'd probably let the commenter make one final comment, and then just trash any further comments if he continued on and on and on. Now, if the person is commenting on different posts, that's a different story. Assuming I didn't think he/she was just a troll, I'd let it play out as above each time. But if I really thought he/she was just a troll, I'd ban him/her. It's still MY blog after all, and in the end, I get to make that call. (Obviously this is assuming we're talking about MY blog - and not one I've guest posted on like here). :)
29. Dave says:
    Donna: (I remembered) Of the many comments here I'd love to generate conversations on a blog with 3 or more participants. It would replicate the kind of interaction on forums and give a real sense of community. Creating a sense of community with commentators is a big task.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Ya know, Dave, because of this very post and the 300 or comments on it, I've been thinking about better ways to handle the conversations. Obviously, once the number of comments grow, it's harder to converse with 3 or more people, and harder to keep the community united. The current mechanism doesn't handle it well. I don't yet have an answer, but my brain has been working overtime to try to come up with a solution. If we can make WordPress comments work better (from all standpoints), then it would be great to do.
      • Jon says:
        I sometimes wonder if the best approach to encourage conversation is to only allow registered users to comment. If someone is registered they may feel more committed. The "subscribe" plugin really helps things (I am here now due to an email update) but not everyone ticks the box. The problem with blogs is really what makes them so much better than forums - it really is a double edged sword. It is easier to comment, to join the discussion, but likewise it is easier to forget and drop. I am a member of many forums that often send me "missing you" emails. If wordpress could do the same this may help. Building a community on a blog is the key. Maybe the real answer is not commentluv but registered users only.
        • DazzlinDonna says:
          A long time ago, I used to make people register before commenting. I can tell you that forcing registration is a bad idea if you're trying to encourage conversation. No one wants to go through the extra effort required. So I strongly recommend against requiring registration. There are some plugins that will send missing you type of emails. Might be worth checking those out.
          • Doc says:
            I have to agree with Donna on the registration issue. We are an inherently lazy species, for any number of reasons. I think, Jon, that you would be robbing yourself of potential new contributors, by requiring registration. In addition, it is most often the "new blood" that keeps a blog really alive. Nobody wants to read comments from the same people all the time, whether there are two or twenty of them.
            • Jon says:
              Yeah, you are probably right. Well, definitely. I guess forums are not the best example of an ideal system as so many seem to be fading away, and mostly because of all the conversation on blogs! @Mitchell Allen I also find myself unsubscribing. Strange that it seems to happen more on blogs than in forums too. A forum thread will generally die a natural death, but blog comments seem to have a habit of lingering on and becoming mundane. I think this is partly due to the new voices, and a lack of actual conversation. Sometimes you do not want to hear 100 different opinions, but to be involved in a discussion between fewer people.
            • DazzlinDonna says:
              That can kill a forum too. Maybe not short term, but long term, the same voices over and over again just become a loud buzzing hum in an empty room.
          • Mitchell Allen says:
            Donna, this is a very interesting turn of events. I'd like to throw out a couple of points from a personal perspective: 1. While WordPress certainly is capable of receiving and permitting a large number of comments, it relies on the perseverance of you, the owner, to manage the flow. 2. Disengagement becomes a real possibility, once the conversation becomes something other than a magnet. On the first point, have you ever considered using a forum plugin? I'm seriously thinking about it for my new site, not because I expect a lot of conversations, but because of the potential to serve as a "support" platform. In your situation, I'm curious as to whether the overhead would be worth it. Of course, this isn't your site, but I'm sure you get plenty of massive activity on your blog :) On the second point, I routinely unsubscribe from blog comment notifications after a week or so. In fact, this one was on the chopping block until I happened to notice this thread between you and Dave. Specifically because he mentioned three-way conversations, I was interested in his ideas and where you two were going with them. Dave's remark about the similarity between active blog comments and the sense of forum community points out the major flaw in BOTH formats: heavy reliance on the original poster. At least on forums, there is a tendency to keep a thread alive despite the "OP"s participation. That's what makes Jon's input intriguing. Now we have the question of how much effort should the platform put into keeping the members engaged. And on it goes. Cheers, Mitch P.S. Now this post will be saved from the chopping block in my email for at least six more days :)
            • DazzlinDonna says:
              LOL, glad the post managed to survive the chopping block. You bring up excellent points, Mitch, and I've been thinking along the same lines. There are some forum plugins and I'm thinking about trying them, but I'm not sure I want to move the conversation from one place to another (even on the same blog). Perhaps they work right within the post, and I'm just not realizing that - in which case, they may be awesome. I don't know because I haven't yet investigated. But definitely, there needs to be some sort of in-between "marriage" of sorts between commentings and forum threads. A mashup of the two would be perfect, although I'm not sure exactly how that mashup should be conceived. Keeping it alive is another issue, regardless of the format of the conversation. Should it be kept alive for a long time? Maybe not, as many blog posts aren't evergreen. Perhaps the blogger should have a mechanism to decide on a post-by-post basis, just as we can currrently turn off comments on individual posts now. There's lots to be considered. I'm not sure I can come up with the solution alone. It may take a convergence of minds to create the perfect system, if such a thing can be created. I think we've definitely made a good start though!
        • DazzlinDonna says:
          Wouldn't it be cool if we could "tear off" individual pieces of a blog post's comments and monitor just those? For instance, what if you and I could just drag this individual threaded mini-conversation out to a section of the screen - and doing that drag and drop would let the system know that we wanted to monitor and continue that conversation in the future but we didn't want to monitor any other parts of this entire comment thread - unless of course we also dragged another mini-conversation out of it as well. I'm not sure that would totally satisfy the issue, but it might be a start. WDYT?
          • Doc says:
            I only very recently downloaded TweetDeck (and was immediately addicted). My first thought was, "why can't someone develop a BlogDeck?" Following along with three or four interesting blog exchanges would then be easily done. I think that would accomplish what you're talking about, Donna, and then some! Any developers out there, with nothing but time on your hands? ;-)
            • DazzlinDonna says:
              Hmmm...Interesting...columns of blog post comment streams - perhaps categorized (as in tagged or lists). Hmmm....that's worth thinking about. Thanks for the idea, Doc!
          • Mitchell Allen says:
            Hey Doc, that's sweet! I was all set to reply to Donna's idea in a different way. I thought the question was about following a sub-thread on a single post. Anyway, BlogDeck - trademark it, now Doc :) Donna, Gmail let's me focus on your comment thread. If I wanted to filter just this portion, I could tell it to look for the words relevant to the sub-thread. However, I might miss a new contribution if the words were not in the comment! Since Doc brought it up, I just thought of something else from Twitter - and, I bet you could do this with the WordPress Loop, somehow - create a #hashtag for the comments. Now, instead of relying on your visitors to include it in the comments, just have your blog software insert the hashatag automatically. The benefits are twofold: 1. You, as the post owner, control the creation of tags - thus prevent tag spam 2. Email subscribers can filter on the hashtags! See what you started, Doc? :) Cheers, Mitch
            • DazzlinDonna says:
              Totally interesting idea, Mitch. Oh, soo many ideas have come out of this post. I think I'll go back through, summarize them, think about them, and see what's possible, what's doable soon, etc. Awesome stuff!
            • Doc says:
              @Mitch- Strangely enough, "see what you started" is a phrase I've heard for as long as I can remember. ;-) Thinking that such a concept might already exist, I did a simple Google search, and found nothing, beyond a reference to BlogDESK (blogdesk.org/en/index.htm), which is more focused upon blogging than commenting. So if we have any developers reading this, put on your thinking caps! There's money to be made, and I'd be quite satisfied with a 10% cut. ;-)
            • DazzlinDonna says:
              Doc, I may try to do something along those lines myself (or try to get it done), but definitely, it's something that I think has some real potential if anyone wants to tackle it.
30. Judith Lewis says:
    Donna, You've always been inspirational to me and I know to others. I wish I could show you some of the verbal conversations I've had where you are cited as the inspiration that helped move them along. I'm sure you've gotten so many connents that you're impressed :-D and that many have impressed you and I'm just another voice in that forest but sometimes I guess it's nice to know you're remembered :-)
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Thank you so much, Judith. You have no idea what it means to me to hear you say that. Even if you were just some strange voice here, your comment would have ensured that yours wasn't just another voice in the forest. Not because you complimented me, but because you gave specifics. You mentioned verbal conversations, and that caused me to imagine the situations in which those might have occurred. Those words inspired images in my mind, and those images ensured that I would remember your comment. That's an excellent way to make your voice stand out, even if the blogger has never heard of you before. Of course, yours isn't a strange voice, and you'll always invoke thoughts of chocolate in many people's thoughts. That's another great way to stand out. Consistently associate an image with yourself. You do that well. :)
31. Dana Lookadoo says:
    Donna, Some great points. I had not spent time thinking about the result of becoming "jaded" as a result of comments. Of course! Sometimes it's so obvious that a commenter never even read the post, just wanted to be seen or drop a link. The following should be a mantra, byline near the "Leave a Comment" area: "Make sure you’ve really READ the post before commenting. " Welcomed reminder!
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      It's similar, Dana, to the way many people will automatically vote up an article in Digg or Sphinn or any other social voting site - without even reading the article! Motives vary, of course, but attention is usually involved, I think. I don't mind giving attention to someone if they've earned it. In school, for instance, there's the clown who just keeps interrupting the class with irrelevant antics, wearing the teacher down. Instead of being able to focus on the students who have some very interesting viewpoints to share, she has to continually deal with the clown. I guess the key is finding a way to get through to the clown - make sure he listens - make sure that when he says something - he's actually saying something relevant to the conversation. That's the right way to get attention, and the right way to avoid making the teacher (or blogger if we leave our example) less jaded.
    • Lauren says:
      Dana, "Read the post " is my favorite point in the article as well I can't tell you how many times I've seen comments on my posts or other people's who not only didn't read the article, but they also have no idea what the site is about.
      • Jon says:
        Oh yeah, I see this so much. I write 2000 words on how to do something, then get a pile of comments asking me "how do I....?" I guess there are 3 groups of people that comment: 1. People that read the title and have an opinion to share with the world on that subject and are not interested in what the article or the other users are saying. 2. People that Skip the article and read a few comments and just pick up where the last people left off. 3. A rare few that read the whole thing and all the comments then say something useful. But saying that, I really do not mind when people come and ask the obvious, as it means I can still help them. Not everyone absorbs information in the same way. Some like to read, others like to ask and be told. But now I am guilty of digressing. BTW, is it just me or are these threaded comments often hard to find to reply to?
        • DazzlinDonna says:
          It's not just you, Jon. I'm having a heckuva time finding the comments. I've resorted to choosing a word from the email I get sent that is semi-unique, doing a Ctrl-F to open up the find dialog, and searching the page for that word. Otherwise, I just scroll and scroll and .... Another reason for me to work on finding a better way to manage so many comments...
          • Jon says:
            Well done, you passed my test. You read the last line.
      • DazzlinDonna says:
        LOL, Lauren, I almost thought you'd gotten my name wrong, and called me Dana instead of Donna. I was going to make a snarky remark that using the blogger's name WRONG was another way to get her attention. But see, then I re-read the whole comment thread, and realized you were really speaking to Dana and not me, so you didn't get it wrong. Moral of the story: "Read the post" and "read the comments" before mouthing off. LOL!!!
32. Jon says:
    One thing I have noticed in the few years I have been running sites is that some blogs do attract a lot more spam than others. I get very few spam posts on my fitness site, almost all comments are genuine questions and answers, but on techy sites most are blatant attempts to bypass askimet. My approach to comments is to moderate everything, only publish ones that add value or ask a question. However, rarely I get a genuine question with a url attached, so I guess my job is easier. I make a point of replying to every comment too. For me comments is like a telephone help desk and feedback forum. Oh, and I almost never close comments, but had to once as there were too many on one post so I wrote a final comment pointing to more relevant posts to carry on the discussion. After about 500 comments the page loads slow. But pagination failed me seo-wise when a well commented article was dropped when 500 comments was reduced to 50 on the main url. Oh, and yeah, I agree with you opinion and will bookmark this site and subscribe to your rss and tell my mum about it too.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Bwahahaha! Love the last line, Jon. For anyone who doesn't get spam comments (lucky you), that is a typical spam line. Good one, Jon. That's a good idea of closing comments at 500, and then pointing them to more relevant posts to continue the discussion. I like that lot. I've never personally gotten 500 comments, but if I ever do, I'll try to remember that idea. Thanks for your thoughts on this. I'll tell my mum too. :)
    • Vergil says:
      "However, rarely I get a genuine question with a url attached, so I guess my job is easier." I take exception to that - don't let spammers wreck social sharing for everyone else. I love to get a url with comments - it gives me an opportunity to learn more and interact with the commenter. The line between self-promotion and spam is also grey - your post at the end of your comment has 2 paragraphs of content and just under a dozen ads, yet I'm sure you don't classify yourself as a spammer. Hell, if a spammer can contribute something valuable to the conversation, I'll give them the link.
      • DazzlinDonna says:
        I obviously can't speak for Jon, but I think he was saying that he isn't bombarded by the type of link drop spam that some of us are. I think we'd all be happy to include a url that makes sense and adds value to the conversation. I believe it's all about intent - Is the intent just to drop a link and run? Or is the intent to share a link that helps further the conversation?
        • Jon says:
          I tried replying to this before but the reply was lost.... so, yes, Donna can speak for me as she got it right. I do not block all comments with a URL. For any comment to be added it has to add value. I accept repetition also though, as often the comments are a way to address specific problems, and although it is often the same question I do feel compelled to answer. I never take the approach "they should read everything before asking". So yeah, if they add value, and have a URL, even a relevant one, I will still add. The fact is, even on the rare occasions that there is a URL it is not relevant to the site, it will be their personal blog about fly fishing or a Myspace page and not a rival website. As for the other comment (somewhere...) about Askimet and errors (false negatives you know, spamming good stuff?) I never have the time to check. Maybe some good comments get spammed, but there are so many coming in at times it is not worth checking. I just put my trust in Askimet in the same way I put my trust in a firewall or web host - I let them get on with it and trust all is tickety boo.
33. Hobo says:
    Solid advice. I'm perplexed at the number of 'social media' gurus who close blog comments altogether for this exact reason - answering a few comments on someone's blog is the number 1 way of first connecting with a blogger bar lazy ass Twitter which isn't as nearly as personal. I've made some cool connections with top folk in my industry and it starting with a comment that took 10 mins that wasn't just looking for links. If you're blog commenting ONLY for links, well, I guess you didn't get the memo.....
