By Lots of commenters on Tuesday’s post mentioned how challenging it can be to write substantive comments. Here’s a great piece from last year to give you a commenting boost.
Here on The Daily Post, we’re always advising you to build blog relationships by leaving substantive comments on other people’s posts. That’s easy enough to say, but how do you think of more to say than “Great post!” when all you can think to say is, well, “Great post!”
I often have trouble coming up with things to say — both in blog commenting sections and at parties. Here are some questions I ask myself when I want to leave a comment on a post but find I’m at a loss for words:
- What was my reaction to the post, specifically? Did it make me laugh? Did it make me sad? Did it touch me? Did it inspire me to take action? Why did it make me feel that way?
- If the blogger made a point or expressed an opinion, do I agree with them or disagree? If I agree, is there any additional reason why I think the same thing that the blogger didn’t mention? If I disagree, why?
- If the blogger wrote about something that happened to them, have I ever had a similar experience that I could share?
- If the blogger wrote about a book, a movie, or an album, have I read, watched, or listened to it? Did I enjoy it? Can I recommend anything similar that the blogger and their readers might also enjoy?
- Does any part of the blogger’s post remind me of something that I’ve read elsewhere recently — a news article, another blogger’s post? If so, I can mention how that article relates to the post and link to it in my comment.
- Is there any aspect of the story that I would like to hear more about? Any questions left unanswered? Any point the blogger made or conclusion they drew that I did not quite understand?
- Did the post change my mind about anything in particular, or did it teach me something that I didn’t know before?
- If I still can’t think of anything to say but “Great post, enjoyed it,” can I at least think of an original way to say that, that displays some personality and that lets the blogger know I actually read the entire post? For example, instead of “this was hilarious. I lol’d” maybe say something like “when I got to the part where the old man stole your shopping cart, I laughed so hard I scared my cat.”
If there are other comments on the post, you can (and should) also read through all of those. If the original post didn’t prompt you to respond, one of the other commenters might.
Finally, if you have absolutely nothing to say about the post, but you really enjoyed it and you want to reach out to the blogger, read some of their other posts! You’re bound to have something to contribute to one of them.
Do you leave a lot of comments or do you tend to lurk? Do you have any additional tips for coming up with interesting comments?
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Featured image: perennial “Fatal Attraction” echinacea by F.D. Richards (CC BY-SA 2.0).
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Wow, you have dug up so many questions to ask when finding it hard to write a comment other than just ‘great blog’. If a blog makes me feel happy, then I like to tell the blogger just that because I’d love to know that one of my blogs may have made somebodies day. If its a subject I am really interested in (like time travel!), then I will ask lots of questions just to see if the blogger has different opinions to myself. Thanks for publishing this item again.
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I like my comments to be expressive, conveying what I feel and thats why sometimes they take up a lot of time, when it comes to responding certain meaningful comments 🙂
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I realy liked your tips as I have trouble coming up with interesting comments, I’m definetly going to try them. Thanks so much.
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I lurk, afraid my words are empty and who cares about my opinion, however when I take the time to read a post I like to comments, this will give me things to think about to make them meaningful, thanks.
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Claudia, author Jane Porter once made a wonderful comment at a workshop of hers I attended: NEVER underestimate the reach of your words. I’m paraphrasing, and she referred to one’s storytelling efforts, but the principle applies. And if one shares from a kind, honest and compassionate standpoint, you just never know whose day or life you’ll impact. Just sayin’ 🙂
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I really enjoyed this article. The only thing that I would like to add in relation to leaving comments is to be always positive and to never offend. A respectful disagreement could start an interesting conversation. Also, I find that if I read about a subject expressing a different view than my own, I try to spend time and think about the opinion expressed. Most blogs can be an addition to your own way of thinking and/or writing.
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I leave as many comments as I can. It doesn’t feel right when I just click the like button. This article helps though. Thanks.
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I agree with the article because comments and views do encourage a persons to continue to blog
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Although I wish I could read all the comments, some posts have so many I simply can’t due to time limits. I do, however, make sure my comment reflects having read the post in some shape or form. On occasion, my response is overlong (for my taste). That’s when I cut it, thank the blogger for inspiring me and link back to that blog when I post said response at my li’l blogging corner of the web. One long-winded comment turned into a two-part write up, lol.
Glad you re-ran this one. I’m thinking I must have missed it the first time. Thnx!
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I like to pick out an aspect of what I liked about the post and why I liked it – I’ve found sometimes this can trigger a bit of a conversation.
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I must admit I am terrible at making comments and replying to comments on my blog. Maybe, because I am terrible at talking to other people, too. Comments are usually sort of informal, and in most cases, I find it difficult to simply loosen up.
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I am not good at giving comments, so when I post a comment like “awesome” or when I hit “like”, I really mean it. I just can’t express it in a way that sounds more sincere to the readers. I agree the other comments here that this has something to do with personality. I am a reserved type of person, I find it hard to start a conversation with a stranger or mingle with people whom I just met. Now, I want to change this. This makes me hesitate to immediately post a comment to a post. Well, thanks to this post. This will serve as my guide to logically express my viewpoint
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I comment to be noticed (99% of us) :)))) ; I comment to help shade some light based on my own experiences ( 1%). Somebody tell me this isn’t true!
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Before starting my blog, I am guilty of seldom leave comment on blog posts which I think it is interesting. Feel troublesome with the login to comment feature and keying in captcha code. However, after having a blog, I feel so much more appreciative with readers leaving a meaningful comments. Having comments push the blogger to write more and better posts. I love the interactions with the readers so I would not want to deprive the bloggers’ satisfaction to know my praise for their posts.
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I always comment the first word that comes into my mind after reading the post. And the first word that came in my mind after reading this one was “VERY HELPING”. Thanks 🙂
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