The Truth About Comments

I keep re-reading Anitra’s analysis on the nature of commenting. She poses some good questions which caused me to reflect on how comments - or…

by j. brotherlove

I keep re-reading Anitra’s analysis on the nature of commenting. She poses some good questions which caused me to reflect on how comments - or the anticipation of receiving comments - affect my writing.

Most of my online journaling has been without the use of comments. When I switched to MT, I thought the comment function would be neat - and it is. But, I wonder if I would write differently if I disabled the commenting feature; I may experiment with that (if I wrote that I had a light, late-night S&M session with Cobb County Coochie, who would comment on that?) Blog commenting makes it quick and easy to fire off a response to someone else’s idea. Therefore, quick and easy posts often get higher comments than those that require too much thought or research.

Several scenarios garner whether or not I comment on a post. Generally, I only comment when I have something (I think is) important or personal to contribute to the post - or when I can make a joke about it. I try to refrain from simple agreement (without an example, anyway). Also, if a post is very intimate, I’ll shy away from commenting in respect for the sensitivity of the post (unless it’s a pat on the back). Sometimes, I just want to be heard/read. I assume others feel the same way. Most importantly, with the number of blogs I read, daily, I don’t have the time to comment at length as much as I would like.

Ignorance is a contributing factor, also. Traveling from blog to blog reinforces that you guys and gals are smart! There are a lot of things I just don’t know enough about. In those cases, I just read and learn. For example, although I read them everyday, the reason I don’t comment often on George’s or Cecily’s site is because their posts often deal with current events and world policies which I feel ignorant about. I love reading their sites because I feel more in touch with my global surroundings. Of course, if I start watching or reading the news, regularly, that would help, too.

Anyhow, that’s how I do.

heh, trust me, watching the news isn’t going to get you any closer to knowing what’s going on in the world.

Which is why I love George. He hits me with news I would never get on the regular (aaron at uppity-negro too but I have to mine through his posts to find the news and then decipher…its like trying to read sanskrit scrolls sometimes with him…which is why I love it but that’s another story). And NPR is also my major news source as they cover things far more in depth and aren’t in the business of agressive ‘news’ debates with people trying to yell over each other all the time.

And I do like Fox News Sunday as well. Tony Snow is pretty good news man.

hmmm, i’m right there with you re: feeling too ignorant to comment on a topic. i hate that…but it’s just hard to know everything, you know?! i’m not big on commenting just for its own sake, either, if i don’t really have anything to say. (tho one might not guess that, based on this and other ramblings. *grin*)

Now then, I tend to comment more on the deeper posts and less on the fluff. Overall, anyway. If it’s a post I found particularly interesting, why yes, i’ll comment on that too! I comment more on blogs I visit more frequently.

It’s either way with me — I only really comment when I feel the need.

You know J…sometimes I, too, heavily consider writing and disabling my comment feature. Take it back to the old school, where someone had to write you an email to tell you what they thought of what you had to say.

Maybe, my writing would be different if I knew I wasn’t going to get comments on each entry. But I already censor my content. So, I don’t know how much different it would be. Some ish just ain’t gone get told. *lol*

heh - i’m like the mad commenter. i comment all over the place all the time. i am apparently a woman with a lot to say. sitting thinking about it now, i’m not sure what it is motivates me to do this.

also i tend to write in order to attract comments. to me, comments = attention and i suppose i have some need for that.

kd = off da chain - lol

Hmmm, how did I miss this post? I think it’s worth noting that there should be some sort of unspoken-yet-understood commenting etiquette, i.e., don’t augment posts with your own personal experience with the writer in order to present some evidence or P.O.V. in order to discredit the writer (this has happened to me), and don’t make insensitive “jokes” about a post which could be a serious matter to the writer in order to “lift his spirits” (has also happened to me). I could go on and on, and situations like this have made me not only want to close the commenting feature but go as fas as shutting the blog down completely. I’d do that before sending a nasty response letter. Could you imagine how many nasty letters I’d have to write? Who, exactly, has the time?

That’s all.