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      There are a couple of SEO gurus I know who've done the same thing. It makes no sense to me at all. I guess if you just want to stand up at a pulpit and preach to the masses, in a "I'm the god, and you're the worshipers" kind of way, then go for it. But yes, it's those awesome connections that are made when the conversation is allowed to take place that makes it so great.
      • Hobo says:
        It's interesting how well the threaded comments and the "most recent first" comment on this site works. I think I will pinch it lol Thanks for the reply Donna and I agree. I actually close old posts comments purely because I want comments when I post, not when I am knee deep in a project and I don't have time to chat. It REALLY CUTS DOWN spam comments doing this, and after a few days after a post, the chat goes quiet and I can concentrate on my work..... It works for me as an easy way of moderating and spam fighting while keeping the recent posts the centre of commenter attention. I'd never kill blog comments completely. Those crazy social media consultants..... :)
        • DazzlinDonna says:
          I don't automatically close old post comments, but I have chosen to do so a few times - manually - when a couple of old posts started getting a tremendous amount of spam for one reason or another. Either way, as long as there can still be some kind of connection, I'm ok with that.
34. Barry Welford says:
    The Power of a Smile It struck me that in the physical world, if someone else smiles at you, it is infectious and you smile back. Perhaps there's an analogy in the blog commenting world. Clearly a little bit of humour never hurts. Also if you can personalize the encounter (as a smile does), rather than just giving all the facts, then you'll get a richer interaction.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      I do wish emotions and meaning could always come through the written word, but very often what we write doesn't convey that as we'd like. If we can manage to convey that all-powerful smile - through our warm, thoughtful comments - then we might achieve that rich interaction. It takes time to make sure what we write does convey the emotion behind it, so taking that time can mean a lot.
35. Garrett French says:
    Comment threads are sometimes where the best action is - I've often retweeted articles simply because the comments have heated up and people of authority and experience have begun exchanging view points... or worse ;) Donna I'd love to hear your thoughts on coaxing jaded experts into commenting :)
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      The best way I know to coax a jaded expert into commenting, Garrett, is to use that expert's name in vain. Ok, maybe not in vain, but if you can say something like, "I bet JoeJoe would hate to hear me say this, but..." and then of course, link JoeJoe's name to his blog or his Twitter account. When JoeJoe knows he's being talked about, he'll have to comment. If only to clarify that he does or does not hate to hear you say what you said. :)
    • Elizabeth Able says:
      Ping them in a way that gives them something to talk about. Be interesting! A ping is just a ping, but conversation is a meeting of the minds. Don't be too heavy handed, and don't be bothered if they don't bite. Some people (hi Donna!!) are especially friendly and easy to strike up a conversation with. Start there. ;-)
      • DazzlinDonna says:
        Pinging the friendly ones is a great way to handle it. And they may bring others into the conversation as well, Liz. And if they don't bite, maybe they will the next time. Or maybe someone else will. As you say, keep it interesting. That'll attract someone!
36. Lyndsay Walker says:
    Donna (see I used your name?) the points you make here remind me a lot of customer service in general, particularly in keeping commenters returning. It's like a cell phone company that offers new clients promotions galore, but offer existing companies nothing. Where's the incentive to stay? There isn't one, we feel ignored and abandoned. If only all businesses took your advice when it comes to commenter/customer retention, we'd probably all be a lot more satisfied!
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Yes, Lyndsay, it is like good customer service - or even just good manners. And incentive is a good word, but I'd even add an adjective to it and call it "human incentive". Just giving and receiving that personal human touch goes a long way. Thanks for that analogy. It's got me thinking... :)
37. Wit says:
    [bites lip] [My own lip, not Donna's - doh]
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Now, Wit, behave yourself.
38. Mitchell Allen says:
    Donna, if you want to really impress the blogger, engage her commentators! Every so often, I see a three-way conversation living in the comment stream. It's a little harder, as it requires the visitors to opt-in for followups. However, it is well worth it. In fact, such engagement takes the comment box from the realm of an "email-like" single event to the heights of a "forum-like" on-going activity. UTG, indeed. Technological limitations aside, I'm sure the blogger appreciates the sustained attention :) On the subject of spam in comments, I had fun reading your conversation with Sheldon Campbell (@Doc626) regarding the future of spam on cell phones. Cheers, Mitch
    • Elizabeth Able says:
      I lurrrve multi-person comment conversations. Them's the REALLY good stuff. Community rocks.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Excellent point, Mitch. If the conversation involves more than just you and me, and her and me, and him and me, instead becoming you and me and her and him, then it's a far better conversation, and yes, I'll definitely be impressed when you interact with others besides just myself. I'm hoping one day in the future, Doc and I will still have memories that work well enough so that we can see who had the better instinct on the topic of cell phone spam. More likely, however, is that neither of us will remember ever having the conversation at all. :)
      • Doc Campbell says:
        Great point, Mitch! Nothing builds interest as well as a sense of community (well, that and free beer!). In the SEO/SEM world, we're fortunate that many of us know each other, even if we've never had the opportunity to meet face to face, so we see a lot of such sideline conversations take off. Like Donna, for instance, implying that my memory may soon not be what it once was... I seem to have lost my train of thought.
        • Mitchell Allen says:
          Well, here's another sideline. :) I only managed to get half-way through the comments on my first visit. My memory isn't what it used to be - I need an upgrade! Lucky for me, the subscription will send me whatever comments are to come. Donna, I wish all blogs had threaded comments - including mine! What plugins make that happen? Cheers, Mitch
          • DazzlinDonna says:
            Mitch, re: threaded comments, WordPress has the ability built in these days. I forget which version started it but it was a while back so if you're current (and you should be if you want to be secure), then you may just need to "turn it on". It depends upon your theme, and whether or not it has the needed code in it. If not, you can either add it , or use a plugin. Here are two good tutorials to guide you through it. http://just-ask-kim.com/social-networking/blogging/how-to-enable-threaded-thread-comments-in-wordpress/ http://www.blogtap.net/wordpress-threaded-comments-how-to-install-them-on-your-theme-a-guide-for-dummies/
            • Mitchell Allen says:
              Thanks, Donna! I'm working through Kimberly's tutorial now... {tinkering noise in background} It worked! Now, to play with the CSS. Cheers, Mitch
            • DazzlinDonna says:
              Oh good, Mitch! Glad you got it working easily. Have fun.
39. Meili says:
    Oh my when I first read your post I didn't know what you are really talking about but then I scrolled down and saw lot of comments! Lol I must say I rarely see blogs with tons of comments. For the rest of the people here who also left comments, thanks for the tips. I might try out keywordluv.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Mei-Li, I'm sorry if I wasn't really clear in my post. I'm glad the comments helped clarify things, but if there's anything I could have said differently to make it more understandable to begin with, please let me know.
40. Dave says:
    The relationship thing is a terrific perspective. Its not always part of a blog/commenting thing, but it can clearly occur over time, especially with multiple comments on several blog posts, which occurs. Its a great point
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      True, Dave. Certainly, as someone communicates with the blogger over time, and via different blog posts, a relationship is bound to form. The blogger will start recognizing the commenter's name as she sees it again and again. Obviously, a commenter won't want to inundate the blogger with lots of meaningless comments, just to get the "name recognition" factor going, but if the two begin to have natural conversations over various topics, a bond of sorts is inevitable.
41. Todd Morris says:
    Hi Donna, There was one sentence in your post that I wish we could make stickers and have every blogger who goes out commenting put right up on their screen ... The real Value of commenting is in the relationships. "Getting Links" is a secondary effect. And in fact, it's my opinion that people who comment primarily for immediate links are really missing the forest for the trees. Taking the time to leave good comments, and getting to know other bloggers makes it relatively easy to get truly valuable "in content" anchored links when you launch a new site, or decide to target a specific keyword. Whereas, popping onto random blogs where they don't know you, and leaving at best moderately relevant comments, with a keyword anchor, instead of your name, is much more likely to land your email/blog address in Akismet, than actually help your blog's rankings. For me, and easy and fast rule is that if you're commenting on any blog primarily for the purpose of "getting a link" you probably need rethink your strategy ... because it's going to come back to bite you eventually.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      I like that idea, Todd. That would make a great fake captcha in fact - Every commenter must enter "The real value of commenting is in the relationships." into the antispam captcha field. :D I'm diggin' it. hehe.
      • Todd Morris says:
        lol ... now you've got my creative juices flowing. I don't know about a captcha, but I bet it wouldn't be terribly hard at all to modify a challenge question plugin with something like a multiple choice ... The real value of commenting is : a) building relationships b) getting a link That would probably stop more "questionable" commenters than even Akismet :-)
        • DazzlinDonna says:
          That's a brilliant idea! Seriously, I love it. And yes, it should be fairly easy to modify an existing plugin (like the math plugins) to do that. Brilliant - on multiple levels.
          • Holly Jahangiri says:
            Not least of which is saving ME from having to do "higher math." Seriously, Donna. 9+15?? That's like...a two digit number.
            • DazzlinDonna says:
              LOL, not illiterate, Holly, I know, but I also don't want to present a trick question in which there might be more than 1 correct answer. :)
            • Holly Jahangiri says:
              I majored in English. I thrive on ambiguity and subjectivity. Hit me.
        • Elizabeth says:
          I love that!! I'll add one -- The real value of commenting is : a) building relationships b) getting a link c) impressing all the other bloggers ;-p
          • Doc Campbell says:
            Hey, we're on a roll! How about: The real value of commenting is : a) building relationships b) getting a link c) impressing all the other bloggers d) building a greater appreciation for Akismet ;)
            • DazzlinDonna says:
              Hmm, we can't get too carried away if we do this for real. I wouldn't want to make it impossible for the average human to correctly answer. But of course, if we didn't do this for real, and we were just goofing off, then the list could get pretty long - and pretty darn funny. :)
            • Holly Jahangiri says:
              I'm math challenged, Donna. Not illiterate.
    • Doc Campbell says:
      Good point, Todd. And I love your idea of modifying the challenge plugin. Some folks just don't seem to get the point, that quality comments can bring quality visitors to their site. Fluff isn't likely to bring them anything. Since many blogs' links are nofollow, the only real gain in terms of links, is new visitors. If the comment left is garbage, how many people are really likely to follow the link to see more of the same? Not I, said the Little Red Hen! (now tell me THAT didn't take you back to memories of your toddler years) ;)
42. Mike says:
    Donna: Real conversations with meaty comments are the basis of any kind of learning whether its on the web or in person. Substitive commenting is positive and spam is spam no matter how you look at it whether its on the web or inane comments in the midst of genuine conversation. I do get a lot out of substitive comment streams like this one. In many cases the points that grab me the most are not necessarily from the topic and blog piece itself but from a stream of thoughtful comments. Its a shame that blogs do lend themselves to spam attacks. Its an unfortunate unintended consequence of the nature of the web. Ridding a blog of spammy comments is similar to admining a forum and ridding the forum of spam. Unfortunately there is a lot of it. In fact I was surprised to see Debra reference that 1/2 of the comments on her blog are spam. Only 1/2? More power to you, Debra. You must be either 1. writing great stuff; 2. writing on meaty topics or 3. under the radar screen of the spamming world. (or all of the above) In any case I suppose spam is a consequence of the way the web works through links. Maybe we should go back to a web world with rankings based on human directory systems. :D
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      LOL, yeah, cuz directories never get spammy! HA! If there were real consequences to people who spammed that would go a long way towards ridding ourselves of it. Of course, there's no spam god that has the authority and trust to zap spammers into oblivion, so I guess that's out of the question. But I wouldn't mind being able to be spam goddess for one day, with a stun gun in my hand...zap! zing! [evil grin]
    • Elizabeth Able says:
      Mike --

      I was surprised to see Debra reference that 1/2 of the comments on her blog are spam. Only 1/2? More power to you, Debra. You must be either 1. writing great stuff; 2. writing on meaty topics or 3. under the radar screen of the spamming world. (or all of the above)

      Or 4. Not counting what Akismet & other spam screeners automatically sweep aside. BLESS AKISMET! LOL No, seriously, can you imagine blogging without the Akismets that help us out?
      • DazzlinDonna says:
        I cannot. I know Akismet gets some flack at times (perhaps rightfully so), but it's amazing positives far outweigh any negatives in my mind. It does a stupendous job.
43. Tom Demers says:
    Nice post Donna! The biggest thing that causes me to take notice of/appreciate a comment is "newness". Agree or disagree the introduction of a new thought or concept or tool or blog post on the topic of my post is awesome, because the commenter is effectively creating content for me and augmenting my post. That really helps in grabbing attention and generating good will (do me the favor of adding value and original content to my posts and I'm far more likely to help you with your own promotion, etc.) Tom Demers
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Ok, a server crash seemed to eat my comment, so I'll try to recreate. I said something like: Ah yes, Tom, the wonders of UGC - User Generated Content. And when that UGC is also quality, which it would be if the person commenting was trying to impress the blogger, then it's a huge win for the blogger. And since you're willing to return the favor, that also brings up the point I made about future benefits to the commenter. Wins all around! :D
44. Kim Krause Berg says:
    Donna, Y9u've touched on one of the most vital aspects of a truly honest to goodness social Internet. In the early days before blogs, we had forums and message boards, where real conversations could be found. People WANTED to talk and share information and ideas, not market themselves or their sites. There's this terrible selfishness today that corrupts today's forums and blog comments. Is it any wonder you and others are jaded? I long for the days when people spoke in sentences with real words and didn't limit themselves to 140 characters. Let's start a genuine conversation revolution!
    • Elizabeth Able says:
      Selfish? More like busy and tired. The more inventive spams are kind of funny -- I've had naked acrobat spam and hobbit spam (no naked hobbit spam.) The machine-generated ones that probably get sent out to every blog with the right keywords do tend to wear a person down. One machine can send out hundreds plus, one person can only do so much. I think that the same people are out there, they're just eclipsed by a lot of other stuff, and it won't go away any time soon. As things "computers" get to be more mainstream and user-friendly there will be more activity, not less, real people and bots alike. A few years ago you had to be a passionate nerd to run *nix on a home computer. Now you can do it all from the comfort of a user-friendly GUI, and carry a telephone that has more memory than my first PC, and that's just counting the camera.
      • DazzlinDonna says:
        Possibly, Liz, once the revolution moves into small form factors like phones, more than desktops or even laptops, possibly some of the spam will go away. I'm not quite sure why I feel that way - I surely don't have anything to back that up - but it's just a hunch I have. Take that for what it's worth, lol!
