Apr | 27 | 2008

The Three Types of Comments

Posted by Jimmy as Blog Tutorial

I have never known a blogger who did not value comments highly. In fact, the opposite is true. Every blogger that I know cannot hide his or his excitement over receiving even a single (legitimate) comment on a post. I am much the same way – I love getting comments, and why not? They are indicators that people are visiting my blog, are actually reading my posts, and are finding the posts interesting enough to comment.

In my effort to analyze comments and to find out how to get more of them, I came to realize that comments can be grouped into some general categories. Knowing what they are can be helpful in the sense that identifying which kinds of comments you want to get can lead you to specific measures to elicit these comments.

I think that there are three types of comments:

-comments that merely make a statement
-comments that ask questions
-trackbacks.

I favor the first two types of comments. These are written out by people and actually give you an idea on what they think about your post. I believe that they are the most useful for the blogger. One, they may contain outright suggestions that you can use to improve your posts. Two, they can give you ideas on future posts. Three, they can provide opportunities to make new friends and interact with other people. The last type of comment is still a good thing in my book – though you may not be getting anything from the trackback as you would from the two other types of comments, you still get acknowledged!

Tag: Blog Tutorial

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3 Responses

Nancy McCord
28|Apr|2008

Just last week on ProBlogger, I read a guest writer say that she deletes all negative comments. Wow, talk about sanitizing your readers. She stated that if you entered a negative comment on her blog, or, if she plainly didn’t like it, your comment got the chop.

Well, I simply don’t agree, I’m with you comments are a good thing even negative ones. I think that comments even negative ones are what blogs are about - interaction and open exchange. The very best blogs are ones that encourage that and put that ideal first.

On my own blog, I never pre-screen or moderate my comments. I will delete hate comments and profanity but typically those are not pointed at me, but are rather comment spam that got through the Askinet filter.

Negative comments can cause controversy and controversy can encourage others to write in and comment on the commenter. This exchange can build traffic and readership.

So comments are great and I like you, encourage them on my blogs and only delete spam.
Jimmy
30|Apr|2008

Wow - that IS harsh and can be counterproductive as well! I agree with you, Nancy, negative comments are part of blogging. We are all entitled to our opinions.
More Ways To Optimize Your Blog For Your Readers | Biziki
06|May|2008

[…] make it hard for readers to leave their comments. It is understandable that you would want to set certain measures in place in order to weed out […]

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