Wednesday 9 June 2010

Comment Care


Dear friends thank you for your encouragement and prayers. That 's what one needs when passing through troubled waters. Sometimes when one shares a problem or hurt some folk respond by suggesting that you go into denial about your problems , don 't be negative - rejoice and be happy - CLAIM and TAME.
All very nice.
But as humans we need a shoulder to cry on.
First lend a sympathetic ear and then give a word of encouragement.
How can one find a solution if they can 't accept the problem?
Anyway, I found these helpful and insightful suggestions from blogger Ron. Have a look.
7 Suggestions to increase comments by Ron of THE OLD GEEZER BLOG.

1. No login. I've been to some blogs that force you to login with your name, your email address and your web site before you are allowed to make a comment. This is a real turn off and I rarely take the time to jump through the "login hoop".

2. Limit "blog clutter". Multiple sidebar Google gadgets, and Youtube videos will tend to cause your blog to load slowly. When people have to wait a long time for a blog to load they will tend to move on and not return.

3. Make it easy to find and use comment links. Use a comment box that allows the commenter the option to write a comment without having to scroll down through a long list of other comments.

4. No captchas—those annoying things that make people spell out letters to prove they are human.

5. No moderation. The instant gratification a new commenter feels when they see their name and content post to your site is not to be underestimated.

6. Posting regularly is important. You cannot build and sustain a vocal audience on a stagnant blog. But being active is about more than posting frequency. Commit time and energy to reach out to other bloggers by commenting on their blog and linking to their posts on your blog. If you comment on their stuff, they will return the favor.*Geezer note: This is true, but getting on the comment merry-go-round can be very time consuming. It has been my experience that fishing for comments this way will often cause people to return a comment not because they are interested in what you blog about, but because they feel obligated to return the favor. My suggestion is to comment on all the blogs that you find interesting and don't expect a comment in return. You'll save yourself a lot of anguish.

7. Always try to add a question or two at the beginning or ending of your blog that relates to the subject matter of your post. Questions allow your readers to voice their own personal thoughts and opinions about your blog and most of us love to do that. And allow people to disagree with you without giving them a lecture in the comment area for all to read. If you want to take issue with a comment, do it by email.What do you think are some of the top reasons why people don't leave comments?Do you have some constructive opinions or suggestions that you would like to share.
Would like to hear from you.

9 Fertilize my soul:

monsoon dreams said...

glad to see ur post,amrita.yes,sometimes we need a shoulder to lean on.thanks for being mine,in my times of trouble,dearest.
good tips on blogging,very practical ones.

Paresh Palicha said...

Very good suggestions. I've never taken blogging seriously (1. I'm very lazy & 2nd I always doubt whether my thoughts solid enough to be shared).But, I love reading well-written (like yours) ones.

Pray that your bad phase passes through quickly.

Kimmie said...

Sending a hug...

thank you for Ron's thoughts/help with comments.

I would add that if you turn off your captchas, that you may be bombarded by spam. I know I was. Mine is back on, as I don't have time to go through and delete them all...as they randomly hit old posts.

Kimmie
mama to 8
one homemade and 7 adopted

Felisol said...

I have one more turn off. The ones forcing me to allow third part cookies on my blog. If I do that, I have a long tale after me. It's so annoying.

On the other hand, the only polite thing to do, is answer when you have a blog visitor. Who bothers to leave a comment, if I don't repay the visit, even if I have to leave some security check points. Security often will mean that the site owner is serious and taking care not to let in spam machines or other unwelcome guests.
At least, that's how I feel.

Nadwrażliwiec said...

Intelligent suggestions, but in reality - are they possible? People sometimes are very cruel and they can be unpleasant to other people also in Internet. Few days ago I read the article about coarse behaviour in Polish forums and blogs - it's big problem for example in some Polish information service. In this article was written story of one Polish volleyball player, who gave up representation of Polish national team because of cruel comments about her in Internet. Impolite people are the minority, but they are very loud - their words can really hurt. I have moderation in my blog because I don't want to impolite people insult me or my friends. Maybe in future I will give up moderation, but it's true - some people should learn to use in wise way freedom of speech in Internet.
The other issue is fact, that we can know real friends by blogs. It is bright side if Internet :)
I hope You feel better, Amrita.

Pat said...

I agree with you my friend, sometimes we need an ear, a hug and a shoulder to lean on. It's affirmation that what we are going through is important enough for more then a pat answer.
Good blog advise, I always feel more comfortable when a blog site is in a simple layout, and I don't care for a blog that automatically plays music....your taste may not necessarily be my taste, and sometimes - I just love silence!

Kathryn said...

I don't moderate - UNTIL after 7 days or 10 days or whatever i have set. I'm glad i've done that because 2 of my old posts continually get spam that i don't want posted. I don't know why "Colds & Flu" draws so many comments, but i've deleted probably at least 20 - on a post 18 months old.

Other than that, i agree with this. In general i don't mind part of what is required, but there is a new form out (discus?) that wouldn't accept me as anything - it just deleted whatever i said. Unless i posted as "anonymous" & several folks don't allow that.

One of the previous comments was correct, there are folks out there who can be really cruel. I've not had that misfortune, but a couple of my friends have.

Thank you, Amrita, for making it easy to talk to you! :)

Gerry said...

I finally did moderation of anonymous because of getting an annoying number of spam entries on a lot of old entries. This way regular blogger commenters are not disturbed. I also get comments on my you tube videos which are mostly okay, but nasty vacuous ones come up sometimes. I am glad comments got you to feeling better and helped you through a rough patch.

Amrita said...

Dear friends thank you for your responses and ideas