Day 1: Do a Commenting Self-Audit

One of the goals of the 31 Day Comment Challenge is for us to improve our commenting skills and draw more people into blog conversations. So to kick off the 31 days of activities we’re going to start with a commenting self-audit. You can use this to get a better picture of your blog commenting skills and strategies.

For this activity, do the following:

1. Answer the following questions:
   1. How often do you comment on other blogs during a typical week?
      I am NOT a good commenter. That is why I am challenging myself to grow in that area. I am embarrassed to admit, that if I comment once or twice in a week, that would be a lot.
   2. Do you track your blog comments? How? What do you do with your tracking?
      I track the comments on my own blog. WordPress sends me a notification e-mail when there is a new comment. I also track other people’s blog comments, if they have a plugin enabled to subscribe to that particular comment thread.
   3. Do you tend to comment at the same blogs or do you try to comment on at least one new blog per week?
      Since I have such sad statistics on commenting, I can’t answer this question accurately. I do read mostly the same blogs over and over again, since they are part of my Google Reader, hence show up while others do not. …So, I probably do leave comments on the same blogs over and over again … now that I am thinking about it…
2. Now review Gina Trapani’s Guide to Blog Comments and ask yourself how well you’re doing in each of the different areas. Are there any specific areas where you think you need to do some work? What do you want to do to address these issues?
   1. Stay on topic.
      I feel that I do stay on topic, when I comment. I am aware how annoying it can be when the comment has nothing to do with the post.
   2. Contribute new information to the discussion.
      I feel that this point is actually the stumbling block sometimes when I do want to comment on a comment. Others have beaten me to it and all that would/is left for me to say is "I agree with so and so" and "that is exactly what I was going to suggest". Besides that those kind of comments can be an acknowledgment for the others that contributed before, it does not add much to the value of the discussion
   3. Don’t comment for the sake of commenting.
      I have not been guilty of this point. I am disappointed when I see a comment like "Good point" or and am immediately thinking this might be a spammer. The comment shows nothing that the reader has actually read the post or has anything to contribute. Let’s not start doing that either during out comment challenge, just to get your numbers of comments higher.
   4. Know when to comment and when to e-mail.
      Again, with my poor commenting record, I am not guilty of this faux-pas. Only personal comment I wrote was as a response to my mother’s first comment ever (on my own blog). I even wrote it in German :0.
   5. Remember that nobody likes a know-it-all.
      I think it is a valid point to mention a dead link or when a typo might make the meaning of a post be misunderstood. I surely appreciate it when others let me know on my blog. But I always appreciate it being done in a respectful way. When we are blogging or commenting, we are exposing ourselves. It is nice to feel a little safety net, when one does make a mistake… and we all do I am writing in English, my third language. I am bound to make mistakes that a native speaker would not. Be kind to speakers of other languages who are trying to communicate with you in your language.
   6. Make the tone of your message clear.
      I am notorious for using emoticons . Maybe I even sprinkle them too much in my posts and comments.
   7. Own your comment.
      I don’t believe in leaving anonymous messages. PERIOD! Or as I tell my students and own children: "No buts, ifs, whens, or…"
   8. Be succinct.
      Probably guilty of this in the past. Will keep that in minnd
   9. Cite your sources with links or inline quoting.
      Always! Since the blogosphere is so much about sharing, remixing and building upon the work of others, giving credit where credit is due is a must.
   10. Be courteous.
       Treat others like you would like to be treated.
       
   11. Do not feed or tease the trolls.
       Not really in my personality.
       

Technorati Tags: comment08

Posted: 1. May, 2008 at 3:40 pm. Filed under: Blogging.
Comment | Trackback