        • Doc Campbell says:
          Donna, I fear just the opposite: as more and more mobile devices began to dominate (I suspect they'll eventually become the standard design criteria, rather than the exception), there'll be more and more attempts to spam users. Adequate protection against spam and malware takes significant amounts of memory... something that mobile devices may lack. I'd LOVE to be wrong on that, BTW. ;)
          • DazzlinDonna says:
            I hope you're wrong about it too, Doc! And honestly, I have no idea why I'm so optimistic about it - it's kinda crazy, really - but that's what my gut says, and I usually listen to my gut. Of course, I did have a funky burrito for lunch today. ;)
            • Mitchell Allen says:
              I'm afraid I have to side with Doc on this one, Donna. Unless the industry changes the way texting is delivered, your cell phone is just another email address to the spambots. I was shocked to receive spam texts in my Verizon cell phone a few years back. I thought it was because I had signed up for Yahoo alerts. When they continued even after I cancelled the alerts, I learned about email address gateways. Cheers, Mitch
          • Jo says:
            Donna-I'm a relative newbie to blogging. I do love it and put care into what I write, so when someone takes the time to leave a positive comment that shows they have appreciated my work, it is rewarding! Doc-let's hope the mobile device makers take your points into consideration! My only regret is, to date, Ihave not recieved ANY nude acrobat spam!! :( lol
            • DazzlinDonna says:
              Heh, Jo, if I ever receive any nude acrobat spam, I'll be sure to forward it on to you. I'd hate for you to live your entire life with that one regret hanging over you. :D Ooooh, you have a teddy bear site. How awesome! Will send my sister there - she's crazy about teddy bears.
            • Doc Campbell says:
              @Jo - Something I recently saw from Matt Cutts indicates that he has an opposing opinion, regarding security on mobile devices. He seems to think that crackers will be focusing less on individual devices, and more on servers. For the same reasons I stated earlier, I don't see the logic of this. Logic would dictate that they'll go after the devices seen as most vulnerable.
            • DazzlinDonna says:
              I guess, Doc, it depends on a few things. If they go after a device, theoretically it would be easy for the device maker to get rid of it forever, as opposed to being stealthy and hitting the sites of naive bloggers for example. But maybe I'm the one being naive, LOL.
            • Jo says:
              ...ooh, I need to make sure that 'edits' accept my edit! :).....that last sentence was a bit of a mess! I've tutored in English-how did I mistype 'received'?? lol Sorry-I'm fussy! lol
            • Jo says:
              Thanks Donna! ...for the (possibly) impending nude spam in my inbox (lol). Teddies and old dolls are a passion for my daughter and I too, and the site is a new way to pass on some of what we know! Doc-thanks for the link to this site! I agree, mobile phone users are far more vulnerable and open to spam attacks than servers!
            • DazzlinDonna says:
              Jo, I got my Bachelor's degree in English Education, and you don't see me giving a rat's patooty about typos, grammar problems, or anything else. I totally understood what you were saying - that's communication - and that's what matters, imo. What's a little typo amongst friends - even ones we've just met in a virtual world? ;)
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      I think there's a place for both the 140 character limited conversations and real sentence and paragraph conversations, actually, Kim. I would like to think though that we aren't completely veering away from the genuine conversations that you mention, and only limiting ourselves to short tweets. Both are useful, but tweets alone will never be satisfying enough. If we could get Google to get rid of ranking via link popularity, the spam problem would mostly disappear overnight. That would be a welcome relief.
      • Kim Krause Berg says:
        Heh...You and Ablereach are more positive than I am. Agreed there is a place for different kinds and modes of conversation, and I enjoy the variation. But, I have zero tolerance for automated keyword bot spam and human trolls. I think both types are extremely self centered and anti-conversation...and they're wrecking the social nature of the web by making it all about them or whatever they're selling.
        • DazzlinDonna says:
          My mom used to call me Pollyanna. I do try to be positive about many things. But of course, she never got to see me ruthlessly whack spam with my invisible sword either! So I can be both positive and ruthless at the same time, Kim. Just depends on the situation. ;)
      • Barry Welford says:
        I must pick up that theme, DD, re Google being at the heart of the problem. I'm trying to spread the word as much as possible. The whole PageRank concept is now flawed and broken because the whole world has reacted to it in a way that renders the approach useless and dangerous. In fact Google really gets no value out of this approach so it would be in their own interests to abandon it. However they strike me as a very top-down run organization and who wants to fight the boss. :(
        • DazzlinDonna says:
          And this is indeed a topic that we could discuss for days, I'm sure, Barry. :) Maybe we should all write a blog post that asks Google to please do something to put an end to this. Obviously one or two of us moaning and groaning about it will never cause a dent, but who knows...maybe a blogger revolution could make ourselves be heard. Muwhahahahaha! ;)
          • Barry Welford says:
            ... which gets into the interesting question of who is this Google you're talking about. Is it a very top-down directed company stifling all internal debate so you really need to get the attention of Brin and Page. Or could it possibly be a grass-roots leadership kind of place where the front-line soldiers can really have a voice. It would be nice to hear from a Googler what is the reality. However such an individual would like be asked to leave by the nearest exit. :(
            • DazzlinDonna says:
              I'd bet the front-line employees have a good bit of input. Can you imagine Matt Cutts NOT being listened to? I can't. I assume there are lots of other Matt-lets working there as well whose voices are routinely heard.
45. Elisa says:
    Another good way to impress the blogger -- agree with them! :) Seriously though, if my post makes an argument, I appreciate when a commenter takes a side (agree OR disagree) as long as they make a thoughtful case and add something new to the discussion, rather than just saying "Yay, great post." It's also nice when commenters have obviously read all the other comments, not just the post itself.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      LOL, Elisa, agreeing is definitely nice, but yes, a thoughtful case of any sort enhances the conversation immensely. And yes, it is great if they've read the comments as well, although in cases like this one, with 200+, everyone can be forgiven for not reading them all. Bonus points for those who do though! :D
46. Risa says:
    Now I understand why comments like, "great blog post," and "keep it up" are not the most welcomed comments, even though those are comments that I might be inclined to leave (but I don't because I know it's discouraged). It's too bad because in real life, it's perfectly fine to only say those few words in a conversation. I think those succinct comments would be meaningful to a blogger, as well, but I guess that's life on the internet. Unfortunately spammers are out there so vigilence must be high.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Risa, I will always let that type of comment through if I recognize the person. That's another reason to make an impression on a blogger from the very beginning. Later, your "great post" comments will be trusted.
    • Stever says:
      Risa, I ONLY allow those comments when I recognize the user that left it. 9 times out of 10 though it is just someone trying to link drop with keyword loaded anchor text.
      • Jon says:
        If someone said "great post" and did not leave a link, I would consider it genuine - although still keep a beady eye out for the 2nd comment. Default settings (still?) for Wordpress are to moderate first comment then let the rest through the gate. A lot of spammers know this and will write something "nice" on a blog that they know to be moderated and then send in the real comment once the first is approved. Of course, you can switch this off, but the spammers often prey on those least prepared.
        • DazzlinDonna says:
          True, Jon. It would be nice if WP had a way to control that setting - Instead of allow thru after 1, it would be nice if we could change that number to whatever we want - allow thru after 2 or 3 or whatever number we choose.
47. Jun says:
    A very good post here Donna. Almost made me not to post a comment though as I don't have any thing else to say other than this post is really good and everyone should consider what's written here before adding a comment on any blog.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      That's ok, Jun, after reading more than 200 comments, you probably would have forgotten what you wanted to say in the first place. LOL. I know I do! If you have any experiences to share about commenting, especially if anyone has made an impression on you with their style of commenting, do come back and tell us about it. We're all eager to learn.
48. Patricia Skinner says:
    Hi Donna, I just wanted to stop by and say that I sincerely think you're one of the best bloggers to learn from. Not just because you know more than most about the game, but because you're also truly one of the nicest people I have come across online, and you make the Web a nicer place to be!
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Aw, thanks Patricia! I can tell you that you are one of the people who made a huge impression on me. You'll always hold a place in my life. One day, I'd love to meet you in real life. Until then, I hope we continue to bump into each other across the vast web.
49. debra mastaler says:
    Probably half my comments are spam drops but I do look at all of them before deleting :) Sometimes, the good comments are so good they push me to do another blog post so I keep comments open.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      LOL, when I read the first half of your first sentence, Debra, I thought you were telling me that half of all the comments you MAKE are spam drops. Luckily, the rest of the comment clarified that you meant half of the comments you RECEIVE are spam drops. Glad to hear you keep comments open. It's just not a blog without comments, ino.
50. Mike says:
    I was referred here by a friend. Nice post, Donna (I read your post). Lots of stimulating comments. I was intrigued by the comment by Sorvoja about commenting for future gain. Some of the most stimulating comments by people have gotten me to do further research on the person, their websites, blogs, etc. and to contact them for assistance, help, questions, business interactions, etc. Sometimes a specific comment generates a specific helpful response. Sometimes it generates a trip into another area with all sorts of interesting opportunities. Elizabeth described the perfect scenario. Sometimes building the relationship with the blogger leads to unexpected opportunities. In fact, just reading through the various blogs here, via commentluv opens up doors for me that I never would have considered. This has been a worthwhile (if long) :D coversation.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Glad your friend referred you, Mike. Sorv did make a good point, and I probably should have expanded upon it in the initial post, but that's part of what makes the comments so valuable - different brains coming at a problem create unique and interesting perspectives. Sorry the conversation has been so long, but glad you got something out of it. I know I have!
51. Barry Adams says:
    Jaded blogger here too Donna. Do you find it hard to come up with fresh interesting topics that are fun to write about? I'm starting to see myself going in circles when it comes to my blogging, rehashing old topics from way back when.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Oh definitely, Barry. After all this time, I often think that I have absolutely not.another.thing.to.say. I've decided it's ok, and maybe even a good thing, to rehash old topics. First of all, that gives us a chance to reconsider things that may have changed, and it also introduces the topic to people who haven't seen the old posts. One of the things I like to do most, though, when searching for inspiration, is look at photos at places like Flickr. It doesn't matter what the pic subjects are - just a random collection of photos works well. I try to find some sort of meaning in a photo that I like a lot - and some sort of connection to my blog's topic. That kind of mind travel almost never fails me. Try it sometime. :)
52. Trond Sorvoja says:
    Hello Donna, This blog post and the discussion in the comment field was a nice read. The concept of blog commenting as relationship building is intriguing, but I fail to understand it. It would be of great benefit to me if you could provide a tangible example of a "future gain". I have always considered the possibility to provide feedback and ask questions the primary reasons for commenting on a blog. Thank you
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      I was thinking along the lines of collaboration, partnerships, etc, Trond. For example, if someone comments on a blog post in which I've complained about WordPress not working the way I'd like it to, and they have a solution for me, I may hire that person in the future to solve another problem. Or, if someone is a skilled writer, I may partner up with them on a content project in the future. Certainly, the primary reasons for commenting are feedback, questions/answers, and conversation, but the ones that make an impression may end up being the catalyst to some future collaboration.
    • Elizabeth Able says:
      Future gain is a yummy topic -- Comment for fun! Ever feel like you're the only nerd of your own particular brand in the whole wide world? Go play @ some niche blogs. Sometimes they come back & play @ yours, too. Comment for networking! Someone else posted about an idea on their blog. I liked it and wrote about it on my blog -- not just reported on it, really thought it through, took it for a walk around the blog. They liked it and took it a step further, linking back to me. Idea city, plus questions about what sort of work I might want to do. What's not to love? Comment to Stir up interest. The mundane but oh, so useful -- I reviewed a bunch of plugins, reported on what I wished one of them all did, and one of the plugin designers saw the pingback and dropped a comment to say they'd add just such a thing. Social Causes - give Chez Pim's Menu for Hope a google. It started as one person's idea - a foodie-community-based, blog-funded fundraiser. After the big Indian Ocean tsunamis of 2004, foodies were blogging about wishing they could do something. When we blog, we ping each other. Voila! After starting from scratch, Menu for Hope gathered steam and over the last few years they've raised a total of about a quarter of a million dollars for the World Food Program. Comment because blogging is good for Search - blogging is good for Search Engine visibility, and commenting encourages bloggers. Hakuna matata.
      • DazzlinDonna says:
        Those are some awesome examples of possible future gain. It's not so much that there's a plan in place when commenting. Future gain may never be realized on most comments, but like your example of the Menu for Hope program, things can happen just because someone made a statement somewhere. One blog post, or one comment, can turn into an incredible future gain. You never know what will spark a storm. And really, Liz, your final statement really hits home with me. Hakuna matata.
        • Trond Sorvoja says:
          Thank you Donna and Elizabeth for your replies. I have been thinking about this "future gain" issue. And what is comes down to is the equivalent of giving someone your business card after having any sort of business related chat. What is important is not the initial talk itself, but the increased chance of being remembered at a later time. To sum it up, the talk is the comment you are leaving. And the business card in this setting is the link you are leaving behind. This got me thinking, it might be better to leave a link to a page with your contact information and summary of what you do than to leave a link to the front page of your latest project. I would love to get your opinions on this. Thank you.
          • DazzlinDonna says:
            The initial talk is the MOST important, I believe. When I look at your business card, the only way I'm going to remember you is if our business talk left an impression on me (preferably a favorable one). But the link can be important too. In fact, if the link's title intrigues me (like any good title should), then the chances of my clicking it are vastly increased. Now, I can see how your idea could be an excellent one in many circumstances. Especially for people who do work for hire or take on clients for any reason, then a link to your About Me page, or your portfolio, etc. might be an excellent link to leave. If you're just the average blogger, however, who doesn't have a coordinating business, then a link to one of your best posts might be better. There are tons of possibilities here, each depending upon who the commenter is, what your goals are, etc. So, yes, in some cases, it might be better to leave a link to a contact / summary page. But regardless of which link you leave, that initial conversation should really be the initial spark that makes the blogger want to know more about you. All in my most humble opinion, of course! ;)
53. Tim Coleman says:
    I am also impressed when a reader takes the time to point out a typ0 or broken link in the post.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      That's a good point, Tim. That can be extremely helpful as long as the reader isn't just being a grammar nazi, LOL. There have been a couple of times, however, that a reader has let me know that a link in my post was borked, and I was very grateful to the reader for that. The last thing I want is a bad link in my post. That just frustrates the reader when he/she tries to click through. So yes, that will get my attention every time, for sure.
54. Stever says:
    The debate over keyworded anchor text in the commentators name continues. I do like how KeywordLuv is set up to do a middle of the road/best of both worlds approach. Use your real name, or online nickname, AND toss in some anchor text.
