| |
A couple of comments about comments...
I'm heading off to the "tarde" show in the morning. I figured I would try to get in another post before I go away for the next few days.
I don't know where this will go... I'm just rambling.
I was going through my Blogroll today, trying to catch up. I checked in on a site I regularly visit and left a comment. Then clicked over to another site, left another comment. Then to another. And another. In all I left three or four comments out of the 20+ sites that I visited. There were several times that I clicked the comment button only to sit and stare blankly at the screen trying to come up with something useful to say. Only to chicken out and click the close button, saying nothing.
Later in the day as I was driving home from the office I started thinking about the ubiquitous "comment" hyperlink and what it represents. There are many sites I visit that don't offer comments, there are a few sites that I regular that opens comments on selected posts, but mostly the comment link is on most sites I see. I pondered as to the signigance of "comments" vs "no comments" vs "comments sometimes". I can't say I came up with any light to shed on this, I'm just throwing it out there.
Then I thought the number of comments some blogs get. I've seen sites that get hundreds on a single post. I watched the other day as dooce.com got over 300 comments within a two day period! Due to my nature... I used to think of the comment count as a score. Kind of the way I remember the Baptist preacher at the church I grew up in would do, "We had 321 smiling faces in Sunday School today! We're doing the Lord's work better than that other church across the street... They only had 29 show up! HEATHENS."
Now that I think about it, the count has nothing to do with score. I think it has more to do with the reader, and how well he/she identifies with the writer. As well as site traffic.
Further into this "thought train" I tried to figure out why I sometimes am able to freely comment on some sites, while other sites I completely "nut-up". Actually I "nut-up" on every comment I post for some reason. I'm sure it has something to do with my stagefright. If I've ever posted a comment on your site, you can rest assured that I sweated my ass off before I hit the submit button. You can also rest assured that if you're on my Blogroll, I've tried-- and maybe failed-- but tried all the same to post a comment or offer up a kind word or a thought on your site.
I finally realized that above all else the comment thing is about community. Somebody emailed me today and mentioned a comment I left on their blog, and how all of the responses (read comments) that she's been receiving has been helping her through a tough time in her life. I think that illustrates my point well enough.
The transmission of ideas, the feedback, the connection, whatever you want to call it, it makes the blog thing work. Otherwise I might as well be talking to a volleyball named "Wilson".
Anyway, I've got to get some sleep. But before I go I've got to set RZ up her own blog. More on that as the story evolves.
7/10/2004 11:10:57 PM
|
|
|
