30 Days to Being a Better Blogger
Day 8: Comment unto others
Sometimes the best thing you can do to improve your own blogging is to spend more time reading and contributing to other people’s blogs. It’s the golden rule of blogging. Comment unto others as you would have others comment unto you. Ok, maybe I’m stretching that one a bit, but it really is one of the best ways to raise awareness of your own blog. It also happens to be one of the nicest things you can do to another blogger. Let’s face it, while you might continue to blog even if you never got another comment, it’s an incredible motivator.
Beyond that though, if you truly believe that blogs are a conversation, then commenting is just as important as blogging is. In fact, it’s important enough that a few people organized a 31 Day Commenting Challenge. This announcement page for it explains simply and eloquently why it is such a significant activity to engage it in order to be a productive member of the blogosphere.
It’s funny, it takes barely any time to do and yet I find so often I read a post and move right along without leaving any feedback at all. Even if you just leave a one sentence reply, it let’s the author know that you took the time to read it and what you thought. I can’t speak for anybody else, but even during this challenge when at times I’ve had 20-30 comments sitting in the inbox, I still take the time to read every single one of them. The inverse is true as well. There have been times when I’ve poured my heart and soul into a blog post and never gotten a single comment. While it doesn’t stop me from doing it again and again, I can honestly admit that it can be discouraging.
SO, let’s do unto others as we’d have others do unto us. For today’s challenge, find two blogs to leave a comment on. One can be a favorite that you’ve commented on before, but the other should be a blog you’ve never left a response on until now. Bonus points for going beyond the ‘required’ two!
Not sure where to find a blog you haven’t left a comment on before? Try visiting the 30D2BBB Wiki and leaving a comment for one of the other participants! And be sure that you’ve listed yourself there while you’re at it!
30d2bbb image by Jason Robertshaw is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
- Day 21: Give a comment a promotion
- Day 19: Who do you love… and why?
- Day 22: Why do you blog?
- Students learning from Students
- Day 3: Write a thank you note
micsmith
11/8/2008
Comments good or bad, long or short, funny or serious… are always nice to get…
Natalie
11/8/2008
Being that my readership is very small every comment is like a little Christmas gift! I’m getting better at leaving comments for others, though I am sometimes intimidated by the expertise of many of those I read. I sometimes wonder what “lil ol’ me” has to contribute. I am getting better though!
Jennifer Dorman
11/8/2008
Thanks to this challenge I discovered three new blogs.
http://successfulteaching.blogspot.com/
http://mkrill.edublogs.org/
http://just-in-time-tech.blogspot.com/
Pat
11/8/2008
Thanks for motivating me to find new blogs to follow!
Robin martin
11/8/2008
I know what you mean about pouring it out and wondering if anyone is out there! I started to blog to share resources with my fellow teachers in the building. I used to send out simple emails every other day with sites etc. Now I just send the link to my blog every once in a while. You are keeping us motivated. Great challenge Steve!
[...] Dembo’s latest challenge in the 30 Days to Being a Better Blogger challenge calls for participants to comment. I wholeheartedly agree with this. I will take it one [...]
Cathy Nelson
11/8/2008
Hey Steve and others, I made a post about this too, and even extended the challenge for bloggers. Go by and read my additional challenge (oh, and comment too, in light of the topic here. LOL)
[...] virtual school Day seven in the 30 Days to Being a Better Blogger series asks us to look at Day 8: Comment unto others. The task for today is: For today’s challenge, find two blogs to leave a comment on. One can be [...]
Jim McGuire
11/9/2008
This is a great point. I follow many blogs, but very seldom comment. I appreciate when someone else comments on my blog, and need to return the courtesy more often.
Jim McGuire´s most recent blog post.. Read at Home Change
Patrick Balck
11/9/2008
I agree, this is the kick in the pants I need to make some more comments. Thanks for this challenge, it is really helping me!