    • Stever says:
      Donna, I see you are ordering comments by latest first. Do you always order them like that, or only on posts that garner a large number of comments? I have a few posts on my personal blog with 200 and 300 comments. In those cases, new posts going to the bottom might make it a little less useable, even though natural conversation flow would be older comments at top, newer below. I've not switched the order on those posts, but have had a few emails from users suggesting I should.
      • DazzlinDonna says:
        This isn't my blog so I'm not actually controlling the order of the comments. Personally, I like seeing older comments at top, with newer comments below. That would definitely be a problem with paginated comments, however. For that reason, I decided on my own blog, to not paginate the comments. No matter how many comments there are, they are all loaded on the same page, in the order from top to bottom of old to new. Having them all on the same page might slow down a page load somewhat, but it shouldn't be a big problem unless lots of posts have hundreds of comments. If it's only a few, I think the tradeoff is worth it.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Right, luckily KeywordLuv is the middle-of-the-road, and in some circumstances, I can see not being adverse to using it. I think it just depends upon how spammy the keyword phrase might seem - sitting right there next to my name.
55. Gareth Rees says:
    Hi Donna, first time I've come across your blog so it looks like I've got some reading to do! I think there's nothing more disrespectful than comment spam, especially when bloggers are taking the time to put so much into their posts. Askimet is a god send, but wouldn't it be great not to need it in the first place.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Hi Gareth. Hopefully, you don't mistake FamousBloggers as my blog. That's Hesham's site, and he's creating a mega-blog out of it. I'm just humbly guest blogging here. But you can definitely find lots to read either here or on my own blog. I'll be reading yours as well.
56. Ken Lyons says:
    Hey, Donna. Not sure if this has been covered in the comments (note: I DID read the post, but not all 167 comments :) but a lot of of the economic and financial blogs I read regularly I read specifically FOR the comments. In many cases, the commentary from the "regulars" are so meaty and so poignant and so insightful that they're the best part of these blogs. So clearly having an active, knowledgeable community that adds real value to your blog and returns regularly to contribute and further the discussion is a tremendous asset and can turn a good blog into a great blog. Cheers! Ken
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      This post itself is a perfect testament to your point, Ken. I don't know about everyone else, but I've personally learned a few things just from the comments of this post. That's powerful. It's also a great way to come up with new blog post ideas, based on reader interests and comments. But that's another topic for another day... :)
      • Ken Lyons says:
        Hey, Donna. Yeah, totally agree about comments being great fodder for future blog material. Some of my favorite posts have been spawned from the questions and commentary of others. It lights a creative spark. Plus, the questions demonstrate real demand for more info on a specific topic, so you know people want to learn more. Rock on! Ken
        • DazzlinDonna says:
          Exactly, Ken. It's one thing to look through your server's logs to determine what keywords brought people to the site. That's a good way to determine what topics to write more about. But it's even better when there's zero guessing involved, and answering direct questions from people's comments makes the content generation process a cinch.
          • Ken Lyons says:
            So true, Donna. I often find myself writing these elaborate responses to comments and I stop and think, "hey, let's turn this into a post." I've also reached out to and recruited one of my most active and engaging commenters to turn his comments (and emails to me) into a featured series on our blog called "SEM Questions." So again, it just speaks to the premise about the value of good comments. Ken
57. Garethjax says:
    I want to agree with you, but people shifted their attention on the social networks (facebook in particular is a great conversation starter) and i noticed a decrease of conversation in many historically successful blogs. It's particularly noticeable in nations where the communities were smaller (eg: italy) so for a time the remote provinces of the digital empire get to experiment the "new world". Fortunately, your advices are fit for social media too!
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      It's true, Garethjax, that the focus has shifted somewhat from conversing on blogs to conversing on various social networks. I think this might make the value of good comments even more valuable, since there are fewer of them these days. And as David Harry mentioned in one of the comments here earlier, there are moves afoot to create technologies that will combine and merge all the conversations - across blogs, twitter, facebook, other social platforms, etc. etc. - into a unified conversation. Apparently Google is working on one such technology, but I'm sure there are lots of folks working to do the same. If we continue to hold conversations on our blogs, even if the public is having the conversation elsewhere, then the new technologies may be able to tie it all together at some point. That would be cool.
58. Doc Campbell says:
    Great points, Donna! I've been at it nearly as long as you, and I'm on my third one, now. Your statement about the majority of comments these days being spam are spot on! (if not for Akismet, I'd go nuts! ) Unfortunately, even some loyal readers tend to leave comments that fall short of the mark. Like you, I enjoy hearing from people that disagree. Even if we both walk away unconvinced, I think there's still something to learn, if we're willing. A little controversy in the comments column can spark some great participation. I also keep notes of the names of the folks that comment, so I can reference their earlier comments, and tailor my responses to them. Readers enjoy being recognized, just like we do. (maybe it's something about seeing our name in print. ;) )
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Doc, I love the idea of making notes about the people who comment, and then tailoring future responses based on those notes. Fabulous way to really connect. That's not something I've done in the past, but it's definitely something I'll start doing now. Love it!
      • Doc Campbell says:
        When I started doing that, I noticed a rapid build-up of repeat visitors. Someone might mention that they'd had the same problem with their shopping cart, or their teenage son's biology teacher, and when I asked them weeks later if they'd ever gotten that straightened out, BANG! I had an addicted commenter! Any salesman on the floor will say that remembering insignificant personal details is the secret to repeat sales. ;)
        • Holly Jahangiri says:
          One thing that helps me, as a commenter - if you think I SHOULD have replied (and past behavior has indicated that it's kind of out of character for me NOT to), come find me at my blog - my "online home" - and give me a nudge. Sometimes, the other magpies eat my breadcrumbs. Seriously. Blame it on bad memory, failure to finish subscribing to comments (have I mentioned I HATE wordpress.com's subscription triple-opt-in thingy?), bad memory (did I say that already?), or "blogger's ADD" (ooooh, here's another pretty, shiny blog and the comments are more ACTIVE!). I never mean to be rude. Sometimes, I have a lot of time on my hands. The next week or two, none. Come find me and gently lead me back. Of course you shouldn't have to, but it does make my "commenter loyalty score" SOAR, because it tells me "I actually MATTER!" Sometimes, the kids do this best - and that never ceases to amaze me. One blog that, on the surface, looks completely impersonal and MMO oriented, and yet is very welcoming to commenters and guest posters, is SmartBloggerz. (I'm even attempting a link here in the comments on Sushant's behalf! I'll probably end up in comment Hell for that...) He knows I'm busy - he also knows I can comment like crazy when I have time on my hands. So he checks now and then to see if I've died or something (not really, but he has been known to follow up and see where I've been).
          • DazzlinDonna says:
            Both of these activities - remembering details from previous comments to mention later, and nudging someone to comment - would fall into the "above and beyond" category, I think. I can see how some bloggers may not have the time to always go that extra mile, but I can also see how it would be very much worth it if they could find the time to do so. Maybe, at some point, we'll have tools to help. Imagine, for instance, a plugin that allowed us to make sticky notes for ourselves on each person who comments. Those sticky notes would appear only to us (the bloggers) whenever we see new comments by that same person. So, if I'd made a sticky note on Holly or Doc to myself that reminded me of personal things about them, I could easily use those notes in the future. I'd love a plugin like that.
            • Holly Jahangiri says:
              Microsoft Office OneNote serves this purpose pretty well, if you keep it open while you blog and surf. But a plug-in? I'd never have to leave my blog! I love it. Any plug-in authors out there? New idea for the taking!! Let us know when you're ready to test it.
            • DazzlinDonna says:
              Not sure why I can't reply to your comment below, Holly, but the little Reply button refuses to show up for it. Sorry, I'll just have to reply to myself instead, which is kind of a drag. With any solution that isn't directly tied to the blog's backend, it won't have the essential feature that would make a plugin so useful. With an outside notes application, I'd have to search to find a note. With a plugin, it could display it automagically for me, or at least give me a little icon indicator next to the person's comment to let me know that I've written notes about the person in the past. I could then just hover over the icon to display those notes. (Or at least, that's how I design it).
            • Holly Jahangiri says:
              Donna, we've hit the limit on levels of nested replies - that's why we don't get a button. Over on nanowrimo.org, there's a tradition we dubbed "the royal flush" because the forums (at least prior to now!) did not have such a limit. Each level of nested replies went into a square box surrounded by a square box housing the comment being replied to. After a while, it was kind of a trip just to scroll up and down - but it also made the center comment box really, really small. And drove a few readers completely batty (which is why we delighted in doing it, year after year). Anyway, I agree - having the info right there, with an icon (preferably one that ONLY the blog owner could see, though!) alerting us to the fact that we had notes on a commenter to help follow-up - that would be very cool. Anyone else seeing the huge potential here? We design, you code... hah!
            • DazzlinDonna says:
              Ah, that makes sense. Can't have the nested comments column get too narrow to read... And yes, certainly, the sticky notes would have to only show for the logged-in blog owner/admin.
59. Kylie says:
    Wow Donna, six years is a long time to be blogging. I have been blogging for less than a year, but I already relate to your article. The types of comments you have encouraged here are the ones that catch my eye and the bloggers who capture my imagination and heart. My absolute least favourite comments are the “Great post. Come over and check out my blog” comments. How rude. If they had bothered to leave a nice comment I probably would go visit them, but instead they just left me a big neon sign saying avoid that blog! After writing this down, I think I have just made myself a new policy…. I am not even going to publish that sort of comment in the future!
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      I never let those types of comments through, and I'm pretty sure no one is missing out because of it. Ya know, sometimes, it's the oddest things that catch my eye as well. For instance, those who know me, know that I'm absolutely bonkers about the color purple, so when I saw your link, I was compelled to click through to your twitter account and your blog. See, sometimes you don't get noticed for reasons unknown. :)
60. Dave says:
    I don't know about the rest of you, but twitter has moved me from commenting at blogs, and other forms of communicating. In fact I've received some tweets with great ideas and instead of commenting in the blog, I've retweeted. In fact I've done that a lot. Its cut down on making depth of commentary. In fact, this article got me to refocus on some tremendous writing that clearly merited comments and I only RT'd them. And with that I'm off to comment...hopefully with something meaningful, thoughtful, and possibly memorable ;) I'll use a first name ;)
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Twitter has not only caused a slowdown of commenting, but a slowdown of blogging as well, imo, Dave. What I might have once blogged about, now gets tweeted instead. I do think this entire contest has taught everyone some really valuable lessons, and for that reason, it's probably the best contest I've ever seen within the blogging sphere. It went way beyond "just a contest" and became a great learning tool - on many levels. Very cool.
      • Doc Campbell says:
        Donna, I don't think Twitter is likely to adversely affect blogging very much, mostly because of the 140 character limit. The things we're passionate about, or have a lengthy comment on (something better than "Must read! Pls RT) will nearly always need more space than Twitter allows. Granted, Facebook may be a different story. I look at social media as more of a complementary tool. It helps me attract NEW visitors, to give me a chance to "set the hook". It has helped me multiply my unique visitors tenfold, since I started using it.
        • DazzlinDonna says:
          True, true, but I do see a change in one thing that I believe Twitter affected. Remember how we all used to write roundup posts of the cool blog posts we read that week? Or how we would quickly write a post to share someone else's post with our readers? That's the kind of blog posts many of us stopped writing when we were able to start tweeting about the cool stuff we found instead. Those posts weren't always valuable from a content standpoint, as they were really just RB's (reblogs as opposed to retweets, lol). But they did have some value - if nothing else, they would supply solid links to other blogs that Twitter only supplies in an indirect way.
61. Jesse W. says:
    Great article and some of the things that many of us bloggers understand completely. Unfortunately I have turned comments off on some of my blogs... :(
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      How many blogs do you have, Jesse? For the ones in which you've turned the comments off, are they non-personal topics?
62. Michael VanDeMar says:
    Donna, sometimes I get a real kick out of some of the spammers trying to emulate actual commenters when they leave comments on my blog. I am not talking about the automated bots, of course, but the real people who try and make a stretch between what your blog post is about and the link they want to surreptitiously drop into the comment. One of my favorites comments in this genre, for instance, was left on one of the guest posts on my blog. The post itself was written by an awesome blogger I know, and was titled "Video Games Requiring Physical Action Burn Calories – Duh". I didn't approve the comment, since of course it was spam, but I did save it, because the spammer put such obvious effort into trying to get it approved (the blog post in question mentioned the Wii):

    I’ve lost about 10 pounds on Wii Fit! So there, it’s true, video games that require physical activities do help us lose weight. And that is to compensate for my time playing World of Warcraft. Speaking of WoW, have you heard the latest update? If not, check this out: {spammy link drop goes here}

    Nice segue, eh? :) Another point I wanted to to touch on has to do with what you mentioned in the post, about appealing to a author's ego (ie. using the blogger's name in the post, making sure by the content of the comment you let the blogger know that you actually read the post, etc). I think that sometimes you can significantly increase this effect if within the comments you somehow tie in the current post with some past post that the author wrote. That not only lets the author know that you read the post you are commenting on, but it also tells them that you know who the author is, because you have read (and remembered) material that they have written in the past. This is definitely a way to get your comments remembered.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Michael, although that type of spam is a lot harder to spot, I have to at least give them credit for going above and beyond the normal bot generated crud. Of course, it makes our job even harder, but maybe we need some intelligent spam once in a while to keep us on our toes. :) Your second point - bringing up a past post by the author - would impress me a lot more than you might imagine. Why? Not just for the reasons you state - although those are good ones. But also because I often forget my OWN past posts, so for someone else to remember them is very impressive. :)
63. Elizabeth Able says:
    Here's one for you. What tips & tools are out there to keep bloggers keep track of commenters, once we have noticed you. Some commenters here I recognize because I've been lurking/active/around for several years. Some, not so much, and that's a shame. Threaded comments help to keep mini-conversations readable. Some blogs show the number of comments by each author - if I know I've heard from someone 10 times before I probably don't need to check their URL for viagra, if you know what I mean. Is there a good plugin that adds contact management capabilities to WP's back end? There should be! People who come back over time are precious - they've chosen to be part of my online life. They could also be part of a blogger's networking community. For instance, some one who has commented more than once on posts about blue widgets might appreciate a heads up about a new blue widget gizmo. If I was a programmer, I'd be looking to see if there are hooks in the software.
    • Holly Jahangiri says:
      Why yes, I think Contact Commenters would fit that description. I love it, don't use it often enough, but highly recommend it.
      • Elizabeth Able says:
        Thanks, Holly, I'll check it out!
