A little while ago, there was an enthusiastic discussion about comments on blogs – sparked by Fred Wilson’s contention that comments are how most bloggers are “paid” given most bloggers make little if any money from hammering out all those bon mots.
Then, Loren Feldman weighed in typical Loren fashion, suggesting that comments are not about a conversation but simply a vanity play by people interested in showing how smart they were – a post that, ironically, attracted 17 comments.
While I don’t totally buy into Loren’s thesis, I completely agree with one of his statements: “Nobody comments. I don’t have time to read, let alone comment”. What Loren did is hit upon what I see as a growing reality, the busier people digitally become, the less time and interest they have in making comments.
Think about it: many people who are the most predisposed to make comments are likely using Facebook, Twitter, Friendfeed, del.ico.us, Google Reader, Plurk, blogging and reading e-mail. The more services they use, the less time they have to do other things such as comment.
It doesn’t mean they’re not reading blogs; it means they’re probably flipping to another blog or checking their Twitter or writing a blog post rather than allocating time to make a comment. (Aside: Nothing drives me crazier than being inspired to make a comment, only to discover that you have to register to do it. I don’t have time to register so why make it more time-consuming than it needs to be!)
The ironic thing is people who write blogs, love comments, and tend to make comments in response to comments about their posts. Many of these people, however, don’t comment on other blogs anymore because they don’t have time…and so it goes.
This website uses IntenseDebate comments, but they are not currently loaded because either your browser doesn't support JavaScript, or they didn't load fast enough.
The Demise of the Comment
A little while ago, there was an enthusiastic discussion about comments on blogs – sparked by Fred Wilson’s contention that comments are how most bloggers are “paid” given most bloggers make little if any money from hammering out all those bon mots.
Then, Loren Feldman weighed in typical Loren fashion, suggesting that comments are not about a conversation but simply a vanity play by people interested in showing how smart they were – a post that, ironically, attracted 17 comments.
While I don’t totally buy into Loren’s thesis, I completely agree with one of his statements: “Nobody comments. I don’t have time to read, let alone comment”. What Loren did is hit upon what I see as a growing reality, the busier people digitally become, the less time and interest they have in making comments.
Think about it: many people who are the most predisposed to make comments are likely using Facebook, Twitter, Friendfeed, del.ico.us, Google Reader, Plurk, blogging and reading e-mail. The more services they use, the less time they have to do other things such as comment.
It doesn’t mean they’re not reading blogs; it means they’re probably flipping to another blog or checking their Twitter or writing a blog post rather than allocating time to make a comment. (Aside: Nothing drives me crazier than being inspired to make a comment, only to discover that you have to register to do it. I don’t have time to register so why make it more time-consuming than it needs to be!)
The ironic thing is people who write blogs, love comments, and tend to make comments in response to comments about their posts. Many of these people, however, don’t comment on other blogs anymore because they don’t have time…and so it goes.
Technorati Tags: Comments