Sue Waters
11/9/2008
Interesting aspect we gained from The Comment Challenge was that most participants were reluctant commenters not because they were too busy but because they felt their comment mightn’t be valued. This did amaze me because many of the people who felt this were experienced users of twitter and had been blogging for awhile.
It just amazed me that leaving comments on other people’s blogs made them feel uncomfortable yet they were comfortable with blogging and microblogging.
PS read your comment on Cathy’s blog. Can’t believe you aren’t using a comment tracking tool for comments (email? 
)
Sue Waters´s most recent blog post.. Interested In FREE Online PD This Friday?
Judy Gressel
11/9/2008
Hey Steve,
I do read your blog and appreciate learning from you. I often blog about ideas I read but don’t do enough commenting. Thanks for the little push.
Judy Gressel
librarian
New Trier High School
Topsy-Techie
11/9/2008
I was getting so few comments that I’m hosting a giveaway to a commenter this month!! Plenty of readers, but no comments. That’s just rude, right? 
Nancy
11/9/2008
Regardless of the number of blog analytic tools you might have, NOTHING comes close to getting a comment on a post. I find that even if I have nothing to add to the post, I like to let the blogger know something as simple as, ‘Thanks for blogging, your posts have made an impact on my [fill in the blank].’
Nancy´s most recent blog post.. 30D2BBB – A Heartfelt Thanks
Bill Ferriter
11/10/2008
Steve wrote:
Beyond that though, if you truly believe that blogs are a conversation, then commenting is just as important as blogging is.
This is such a hugely important point, Steve—all too often, people think blogging = writing.
Blogging REALLY = writing + listening + responding + reading + arguing + listening some more + rethinking + revisiting
When bloggers get stuck in the “blogging is about the posts that I write” mindset, all we’ve got in the blogosphere is a heaping cheeseload of digital soapboxes, don’t we?
The commenting side of blogging has been great fun because it forces me to consider my own positions related to the author’s initial posts. Sometimes I agree, other times I disagree—but articulating that response ALWAYS improves my own understanding.
Anyway….thanks for challenging my thinking…
Bill
Michelle Bourgeois
11/10/2008
One thing I’ve noticed is that I’m more likely to comment when I visit a blog directly rather than when I read it through an aggregator like GoogleReader. Even though I’m more likely to read more posts in GoogleReader, reading them when they are separated from the context of the blogger’s site somehow makes it more impersonal. I appreciate those who leave links to their latest posts on Twitter and Plurk and who link to their blogs in comments they leave on other sites – it makes me more likely to visit and continue reading future posts from them.
Michelle Bourgeois´s most recent blog post.. Yes We Can!
Ben
11/10/2008
Love the series! I challenged other staff at my school to follow it too.
Ben´s most recent blog post.. A Historical Night & Wordle
David Muir
11/14/2008
I’d love to leave a comment on your post… but I can’t think of anything to say.
David Muir´s most recent blog post.. More maths stuff
[...] Ferriter had some solid remarks about commenting from Day 8’s challenge: …All too often, people think blogging = [...]
[...] is a tip that Steve Dembo also gives in Day 8 – Comment unto others. I was struck by the comment on this tip that Bill Ferriter [...]
nelsa
1/8/2009
One thing I’ve noticed is that I’m more likely to comment when I visit a blog directly rather than when I read it through an aggregator like GoogleReader. Even though I’m more likely to read more posts in GoogleReader, reading them when they are separated from the context of the blogger’s site somehow makes it more impersonal. I appreciate those who leave links to their latest posts on Twitter and Plurk and who link to their blogs in comments they leave on other sites – it makes me more likely to visit and continue reading future posts from them.
——————————–
nelsa
<a href=”http://www.casualdate.net.au”rel=”dating
nelsa´s most recent blog post.. Perth Couples
Paul
1/27/2009
just discovered this challenge while preparing a class on web 2.0 tools for teachers; VERY COOL! sorry I missed it live; will be difficult to motivate myself to hit this daily
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