    • Elizabeth Able says:
      Shoot. I put my URL in the Twitter ID spot on that last post, & the form linked to a non-existent Twitter account, "twitter.com/ablereach.com." That brings up another point --- what we are doing is still a work in progress. In a few years, there will be a standard that these forms do some error checking to detect characters that should not be there. Right now, though some of us have been using this WordPress thang for years and years, it's still new enough for even the most professionally done setups to have spots that don't have the new & novel awkwardness worn off of them. The same thing goes for comment policies and commenting etiquette - we're making it up as we go along, by participating in conversations like this and noticing what's been working for ourselves and others.
      • DazzlinDonna says:
        It is amazing, that even with years under our belts, we're still learning, but that of course helps keep it all exciting. I just returned 5 minutes ago from a flea market, where I saw an old Radio Shack TRS-80 for sale (my first pc). But even though I've been mucking around with computers and then the Internet for all those decades, I still get to learn new stuff about it every day. Blogging and commenting is just one of many. Good times to be had by all. :)
64. Dave Davis says:
    Donna (great start right?), fantastic post with some really pet peeves of mine. I hate the ones that don't address me by my name. On the flip side, I hate commenting on blogs where I have to go out of my way to find out who the author is by trawling through the "about" page or god forbid, the whois (I'd usually give up before that unless it was an attack or something wrong). On the topic of spam, on really long posts, some get pretty sophisticated and copy a sentence each from other comments and merge them all into one that sounds *almost* non automated. Your first point usually is the first step to combat that and in fairness Akismet has usually gotten to it as others report the IP/URL as spam anyway. In the process of creating a comment policy to stop anchor spammers, I think you just wrote it for us :)
    • Barry Welford says:
      Dave, your comment reminded me of the importance of Akismet for Wordpress blogs in this particular topic. Akismet also takes into account your own spam assessments too so it really should be doing the spam elimination process as you like it. Once Akismet is in place, it provides a way of avoiding needless debate with some who might question why their comments were trashed. It's out of my hands. Only if you're pure as identified by Akismet will your comments see the light of day.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      I generally notice that the harder it is to find the blogger's name, the more likely it is that he/she didn't want a conversation in the first place. And while I've used a blog as a CMS in the past, and really had no need to have dialog, I've just removed the ability to comment at all. Those who keep the commenting system in place, but then don't really encourage conversation are straddling a fence, and it's often not a very good solution.
65. Vernon says:
    Hi Donna, I have a couple things to add. I haven't been blogging as long as you, but certainly long enough to know the trouble of spam. I always wanted to write my own blog engine, and the first one I tried was with rather poor PHP skills. At some point some spam bot must have caught on that an amateur was at work, and I started getting many comments an hour. After fighting it for a while, I finally deleted the entire blog. Having learned the hard way, I have two things to add to your story: 1. From a blogger's prospective, I think that we need to feel more free to delete comments. My policy is, if the comment is half good, but the link looks spammy, I just disable the link. If it is just plain spam, delete. I know that once you are getting 50 or more comments a post it becomes unmanageable, but most of us aren't, and every comment is precious. 2. From a commenter's prospective, one good way to judge your own comment's worth is asking yourself, 'could the author have included this in their post'. Does it really add to the conversation? Does it help develop the point being made? I get many comments that are on topic, but add little, but if I'm actually thinking "I wish I thought of that when I wrote the post", then the comment is really worth it. I read a lot of programming blogs and at times I find that the comments are actually the thing that helped me understand the whole thing. Those are the comments you want.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      I agree, Vernon, that comments are precious. For that reason, I don't want to discourage people from writing comments that aren't solid enough to have been included in the post. Not every comment has to be *that* good. But definitely, if the comment is that good, then it will positively catch my eye and go a very long way towards "impressing" me. I think some people may have gotten the wrong idea about the word "impress" that I used in this post. Hope not, but just in case, maybe I'll take the time here to explain. (offtopic to your comment). By impress, I mean, "make an impression upon" or "get noticed in a positive way". I'd hate for it to come across as some kind of egocentric thing but maybe it does have a bit of that connotation. Ok, enough of that offtopic stuff. Sorry for hijacking this comment. :) Thanks for the thoughts. They were excellent ones. Not sure why my mind wandered offtopic. I blame not having enough coffee yet. :)
    • Holly Jahangiri says:
      Vernon, that's a good point. I try to look at deletion from my POV as a commenter. I'm fine with you deleting my post provided you're not attacking me personally and not allowing me the right to defend myself. :) I'm fine with you deleting my link; that's a privilege, not a right. I am so NOT fine with you editing my comment in any way, shape, or form unless I've slipped and written profanity (you may remove it and add a proper [Ed. note] to explain to the world I've been a naughty girl. I'd say that fixing my spelling errors or other typos is fine, too, but only if you're a better writer than I am and you're sure you're right. I do not take kindly to blogs that have implemented any sort of in-context text link advertising (Infolinks, Kontera, and the like) that spills over onto my comments. I do not grant the blogger anything beyond non-exclusive rights to display my comment on the post where I wrote them. I do not grant the right to make derivative works. I don't care how trivial the comment is; it's the principle of the thing, and I won't comment on blogs I KNOW have implemented these plug-ins in comments. I'll request deletion if the blogger chooses not to remove the links. Having said that, it is absolutely the blogger's right to add these links to the blog - I'm not trying to be bossy about it and say "I won't ever read your blog again if you don't get rid of this thing!" But don't apply it to anything I contribute, including comments.
      • Vernon says:
        Just to be clear, Holly, I very rarely do anything to a comment left on one of my blogs, and the only things I would ever do is either disable a spam link or delete. I don't even do that to often. I often write travel related things, and I find that those articles/posts just seem to get a massive amount of spam. Considering I rarely get more than a couple comment per post anyway, when I suddenly have 10 spam comments, I start deleting. Mostly I'm super nice to any visitor kind enough to leave a comment. [ sometimes I beg them to:) ]
66. GIGrafx says:
    Donna, perhaps my familiarity with blogging on these terms of impressing the blogger themselves was never my intention, but to give response to by way of comment concerning a given blog entry. Topics should actually be the measure for which a comment would be given, at least in my own perspective... not just the subject concerning comments themselves... though here I am submitting a comment. We all learn by taking in the different viewpoints of various responders. One would now only be left to ponder the creative aspects behind this.
    • Holly Jahangiri says:
      I'm not sure I follow you.
67. Pierre Far says:
    What I found amusing reading this is that many comment spammers try to automate many of these points. They take the username of the author of the post ("Nice post, admin!"), copy and include some random sentence from the post ("Click here for more info"), and then attempt flattery ("I learned a lot from reading your post. Great work. Keep it up!"). Of course, none of these points can be automated elegantly and a quality comment is really easy to identify.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      "Keep it up!" is always a giveaway to me, Pierre. There are a handful of other phrases that these bozos use over and over again. Luckily, it's easy to spot those kind. Click. Gone. :)
      • Pierre Far says:
        Another give away is all those people called "Buy Viagra Online" posting praising comments on my blog :) I should write to Mr Online and ask him to stop doing that. On a more serious note, we have to pay tribute to Akismet which automatically spots all these fake comments, making our lives as bloggers just a bit easier.
        • DazzlinDonna says:
          I can't imagine what life would be like without Akismet. It's not perfect, but my goodness, I'd have quit blogging long ago without it.
    • Wit says:
      Pierre, I always get comments like those on this hanjie blog. Stuff like "I've learned a lot from this article" or "I like your writing style". But this blog has no articles of any kind: hardly any text at all apart from the blog post titles :D Of course I'm still flattered hehe. Anyway, those automated muppets always crack me up.
      • DazzlinDonna says:
        Once in a while, Wit, when I can use a little pick-me-up, I'll purposely go through the spam comments just to feel good about myself. All those little fake flatteries are good for the soul. Hehe, ok, maybe not, but they do make me smile, even if it's just because I'm laughing at the insanity of their wasted efforts. :)
68. Dave says:
    Donna, Holly: Thanks for your comments and experiences with keywordluv. That is exactly what I needed, experience and perspective. I see a great application for it, specifically for local...but it may well have only limited application should it lead to an explosion of comment spam above the existing endless torrent.
69. Barry Welford says:
    What a great contribution to the discussion, Holly. I think the key measure of what you are talking about is the development of mutual respect. When a relationship has that, it's gold.
    • Holly Jahangiri says:
      Thank you, Barry. Interestingly, I think most interaction I see on the Internet these days tends to be more civil than it once was; that, or I've learned to stop hanging out in the cyber-biker-bars. I think there's a sense that anonymity is a fragile thing; more and more people use their real names, and those who don't are quite aware that it's not that hard to discover them. There's a growing awareness that what you say here today will still be in Google's memory banks (or at least buried in the Wayback Machine) for the next decade or more. Terabytes are cheap these days; talk is less so. But still, forming genuine, meaningful connections and earning mutual respect has no shortcuts.
70. Dave says:
    Donna: What is it about keywordluv that keeps you on the fence? I have 2 more business blogs coming out and I see a great application; especially for local, which is my niche. I think its great. Why the hesitation? Commnetluv is great. I've skimmed through the latest blog posts and have noticed some gained visits through this conversation. I'm going to visit some of the comments. Its a wonderful gift of a way to "spread the word". I guess I'm wondering what your hesitation is to see if I've missed something. Dave
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Well, let's take me for example. To effectively use keywordluv when I comment, I would type DazzlinDonna @ make money online , and "make money online" would be linked. While that's a great advantage to me, I'm not thrilled about leaving my mark that way. It "feels" spammy. Even though I know it's welcome, it still feels like I'm leaving a spam comment. It's a personal thing. My own issue, I guess. I'm just not sure I'm comfortable with it.
      • Holly Jahangiri says:
        KeywordLuv doesn't seem to work with IntenseDebate. I've opted to stick with IntenseDebate. All it took to triple my spam comments was to let it be known that it was okay to leave a link to your site provided your comment was SOMEWHAT related to the topic at hand. Suddenly, I was getting weird and tangentially "related" comments signifying absolutely nothing - from spammers all over the place. Akismet is not as kind-hearted as I, and in the end, I bowed to its superior wisdom. "These are not your friends," said Akismet. "But if you let them in, they'll eat your food, put their dirty feet on the table, and leave their garbage lying around on the floor for you to pick up each morning. Let me deal with them," urged my friend Akismet. "Let me show them the door." Akismet's a great butler. A little stuffy at times (I do have a real friend or two that occasionally gets the bum's rush - I have to chide Akismet for that, and assure it that I do have a few friends in low places, and that it needn't put on airs on my behalf).
        • DazzlinDonna says:
          You always make me giggle, Holly. Love the way you think. I intentionally stay away from 3rd party commenting systems, mainly because the couple of times I've tried them, the calls out the external sites made my sites slow to a crawl. Possibly, those things have been dealt with since then, but I've never seen a really compelling reason to move away from plain jane WP comments, and risk dealing with 3rd party problems.
          • Holly Jahangiri says:
            I'm with you, Donna. There's a lot to love about IntenseDebate, but in trying to disable it (so as to try out KeywordLuv) I somehow ended up sending comments to a Feedburner confirmation window - now, that can't be right. In trying to "fix" that problem, I somehow ended up blowing away my entire blog. (Partly user error, but I contend that it was the writer over at HostGator who claimed that blowing away the www folder wouldn't hurt anything who ought to shoulder all responsibility, since I actually DID read the docs for a change and tried to follow them.) Anyway... Oh, and by the way, our little comma and semicolon issue should be fixed RSN. I got word from the manager. ;) Now my wit won't have to be so dry - I can go back to adding silly little winky faces so that the linguistically challenged will know I'm being silly and not really out to bite 'em.
            • DazzlinDonna says:
              Ouch, that had to be a painful day, Holly. Advice to everyone here - never delete www folder - or public_html folder. No matter what anyone says. And always always always have a current backup. Plus a backup of the backup. Way to whip those managers/programmers into shape with the comma/semicolon issue. Snap! :)
            • Holly Jahangiri says:
              Yep, it was a little painful. It was also a learning experience, and I did have all the files I needed to reconstruct about 99% of the site. It's fine now, for the most part. What I absolutely cannot believe is that, a week later, the bad advice is still posted: http://support.hostgator.com/articles/cpanel/i-accidentally-deleted-the-public_html-or-www-folder See? I didn't just go rogue and delete www for FUN. I thought maybe it was just a cached copy - and that maybe something was out of sync. So, you know, if it's not going to hurt anything, why not try that first? Grrrr. As for the comma/semicolon thing, I got a note just a few minutes before I replied here: "You're absolutely right. It is silly and we're fixing it right away." :) I'm liking that site more and more.
71. Marjory says:
    Hi Donna, So I have a question. (loved the post by the way - wanted to say that at the risk of being accused of flattery). I read the post - do I have to read all the comments? Will all the other commenters jeer at me? Will I care? I'm so bad at internet etiquette.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Nah, Marjory, I don't think anyone expects visitors to read all the comments when there's this many. Who has the time for that? I can imagine I might do something like this though, if I was unsure whether or not my point has already been hashed out in the previous comments or not. I'd probably say: "I'm unable to read all the comments, so forgive me if it's already been mentioned, but I think that..." and then continue on with my thought. If anyone has an issue with that, when there are so many comments to wade through, then it's their issue, not yours. (In my opinion only, of course). :)
      • Marjory says:
        Ever since I commented earlier (and subscribed), I've been getting all the comments that others have left. Some of them are really great (even if my inbox does take a little more attention than usual with so many of them). I've heard the comments about the tired phrases and other tip-offs to spam but I think for me what really surprises me is the obvious spam - the completely irrelevant long comments (sometimes longer than my post) just stuffed with spammy links to domains without vowels. Does that even do anything for you any more? What is the point? I agree with a previous commenter. If I get anything even remotely resembling a relevant comment, I'm just so grateful that they made the effort, I feel like I should reward them. Of course, I guess if I made a bigger effort to be more engaging and write something worth commenting on, maybe I would get better comments. :-)
        • DazzlinDonna says:
          I have to assume that those insanely long, spam-filled comments are aimed at blogs that lie dormant and untended. Surely those spammer realize that humans who care about their blogs will never let those through. But if the process is automated, and takes no time or effort on the spammer's part, then if even a few manage to sneak into blogs that are untended or dead for all intents and purposes, then it's probably worth their effort. I do hate seeing them in the spam folder though. They are just annoying, even though I know they'll never see the light of day on my blog.
72. Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
    I enjoyed your article Donna. I like the points you mentioned here to impress the blog owner. Yet I think you can do even better. Yes mentioning the name of the person is important. But it's also important to be honest. You shouldn't sugar-coat everything you are saying. Also the best comments, and I have seen this multiple times, is when the commenter actually quotes something you have said in your article and then says why he likes it or not or why he agrees/disagrees. I also like to believe that a "Thank You" can go a long way.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Despite my raging sweet tooth, Julius, I don't disagree with you. Sugar coating things usually just masks an underlying bitter taste. Good idea to quote a bit of the article to comment upon. I like that. Thank you. :)
73. Thu Nguyen says:
    Hi Donna, while I'm hesitate to comment on older blogs, mainly because I know that you're going to say exactly what you did in this post. There's nothing that's going to impress you however on the side note, that's part of the blogging game. But I won't talk about politics. Honestly, it's intimidating to try to impress you when you've already heard it all. If I got one shot, it would be to say 'Hello!' From there, how you acknowledge me I'll continue further. After all, you're the one who has seen it all. :)
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      It makes me sad, Thu, to hear that. It doesn't matter that I'm an old dinosaur. I'm just an average every day gal. There's zero reason to be intimidated by me. I'd bet the same holds true for most of the old dinosaurs out there. Would much rather chit chat with you than have you scurry away.
    • Holly Jahangiri says:
      See, Thu? Donna's not scary at all. :) Neither am I. One of my best blogging friends (and we've since met face-to-face, so I guess I can drop all the adjectives now and just say "friends") is a woman who professed to be "intimidated" by me and proceeded to joke around with me on my blog and tease me in Twitter, Facebook... you get the picture. I checked out her blog, loved her writing, and we kept up the banter. Had she been shy and just left "Hi!" on my blog, I probably would not have noticed - and I might not have been able to distinguish that little "Hi!" from the hundreds of spam messages I get. In terms of networking, I've since encouraged her to write in a different genre and introduced her to my publisher. But the main thing is, I consider her a friend. I think the key take-away, here, is that "to impress" someone has a lot of connotations. For Donna, and for me, and for most long-time bloggers I know, it doesn't mean to put on airs and perform tricks or great contortionist feats of creative blogging - it doesn't mean you have to have your own online empire and a thousand followers. It means to speak up respectfully; it means to say enough that we know you've been paying attention to us, too, not just lying in wait for an opportunity to leave a sign in our yards pointing back to your own blog.
      • DazzlinDonna says:
        I couldn't possibly say it any better than that, Holly. Thanks.
        • Thu Nguyen says:
          No hurt feelings intended. It's like meeting someone on stage and getting the shakes that's all. :) But I think Holly has assured it's OK to flatter you at least a bit. So I apologize for putting you down. I don't think you're a dinosaur at all. Thanks for bringing a smile to my face. :) Have a great day!
74. Elizabeth Able says:
    One thing that makes a big difference to me is if people come back and participate after commenting, when there are more comments on the post. Anyone can drop a few words into a form and click "submit." Few will bother to come back and see if anyone responded to what they say. Getting noticed for a comment is still just on step. Show an interest in other people's comments. Put yourself in the original author's shoes by going in with a commitment to add value to a conversation, and notice how it feels to skim through surfacy, self-important replies - it may change the way you write!
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      There's actually a very good plugin (maybe more than one, but I only know of one) that helps to encourage people to return to the conversation. Really, Liz, I don't think it's the people's fault. I can't count the number of times I've wanted to return to a post that I commented on, but danged if I could remember where it was! It's frustrating. The Subscribe To Comments plugin is a great tool to help that situation. When commenting, you can just check the box to be emailed when replies are made, so you can easily return to continue the conversation. I had to remove the plugin on my blog for some reason - it wasn't working right at some point - and I've been meaning to install it again to see if it will work for me again or not. Haven't gotten round to it yet, but I'd bet it's working fine now. Anyway, love it when I see people using it, because I don't have to rely on my bad memory and can return to the conversation later. Just being reminded about the conversation may be the impetus to bring them back so they can add value in the future. That's the goal anyway. :)
      • Elizabeth Able says:
        I LURVE having a "Subscribe to Comments" type function. I've recently been following a conversation on a blog without a built-in email alert for comments, and I've had to google for them or find the original post link. Such a pain. Lately I've been seeing a second checkbox, of the "subscribe to this blog" variety - this blog has one. Given that it got me, more than once, I should track down how to get one for myself.
        • DazzlinDonna says:
          I've noticed a couple of things being used here that I need to investigate myself. Some smart cookies running this site, don't you think? :)
75. Barry Welford says:
    This welter of comments raises another concern. How can you possibly read them all? How can you spot the really good ones? Perhaps comments should always have a thumbs up/thumbs down icon so that you can flag the ones you really like. Indeed wouldn't it be great if you could read the 10 most voted up comments when you don't have time for them all.
    • Holly Jahangiri says:
      There are plug-ins that allow comments to be rated. No one actually uses them, though, even if they're installed. No one I know of, anyway. It doesn't help much.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Most posts will only get a handful of replies, unless you're Techcrunch or some other high traffic site. But you're right, Barry, it can get to the point where it becomes unwieldy. I'm not sure any solution really untangles it well.
76. Kim Krause Berg says:
    Donna, I love it when you write something I would've written, only you did this much better! Very few blogs seem to want to have a conversation. The ones that do have a real personality behind it who is accessible to readers. They can be counted on to write something insightful, funny or smart. Spammers tick me off! Their intention is not to have a conversation with a blogger but to run through the blogger's garden trampling the flowers and kicking up mulch. I'm all for any kind of fence we can put up, and posts like this one that remind folks how to comment properly.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      And the funny thing is, Kim, that the fence around the garden needs to be strong enough to keep the spammers out, but flexible enough to welcome the garden visitors in. It's a delicate balance to welcome with open arms, all those who want to have a conversation, but handcuff those who only want to trample the garden. We're all learning how to strike that balance, and everyone who contributes tips and ideas helps us all.
77. Dave says:
    Donna: This is an aside from the topic but this blog; its format and keyword luv is really commentator friendly. The structure allows for latest blog pieces to show. How interesting. The commentators are exibiting a wide range of topics on which we blog. Frankly, that alone is an invitation to write something appropriate in order to generate readers. And KeywordLuv....ah what a link lovers gift. I see that Colleen, Trini, Joe..others and now I have used it. Now that is the gift that keeps giving. Who wouldn't want to comment here. Frankly the plugin format make this a must use format. Its a cornucopia of gifts for various bloggers. Tx.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      I can't argue with that, Dave. I personally love CommentLuv. It's one of my favorite plugins. I'm still on the fence about KeywordLuv though, but it does help to make a commenter feel welcome.
78. Risa says:
    Hi Donna, I never thought of comments from the point of view of impressing the blogger. I thought that it was the blogger who was trying to impress the reader. I guess the value in impressing the blogger is, as you say, for one day when you, the commenter, might want recognition yourself. This makes me feel like I should be commenting, especially for blogs in my niche, more often. For most blogs I read, I find the comments as interesting as the blog post. Although I wonder why it's perceived as not so good to just write a short comment, like, "I agree," or "Interesting post," or "Great article." What's wrong with just a few words? I have a blog that gets no comments (OK - I have to work on it), and I'd be happy to hear from someone saying those things. Sometimes people don't want to give much thought to a clever comment that contributes to the conversation. In real life conversations, if there are 5 or 6 friends sitting around a table, not everyone is a talker - some talk, some listen, some just nod their heads, and I think that's OK, too.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Risa, the "I agree"'s and "Great article"'s are common automated spam comments, so you definitely don't want to get accidentally lumped into the spam category. A few words is fine, but it needs to be unique and human-ish. (Yeah, I know that's not a word, but I like it anyway). :) Remember, this particular post is about getting noticed and impressing a blogger, so another "great post" comment will never jump out and get noticed - except to make the blogger think you're just another spammer. You definitely should be connecting more often, I believe. Notice I said "connecting" rather than commenting. Sure, you'll be connecting through the medium of comments, but I don't want this to come off as a spam tactic. This is a networking method. Connect; network; relate - via commenting.
    • Holly Jahangiri says:
      Risa, here's the thing: Friends talking around the table, nodding along, murmuring, "Mmm hmm, so true," is one thing. But would you - while sitting at another table, overhearing their conversation, interject - "I agree" and walk off? Really? That's so endearing. Not. If you want to join in the conversation on a blog, that's fine - you don't have to know the others involved. That's how you meet people. All are invited and welcomed to the table. But taking time to craft a meaningful reply (doesn't have to be especially clever or witty, but should add your own unique thoughts and opinions to the discussion) is the way to do it - and the only way, sometimes, to avoid being mistaken for a fly-by spammer. If someone I know leaves a "nice post" comment on my blog, I'll approve it. If a complete stranger does? My first assumption is that their comment is spam, and their only goal is to get a backlink. I'll delete it. I don't even suffer half a nanosecond's remorse in doing so, anymore, either. If they come back later and say "Where's my comment?" I can say "Spam monster ate it! Care to try again?"
      • DazzlinDonna says:
        "Spam monster ate it!" LOL, love it! But that's exactly the way I see it too, Holly. And I guess it's why the non-jaded bloggers aren't jaded yet. They haven't yet seen the 10 millionth "great post" spam comment, like we have. I hope they never do. :)
79. Holly Jahangiri says:
    Donna, how funny you should mention the flattery spam comments! Have you noticed the ones that take a different tack, and say things like, "Interesting, but you're wrong. I think that you have not considered all aspects of the discussion," or something inane like that - usually on a post that wasn't arguing any particular position at all? I occasionally feel like a jaded blogger, myself. You're just a young 'un. I've been blogging, on and off, for a decade or more, chatting online since 1981, and moderating BBSs and forums since around 1989. I really thought I'd hit the big time when Deepak Mankar, a tech columnist from the HindustanTimes referred to me as a "veteran blogger." I think that was in the year 2000. Veteran blogger?? One of my first, and one of my very few, posts had been an exploration of "what is this 'blogging' thing?" I was just trying to clarify it in my own head. He picked up on my definition and catapulted me into my 15 seconds of "worldwide fame." I think you're absolutely right, that the biggest value in commenting has to do with networking. It's not about how many eyeballs and clicks you can garner for your blog and your ads, but about making real connections and forming real impressions of people. I've received some excellent - and effective - job references from people I've known and done business with online. I've made some very dear friends online, as well.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Holly, you and I were probably doing many online things at the same time way back in the 80's and 90's, but I didn't get to blogging until later. I usually had my head stuck in code instead. I'm tickled to be speaking with a famous veteran blogger, however. :) Job references and partnerships are both huge benefits of connecting. Of course, commenting is only one form of connecting, but it can definitely be a powerful one. And no, I've never noticed anyone taking the tack of arguing for no reason - HA! Kidding, of course I have, and that is incredibly annoying. Drama for drama's sake. Ugh. :)
      • Holly Jahangiri says:
        CompuServe and GEnie ring a bell, Donna?
        • DazzlinDonna says:
          Absolutely. And I was really fond of Prodigy.
          • Holly Jahangiri says:
            You're just yankin' my chain, now, aren't you, Donna?
            • DazzlinDonna says:
              Teehee. :D
          • Elizabeth Able says:
            Wow, that brings back memories. Plodigy (r) the glorified BBS was one of my first introductions to getting (almost) social online. They were my ISP for a long time.
80. element321 says:
    Well said Donna, I am new to blogging and my site is only few months old (8 months) and I get a ton of comment spams. There are times I can not tell the difference between real, but almost spammy comments a true spam comments. Thanks for sharing your tips. Not only will this get a blog owner attention but it can help you get noticed by other readers...
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      At least once a day, I'm faced with a comment that I can't determine if it's spam or not. That's always a tough call to make. Good point about getting noticed by other readers - that's a powerful secondary effect of making good comments.
81. MiriamEllis says:
    What an excellent post, Donna, and on a subject that has been so little covered. I most applaud your remarks about using the author's name in your comment. I think so many of us feel inundated with spam emails offering us some type of product or service, addressed to no one in particular. Nameless comments are much like this and the recipient certainly feels that the commenter has no idea who she is. Really a good point! My firm even receives things like resumes from people who don't even bother to address us. Unlikely we're even going to read them! You've made some super points here! Very good read.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Oh, Miriam, the whole subject of resumes is another topic that we could go on and on and on about. People send in the craziest stuff for resumes! I think many of them must subconsciously not want a job. :) On the topic of spam stuff hawking products, some products are great, and I wouldn't mind checking it out, if it wasn't so darned spammy! In a comment, if you approach me like a real human would, I just might even look at the product, ya know? It's time to return to human common sense, I think.
82. Julius says:
    You couldn't have said it any better, Donna. I have been officially blogging for almost 2 years now and I've been guilty of "commenting just to be noticed" in the past. I'll admit that I'll throw a comment even if I didn't understand the whole point of the article/post, just to be considered a "commenter", hoping the author would take notice and visit my blog in return. But not anymore. My views on comments had been changed gradually, thanks to people like you who takes the time to write articles like this one for the benefit of us bloggers. Would you visit my blog after this? Nah, it really doesn't matter whether you do or you don't. More important is that I learned something useful here and I ahd the chance to state my point and share my views through this comment.:)
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      We've all been down the road of making mistakes for marketing purposes, Julius. As long as we learn that those mistakes really ARE mistakes, and move back into a position where we aren't annoying others for our own gain, that's what counts. And yes, I would visit your blog after this. Doing so as soon as I finish typing this, in fact. :)
83. Tom Goering says:
    Donna, As usual, you make clear points that laypeople can understand and use - thank you young lady! (You can never be described as a dinosaur, elder stateswoman, maybe :))
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      LOL, Tom, I'm not sure elder stateswoman sounds much better than dinosaur, but I'll assume it's meant to! :)
84. Gabriella Sannino says:
    Donna, bella... this post is exactly why I personally think you are an inspiration to bloggers, writers, women everywhere. Not only do you share great insight, but you pull no punches. Clarity is key, so is shooting with both guns, lol. One of these days I'm going to succeed in getting you to one of those New Orleans "meet-ups"... I hope.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      One of these days I'm going to actually show up at one of those meetups. Thanks for the compliment, and it's always good to know that people recognize my ability to punch and shoot. :D
85. Yura says:
    Isn't that practically a good way to leave comments? What has the world come to, if good commenting is now considered something extraordinary ;) One problem that I once faced was being too critical of new commenters, always looking for and finding the reason for their commenting was a linkback :) So do you think that not specifying your website as the URL makes you stand out among other commenters, since it kind of shows that the commenter doesn't care about P*coughbscough*R or not? Thanks.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Honestly, that would backfire with me Yura. I've noticed many times that spammers will intentionally leave the url field blank, knowing that if they get my approval once, then their future comments will automatically get approved without going through the manual process. So any time I see a blank url, my suspicions are raised, rather than lowered.
