On Commenting

Part of  the requirement of your Blog Project is that you comment on at least one of your classmates' blogs each week. Why am I asking you to do this?

Well, because as the blog writer, getting comments is thrilling! It feels gratifying and affirming and lets you know that your work has reached an actual audience. Someone out there has taken the time to read what you have to say about a subject, and was moved to respond.

On the other side, when you offer your comments on someone else's blog, you are lending your idiosyncratic voice to a larger conversation, adding texture and perspective, and sometimes even dissent.

Both of these kinds of writing go a long way toward creating a dynamic intellectual community, and that is what we are striving for here.

But how do we, as bloggers, encourage participation in that discussion?

Here are some tips for increasing conversation in the comments section of your blog:

1. Invite them! At the end of each post, pose a question that invites response from your audience. Go beyond a simple, "I'd love to hear from you!" or "What did you think of my post?" Be specific, even if you allow yourself to be tangential. In a recent post on my professional writing blog, in which I talk about having met my husband online (where do you think old people find dates in a college town?), I asked my readers to share bad first-date stories. In another, that was about cooking the vegetable kale, I asked people what their most hated vegetable was when they were children. You really get to know your audience this way. It's nice!

2. Respond to them! You should reply quickly to every comment you receive, even if it's just to say, "Hey, thanks for stopping by!" People like to have their efforts recognized, and they further like to feel like their ideas are valuable to the conversation. Make them feel wanted. Make them feel at home.

3. Read and comment on their blog! A little "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" goes a long way toward building community. You are required to read and respond to one post a week, but why not reply to more than that? Your classmates (and even your colleagues in my other two sections!) are fascinating humans. (One keeps poison dart frogs as pets! One's hobby is special effects makeup for horror movies! Two are members of the Marine Corps!) Read about them. Get to know them. Talk to them...and invite them to get to know how fabulous you are, too!


Remember to keep a log of all the URL addresses for the posts you comment on this semester so you can give them to me at the end of the term.