86. Aaron says:
    You definitely hit a nerve here Donna. Not only do I make it a point to use the blogger's name (if I can find it), but I do my best to give my own experiences in comments. There is nothing wrong with disagreeing with the original author of the post, as long as you are respectful and say why. That is the entire purpose of comments -- to create a dialog. Great post and keep them coming :)
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      I wish more people would share their own stories in comments, Aaron. That makes for some great dialog, and it also allows the blogger (and the visitors) to get to know the commenter a little better.
87. Colleen says:
    Nice article Donna. I think I'm doing pretty good, as I seem to follow the principles you've pointed out. However, I'm not one to offer an alternate viewpoint, as I tend to go with the flow.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Perfectly fine to go with the flow, Colleen. That point was either for the times when you do disagree - or for those folks who seem to disagree with everything. I know a few of those. ;)
88. Rebekah says:
    Between this post and Alans post about blog comments, I have gotten a ton of knowledge today! Thanks for the post Donna and the excellent tips - it is really useful for those newer to the blogverse, and somewhat shy and comment-phobic around the older bloggers :)
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Please don't be shy. Rebekah. Your comments are as valid as any old crotchety blogger's any day of the week! :) Be bold! Woohoo!! :D
89. Baker says:
    Hello Donna, I found this post to be quite impressive. I generally leave comments on blogs that I truly recieve value from or have found helpful in some way. At the moment I am looking to find that balance between accepting good comments and bad comments on my blog. One thing I find useful for me, is just be open and honest with the commenting, the clearer the communication the better. If someone inspired you just say so, if it was helpful say so. If not, then say so but nicely. =) It just makes it challenging to leave comments that aren't really meaningful or pertain to the topic. Dont you agree?
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      You know, Baker, that's actually a good point. For me, it's harder to leave a pointless comment than it is to leave a meaningful one. Though so much of the pointless comments are automated, that the spammers don't have to think at all, so it only applies to humans. But yes, if someone is going to spend the time saying anything, why not make it useful? Seems easier to me.
90. Joe says:
    Donna you're scaring me! I don't want to be jaded. I guess being a newbie, the jaded part hasn't hit me. Heck, I was excited by the first spam I got. "So that's what spam looks like..." Yeah, the novelty of spam wore off quickly. I've grown to enjoy hitting the delete button on them. I hope for good responses when I blog. It sure feels good when someone writes a great response. It's like my little ripple of a blog when out there into the wild blue yonder and wiggled someone's world just a little. It makes my day. It makes me believe I can make a difference.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      It's funny, because as jaded as I am, I'm also still very positive about so much - including the fact that I absolutely know that you can - and likely do - make a difference. That's the coolest part, dont ya think? :)
91. TriNi says:
    Those points hit the nail on the head! I've been blogging for about 3 years now, and I'm getting tired of the spam comments as well. Once in a while, I have an honest person come in and ask a question, or leave a valid comment, but usually, it's a bunch of people trying to get their links on my blog. It's pretty annoying. I always try to read the post before leaving a comment on any blog.. and honestly, if I'm lost somewhere in the post or don't understand jack the person's saying, then I move on. It's not worth a comment anyway. Very interesting article.. and very valid points.. Donna. ;) - TriNi
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      I hope, over time, the spammers will find something else to do and move on. It would be refreshing, that's for sure.
92. Murlu says:
    Hey Donna, Glad I'm not the only one that has felt jaded from comments. Although I truly appreciate every comment that appears on my blog there are those which I simply deleted due to their overall lack of worth. I know it can be a bit harsh on the commentor because they just took their time to comment but at the same time its a bit like tough love. Perhaps your strict commenting approval leads to a very fanatical, strong community because each new comment is well written and very thoughtful. Imagine a blog where each comment were just as amazing as the last. Not being broken up up by little one liners. That would cause others to feel like there is a real, serious discussion.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      I don't mind one-liners, really. Think about tweets for instance. I think we are all learning how to pack a lot of meaning into a few characters. So if someone wants to put a lot of meaning into a one-line comment, I'm all for it. But yeah, I know what you meant - those one-liner "great post" dorks. :)
93. The Bad Blogger says:
    Although, I did like to be challenge in comment, just like you say... "respect," but there are some blogger who just don't. Usually those blogger, doesn't reveal their website or faces and they start bombing with disrespect challenge against your post. I have this experience before when I wrote about "SEO Vs Content" many months back. Sometime, I feel these pig-headed people might be blogger who are famous... who knows? May be they just think you might step over them in the blogging sphere.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Famous or not, they have no right to be disrespectful. But you are definitely right - there are lots of rude jerks out there. Don't let them get to you too much, though. I know I've let them get under my skin more than I would like - it's hard to force yourself to not react. I usually vent privately as much as possible, to avoid venting publicly. A little private venting makes it easier to be calm later. :)
94. ashok says:
    I've been doing this blogging thing for 3-4 years, and I can safely say that the most disappointing thing about the Internet as a whole has been how everyone is a personal hype machine, and careful, thoughtful readers and commentators are even harder to find than before. The deep problem, I think, is that we've found ways of eliminating thoughtfulness from the Web. I'm reading a well-known economic pundit's blog nowadays; his work will often talk about technical concepts such as structural vs. cyclical deficits, or how demand curves shift if conditions are changed. The comments section immediately becomes "why everyone else is wrong about such and such" and the blogger's initial tone - that of "I know a few things, but I don't know everything" - is lost on his very own audience. It doesn't surprise me a number of the comments are anonymous. So yeah: your points about reading and anonymity can't be stressed enough. Ultimately, what impresses me as a blogger isn't the quality of posts or comments. I want to see better readers. Only then will I be convinced that all this tech is a good thing, when people have actual attention spans again.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      What can I say? You're absolutely right, and you've said it well. Luckily, ashok, I can be a bit of a pollyanna at times, and I have faith that the good will outweigh the bad, somehow. Or maybe I just know that those who shine will get noticed. My motto, after all, is "You'll never shine if you don't glow". (Comes from a Smash Mouth song). I'm sure it means different things to different people, but in this instance, I'd say that those who are careful, thoughtful readers and commentators will shine and glow - and they will stand out and be noticed above all the noise. (I believe it and I'll stick by that belief even when proven wrong, LOL!) :D
95. Dave says:
    Thanks for your suggestions, Donna. Hm...so much of work is time management. You suggest putting that time into more thought behind the blog and more interaction with my perspective audience. I do know there is truth to that. I've only sporadically taken the steps you've suggested...but when I do..those are the blog pieces that generate responses. I've generally put more thought and time effort into other aspects of the businesses/blogs. I'm going to send this thread to some others who blog on small local businesses and see how they react. There are a lot of provocative thoughtful comments. Its a worthwhile topic.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Time management - the bane of our existence. Or something. :) But yes, if you can find a way to fit in some time - consistently - to reaching out, I think you'd find it worth the time spent. You might even find it worth adding to the time spent. I'd think you'd need to be consistent though for at least a month or two - on a daily basis - to have a decent handle on its worth to you.
96. Barry Welford says:
    Hi Donna To save you a little time here are my commenting rules to be found in the footers of all of my blogs, which use the Wordpress Akismet plugin. Akismet Spam Watch We welcome comments.* Akismet isn't perfect so it may delete yours. If so, please let us know. * SMM DoFollow Policy Our policy is to encourage more valuable comments by offering their authors ‘linkjuice‘. This is more generous than the approach of the Lucia’s Linky Love plugin. At the same time, we accept the burden of removing spam comments. The Akismet plugin already does a good job of removing most spam comments. Other comments are deleted if it is felt that they do not merit being seen by other readers of the blogs. If it is felt that a commenter has written a comment merely to gain a link, then all his comments will be carefully scrutinised and may be deleted. It’s a kind of Tough Love policy but hopefully everyone wins.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Awesome! Thanks, Barry, for sharing your policy here. I like the way you've worded it. I may borrow some of that wording and adjust as needed (with your permission of course). ;)
97. Kathryn says:
    Donna, No, I don't think you're a crotchety old, jaded blogger. You're like many bloggers who want their audience to be real, not spamtastic bots. Really, the whole point of commenting is building on the conversation that's already there. I don't know about you, but I may not get it right in one shot. Those extra comments an really help solidify the conversation. If I can't add anything to a conversation, my feel is that it's better to say nothing at all. Really, I don't care about "no follow" on comments. I think if the person has something valuable to say, I'll be the first one in line to pop over to that person's blog to read more about what they have to say. I have to say I get really disappointed when people turn off comments. Because it's like saying, "Hey, I have an opinion, but I could care less about what you have to say." Really? Would you go to a party, shout out monologues and leave when people tried to talk to you? It's rude in my book...well maybe that's just me. Kudos to you for leaving commenting on. :)
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      That's a great example, Kathryn, of why I won't turn off comments. I don't want to be a monologue. Frankly, when I'm at a party, other people are usually far more interesting than I am. I'd hate for all those people to be silent. I'd be left with just myself talking. Boooooring. So, yep, love that example. I'd hate to be the only voice on my blog. No fun at all that way, even if it does mean I have to do more work to weed out the spam.
98. AJ says:
    DazzlinDonna, Your post was great but what I really found exiting was to look and see who actually started their comment with "Donna" or used your name in the comment. Clearly Hesham has built up a great community here as it seems like most people actually read your post! Amazing - I find that on most blogs, especially ones with keywordluv and commentluv, people are not even skimming the post but rather commenting on the title - haha, and they wonder why their blog sucks. 6 years huh? That's impressive. I didn't even have internet 6 years ago, much less a website. Looks like you've had DazzlinDonna for about 4 years, did you start out on some other blogging platform - I am curious to know which one. I think the moment I started using my real name and real picture for my gravatar everything changed. This is by far the strongest point you make. How do you even begin conversing with someone who calls himself/herself something like "Make Money Online". I would also add a couple more tips: 1. Re-read your comment before submitting 2. Stop with the hit-and-runs. Find your top 20-30 blogs and come back often and leave valuable comments.
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      Hey there, AJ. I have had the DD blog for about 4 years. I started blogging with my SEO Scoop blog (www.seo-scoop.com) before that. (I've since sold SEO Scoop, but it's still my heart). SEO Scoop actually started out as a blog that used a highly modified version of some open source ColdFusion code. Once I discovered the awesomeness of WordPress (even when it was much less awesome in it's baby years), I dumped my CF code and jumped on the WP bandwagon. Never looked back. I love WP.
      • AJ says:
        You know what they say..."Once You Go Wordpress You Don't Go Back"
    • Elizabeth Able says:
      WP explorer, I so agree with your point about blogs with keywordluv and commentluv. They seem to be spam magnets. Maybe bots zero in on common words used by those two plugins.
99. Nabeel says:
    Donna, Great tips you share there from your vast experience in the blogging arena. I comment on a number of blogs, so your points were really interesting to read. "I believe that the truest value of commenting on blogs is establishing a relationship with the blogger, and the visitors to that blog." Yup I agree. Commenting actually does establish a relationship, but only if the commenter is engaging. That make a fantastic relationship between the blogger and commenter. I will implement your tips on the blogs that I comment on, and hope to build a relationship with the bloggers! Kindest, Nabeel
    • DazzlinDonna says:
      It does help, Nabeel, if the commenter is engaging, I agree, but even boring commenters can win a place in my memory if they at least bring a little human-ness to the conversation. I don't always expect everyone to entertain me, but I hope to be able to have a real conversation now and then.
100. Rhys says:
     Interesing points Donna, thanks for your post, but I have a different opinion to you ;) Three out of 5 aint bad :P In all seriousness though, totally agree. I've approved more comments than I've probably had hot dinners, and it can be disheartening to read things & say to myself "they obviously didn't read the post". Obviously by leaving great comments you get great responses!
     • DazzlinDonna says:
       Ok, Rhys, now you've got me totally discombobulated and confuzzled. :) Do you or don't you have a different opinion? Is the 3 out of 5 statement just a joke, or are there really two points you disagree with? (You're next line says you totally agree, "in all seriousness" so that's why I'm confused). If there are 2 points you disagree with, I'd love to know which 2, and why. Maybe I'll learn a thing or two. If you were just kidding, then one thing's for sure - now I'll remember you! :)
       • Rhys says:
         It was the last point, worked like a charm ;)
         • DazzlinDonna says:
           Sneaky, sneaky. Use my own point against me! LOL!!!
101. Dave says:
     Donna: Your comments are virtually a primer for how to add some value to a real conversation (as opposed to what not to do)--only applied to blogs. They make perfect sense. Currently I blog for a couple of businesses. Its sporadic. I haven't hit consistent audiences for either of the blogs yet. I've gotten tons of spam, as you referenced at the beginning. They've generated very few substitive comments. As I read this piece, it got me to reflect on a few specific comments on some of the blog pieces. They hit the point. They were thoughtful and reflected the point of that article. (Unfortunately they have been few and far between.) I recall and appreciate them. Those few good comments reflect the guidelines you've established above. Those few comments impressed this blogger. Your guidelines hit the spot. Thanks for the article. I'll work to keep it in mind as I comment in the blog world. Dave
     • DazzlinDonna says:
       Dave, if you can dig up a little extra time in each day, start finding those audiences you need. Seek them out, find their blogs, engage with them using awesome comments, of course, and spread your reach. First find the audiences, and then let them get to know you and that your blogs exist. Over time you should see some growth in your audience.
102. Jackie says:
     I think using the bloggers name is a great idea. Never came to mind to do that Donna. Thanks for the tip.
     • DazzlinDonna says:
       LOL, well I can see you're a fast learner, since you used my name in this one, Jackie. And really, everyone, I forget sometimes too. It's not like anyone should worry about being perfect - just being human is all that really matters.
103. Kristi Hines says:
     I wouldn't consider myself a longtime, jaded blogger, but I feel like the comments I notice the most are the ones from repeat visitors. If someone has commented on my last several posts (not a bunch of old ones all at once, but as each one goes live, they come by and comment) they "stick" more in my head. It's also a plus if I see them in my mentions column because they retweeted my article - that combination really helps them stand out in my memory for a longer time than the one off commenters.
     • DazzlinDonna says:
       I would think, then, Kristi, that it helps if the person's commenting name and his/her twitter name matches. That would help the "sticky" process, I assume.
       • Kristi Hines says:
         I'm used to people not matching. For the longest time, many people didn't link Kristi with Kikolani. And I have about 3 John's that comment on my site, so just the first name doesn't help in some cases either. It all depends I guess.
104. Julie Joyce says:
     I've not been blogging enough to be able to legitimately call myself a jaded blogger...but I kind of AM a jaded blogger at the same time. What always impresses me (particularly on the SEO Chicks site) are the comments that are from someone I've never heard from before but that are obviously from someone with a mind that I'd like to see more of in SEO. I don't want to read a bunch of nonsense flattery but I do want to know what you've been able to take away from my writing. Like you, I like the disagreements too as long as they don't get too out of hand. Some of the blogs I follow every day came from looking up commenters that said something other than "nice post"...they asked us questions about something in the article, or just added in some way to the conversation. Those are the names I remember.
     • DazzlinDonna says:
       Julie, knowing you as I do, even just a little, I'd say "jaded" would fit ... just cuz. LOL. Kidding, of course. ;)
       • Julie Joyce says:
         you got me there Donna...haha!
105. Dave says:
     Hullo DD!! (do we get xtra brownie points for using a Nic?) My goodness, I do love the fact there are more words in the comments than the post...and some great ones too!! First and foremost I am a search geek...marketer second. Just last week I went off during my podcast about an article that was the 'definitive' guide to building links through comment (spamming). Not only do I not believe it is a link building tactic, but I also think that the link economy has ruined a lot of engagement on the web. To that end, just like here, I no longer even leave a URL in the comment box. I want to ensure people understand that I am commenting because I am sincere in posting. Sure, makes it a little tougher for folks to track me down, but I guess that's my 'jaded' side huh? Sadly I have even turned off auto-posting on my blog because the spammers were having a hey-day even with the NF (no follow) in place. I do though still take the time to go through them each day and publish/respond to the 10% or less that are actually sincere (methinks the 'name' attribute tends to give it away). From a marketing perspective, I do believe in commenting as part of an outreach/networking program and to that end, best to actually show you care about the person/post when commenting. Ok, rambling now...sigh... does happen. At the end of the day it is a form of engagement and while jaded, I still enjoy it. I can't wait for Google's Salmon Protocol to come into effect. It will help unite the comments of the web. It can be tough responding to a post in your comments, on FaceBook and other syndication sources. Great post Donna... always a pleasure to read ya (oh dammit, am I breaking the 'you are awsome' rule?).
     • DazzlinDonna says:
       Triple bonus points for knowing I respond most often to my abbreviated nick of DD, Dave. :) Ya know, I think the fact that you and I are search geeks probably has a lot to do with adding some "jaded-ness" to our mindset. We know - really KNOW - what people are capable of when it comes to spamming. But of course, we also know the importance of an outreach/networking program, so that's where it's nice to have these discussions about what really matters. Ya know, I keep hearing about Google's Salmon Protocol - and I know I read about it at some point in the past, but I've forgotten what it was all about. Since you mention that it's related to uniting comments on the web, it's definitely something I think I should re-read. Thanks for the reminder on that. And yeah, will have to give you 5 lashes for breaking the 'you are awesome' rule, LOL.
     • Dave says:
       Yup... certainly some interesting stuff; http://salmon-protocol.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/draft-panzer-salmon-00.html It seeks to tie conversations, links, resources and even comments into a coherent 'stream'... get it? Stream? Salmon? hee hee...lol Anyway, it is something I've been watching and is also possibly tied to their work in Pubsubhubub - worth keeping an eye on fer sure. In the context of this post, it is like writing a post, responding to comments here, on FaceBook where people have mentioned it, on social media sites (like Sphinn) and so forth. It not only segments the discussions but also can be time consuming. I hope that Salmon will help deal with some of these issues.
       • DazzlinDonna says:
         Thanks for the link, Dave. Save me the extra step of searching for it. Ok, that does sound interesting. Aggregating related comments and conversations together to unify the conversations sounds awesome. We'll see if it really pans out or not. Google can be hit and miss, often miss, when it comes to social networking stuff.
106. Melvin says:
     Valuable tips. With a lot of spam and useless comments going on nowadays, it's really tough now to even remember someone who comment on our site. For me I think it's trying to just be yourself, yet stand out. If someone comments under a name rather than a product name, I would more likely visit his site and maybe recognize him a long term.
     • DazzlinDonna says:
       That is another good tip, Melvin - using your own name - making that connection even easier to have happen.
107. Ryan Biddulph says:
     Hi Donna, There is no more beautiful sound to a person's ears than their name. I use first names on *every single* comment I write, even if I have a strong relationship with the author. It's a matter of respect and yes, nobody ever tires of hearing their name ;) I subscribe to each point which you have made. I have learned the power that a thoughtful, insightful comment carries. Add Value/ Receive Value. Thanks for sharing your insight! Ryan Biddulph
     • DazzlinDonna says:
       That could be a very nice tag line to keep in the back of one's head at all times: Add Value / Receive Value. I like it. :) Thanks, Ryan.
108. Pops says:
     Donna (see I'm paying attention). I would add that it helps if you also read the other comments before commenting. I answer a lot of questions on my blog and I get the same ones over and over again in the comments for certain posts. Even of non-tech topics it helps if the commenter takes the time to make sure he's adding new info or ideas rather than just repeating what others have said. But I also think that, as an author, when you open up comments on your blog you should also commit to reading and responding to them.
     • DazzlinDonna says:
       Good point - reading the other comments before commenting can also be a way of showing respect. And yes, the blogger should commit to reading and responding to comments. I admit I haven't always succeeded in that regard over the years, but I do try.
109. Cori Padgett says:
     Hey Donna.. excellent post! :) I find I have the most rapport with readers who comment on a regular basis rather than just a one-off, and with those commentators who inject a bit of humor into their comments, as I tend to inject quite a bit into my blog posts. I also smile when a commentator takes a moment to share part of their story as it relates to the blog post, or shares a valuable resource I hadn't thought of that relates. The bottom line though for me is that the comment needs to relate to the post and be a useful or valuable or entertaining contribution to the conversation... otherwise it's likely I won't remember you or bother investigating you further, if it's approved at all. Another thing I'd like to note, is that while comments like "great post" or "appreciate you taking the time to write something so valuable" might get approved sometimes, it doesn't always happen with me. When I get a "great post" comment from a person with no Gravitar, that links out to some site selling Guitars or Baby Wipes... sorry but it's usually trashed, because even if you are a real person who read my post and genuinely enjoyed it... I have no idea if that's the case because everything about the comment you left triggered my spam meter. Warmest C
     • DazzlinDonna says:
       I'm the same way with "great post" comments. My internal spam meter handles them basically in exactly the same way as yours does. Occasionally I'll actually believe it's real and let it through, but many never make it past my brain's spammeter, and I trash them (unless of course, I recognize the commenter because they've made an impression upon me in the past). :)
       • Cori Padgett says:
         Exactly! lol I occasionally get fooled, and there have been times where I've actually gone back and said "wait a minute" then unapproved them and trashed them. lol Sad but true.
         • DazzlinDonna says:
           Ha! I get fooled, too, Cori, and that always makes me slap my forehead when I realize that I'd been "got". :D
           • Cori Padgett says:
             LOL.. well good to know I'm not alone. :D
110. Frank says:
     I've turned comments off for my new blog. I've been blogging for about as long as you but have only recently started getting very serious about it. The main reason I've turned comments off is that I just don't find them very valuable, regardless of the value of their content. I want people's feedback and get it via the twitter and facebook comments I monitor. Those are the places where the majority of the dialog happens and that's where I want it to happen. Stopping by and leaving a turd on my blog does nothing to send me more visitors. I also encourage people to write posts about my content and link back to me. In exchange I tend to get into a blog-to-blog dialog with them. This gains us both reciprocal links. By the way, in case you're curious, I ended up here by clicking a link in my twitter stream from @MenWithPens
     • DazzlinDonna says:
       I know a few people who also have comments turned off. I can certainly understand the reasons, but I doubt seriously I'd ever do that myself. Lots of people don't have blogs of their own, so they can't blog in return, and many will completely miss the tweets and links in their ever-flowing streams. I don't like to stifle the conversation in any place. I'd prefer to see it happen wherever anyone wishes to have it happen, and my blog seems like one of the better places for it. By having a conversation right there, under the post, groups of people can share in the conversation, even if they aren't connected to each other via Twitter, Facebook, etc.
111. David Wallace says:
     As a blogger myself, I think the "alternate viewpoint" has been one of the best ways to get my attention. It's always great when commentors add a different perspective or even challenge you.
     • DazzlinDonna says:
       I do love a good challenge, myself. As long as both parties can remain respectful, it's tons of fun. :)
112. Barry Welford says:
     Hi Donna A good blog will have more content in the comments than in the posts so clearly this is an important topic. As you know, I'm nearer to the dinosaurs than you are so we're singing from the same hymn sheet here. I would put most weight on your final point on commenters looking to bring other view points into play. As a commenter, I usually try to make sure that I write something that later readers will find has value. I use the same approach in editing comments on my blogs. Since I do allow commenters to add their own URLs without applying a nofollow tag, it is particularly important to make sure only valued comments remain. So the 'I really like your post' type comments are trashed. After all it is my blog, so I set the rules.
     • DazzlinDonna says:
       Barry, it's interesting to note the "I set the rules" bit, which I completely understand. But my question to you is this: Do you actually explain your commenting rules anywhere on your blog? I don't (at the moment), but I wonder if that might not be very useful - or maybe no one would bother to read it anyway. What do you think?
       • Cori Padgett says:
         I've run across a couple blogs that have 'commenting rules' and it's actually something I've been planning on implementing as well. I took the time to read them and I imagine most bloggers with an ounce of respect would read them as well on a blog they follow that they may be trying to build a relationship with. At least that's my humble opinion, lol. :)
         • DazzlinDonna says:
           Ok now I'm going to add this to my todo list: go out and find bloggers that have commenting rules, and get some ideas for my own.
           • Stephanie Smith says:
             Donna, I found a plugin to Wordpress that is a "comment warning" when I was visiting ComLuv blogs in my niche. Basically, it warns that if you think you are just going to comment to get a link, you will be deleted. However, it does so in an aggressive, in your face way I found offensive. I have not been back to that blog, either. A caution if anyone decides to implement that plugin or something similar.
             • DazzlinDonna says:
               If I run across any non-agressive ways of saying the same thing when I'm on my quest to read commenting rules, Stephanie, I'll update that here. Being aggressive is rarely the best way to lay down rules of any kind, anywhere. Some blogs, of course, depend upon aggressive behavior to attract attention, and in rare cases, that's ok because it's the point of the whole blog. But in most cases, I would think it would be best to gently lay down the law. Or at least, firm but gracious. Hmmm, must add to list: what's good wording for being firm but gracious?
113. Ben Cook says:
     The biggest attention getter for me is a well thought out response. Donna, I don't think you're crotchety at all, in fact I've probably been blogging for a shorter time than you and I'm MUCH more pessimistic about blog comments. If I can see that the comment took at least a second to pause and think about before moving on, I'll usually respond and take note of who left it. But the blog world is too over-run with spam for actual people to be leaving "great post!" or "well done!" type comments. If you want your comment to be valued, show the blogger that it was valuable enough to you to spend a second or two on. By the way, Donna, great topic for a post!
     • DazzlinDonna says:
       Right, Ben...there has to be some sense of the commenter taking at least a moment of time in order to get past my jaded mind. Little things that don't take tons of time, like using my name, can give me that sense.
114. Scottie says:
     Hey Donna- I think it's interesting that you prefer to be addressed by name... I think I'm old school and want people to establish a relationship before they use my name. (See, since I already know you, I have no problem using your name!) I find often that the people who address me by name on their first post ever don't always have something nice to say- it almost seems a put down sometimes! But they do say the sweetest sound is the sound of your own name, so it makes sense!
     • DazzlinDonna says:
       Maybe it's also related to where we come from, and our upbringing as well. I can see how that would play a part in the use of familiarity by strangers. Me...I come from the deep south in a family that thinks hugging strangers is an appropriate way to greet people, so using my name if you're a stranger is a good thing to me. But yes, I can see how it might seem odd to others...ok, no, I take that back. I really don't see how that would be odd to others, but just because I don't see it, doesn't mean I can't pretend I get it. LOL :D
115. Jeremy L. Knauff says:
     Good luck impressing the jaded ;) I think a lot of bloggers either don't allow comments, or don't even bother reading them because the majority seems to be spam anyway. For those that do, though, it's a great way to begin establishing a relationship as long the comment is useful. One point that you left out (unless I missed it) was mentioning other relevant posts on that blog. I think that goes a long way since it shows that you're not only engaged in that post, but have been reading the blog for long enough to share additional info. That can mean a lot to a blogger who is pounding away at the keyboard wondering if anyone ever really reads (or remembers) their posts.
     • DazzlinDonna says:
       Excellent point, Jeremy. If someone takes the time to mention other relevant posts on my blog, I can assure you I will remember that person. That would earn double brownie points in my book. :)
       • Jeremy L. Knauff says:
         and there are certainly plenty to choose from ;)
         • DazzlinDonna says:
           Aww shucks, now you're making me blush. :)
116. Stephanie Smith says:
     Donna, Even dinosaurs need love, huh? Your points are well taken. Sometimes I read a post and have trouble coming up with a comment because the post seemed to cover everything well, or I am too new to the topic to realize where the holes are. In that case, I want to leave a comment because I recognize the effort that went into the post, but I do not have anything brilliant to say. While I try not to be insipid, sometimes that is the best I can do. Would it be better to leave no comment in that case? Or just to state that the post seemed thorough and I appreciated the effort that went into it?
     • DazzlinDonna says:
       As long as you seem sincere, I think even this dinosaur would appreciate hearing that you thought the post was thorough and that you appreciated the effort that went into it. Just speak to me as if you were speaking to me in person, and I think you'll get past my internal "is this spam?" brain filter.
117. Ileane says:
     Hey there what's her name - just kidding!! You know that I've been trying to earn my brownie points on your blog for a few months now. :) In fact I just commented on your blog yesterday and I was happy to revisit that post and see that I started with "Hi Donna" - Whew! Seriously, I agree with you. It's a matter of mutual respect to mention the bloggers name, ESPECIALLY if it's the first time you've commented on their blog. It's like an introduction. And when the blogger thinks enough to have CommentLuv installed, well I'm certainly a happy camper and it lets me know that the "mutual respect" is already in place. It's up to me as a commentator to follow-up and keep the ball rolling. This post offers excellent competition for the other contestants. I wish you luck and I'll be sharing this one on Twitter and a few other places as well.
     • DazzlinDonna says:
       Ileane, you earned your brownie points with me a while back. You are a very personable person, so I noticed your comments when you first started visiting my blog. It's that connection that gets made when a comment goes beyond the norm.
118. DazzlinDonna says:
     So what do you think? Am I just a crotchety old, jaded blogger who can't be pleased? Or do I make some sense? Please comment here and tell me what you think.