Lurk, like, follow or comment? What do you do?
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When reading other blogs on WordPress.com, do you find yourself just lurking and browsing? Do you like a few things and move on, or if you like something do you give the blog a follow to see what else might get published? Do you comment on posts you enjoy, even if only to say, “Hey, I really liked this!”
I set up my first WordPress site in early 2005. while WordPress.com did come to life that year, I was a self-hosted guy until recently. Thus, my view of my blog(s) and other bloggers was pretty narrow. Sure, I had blogs I read. But for the most part, I viewed my blog as a standalone item, without any sort of connection to other bloggers.
But WordPress.com with its built in social system really changed my view on that. I find myself working to make sure that I remember to “like” posts I find interesting and follow blogs that look like they might catch my eye again. And perhaps most importantly, that I can (and should) be checking out the blogs of people who like/comment/follow anything I post. I don’t comment enough, and I’d like to change that. I guess I have no data to back it up, but I think I am pretty safe in saying that comments are one of the things that bloggers (on WordPress.com or anywhere) most enjoy. Assuming we are talking about polite comments!
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I tend to “like” a lot, rather than comment, but I’m trying really hard to change that as commenting > liking > lurking, in my opinion.
Commenting on other people’s blogs is a fantastic way to build your traffic, as well as letting other people know you appreciate their work. It can be really tough to think up good comments, though, especially if you’re tired. I wrote a post about how to think up good comments, and I look at it sometimes if I can’t think of anything to say.
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I prefer comments.
Until the time-consuming work I did during this past year, I did comment on many other peoples’ blogs. I’d admit that the time to make posts on my own neglected blog was very limited as well. What happens if your blog dies for a while?
I like comments that relate to the post and to a person (to me, or me to the author). It was the thoughts, information, humor, or individuality in the articles posted that made commenting a pleasure.
I lurk. Volunteering on these forums means I read a lot of blogs. There is an amazing variety of interests and ideas expressed by WordPress.com users. I’ve followed some blogs, bookmarked others to check in on occasionally, and have made a few friends.
As for “likes” I don’t have much respect or use for them. There seem to be so many useless spam “likes.” I have done a few likes, but they don’t make for human interaction on either side; neither the person who is “liked” nor the one who “likes” has much commitment to the post or to each other.
I’m curious to see what others will say in this topic.
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As for “likes” I don’t have much respect or use for them. There seem to be so many useless spam “likes.” I have done a few likes, but they don’t make for human interaction on either side; neither the person who is “liked” nor the one who “likes” has much commitment to the post or to each other.
Well, to be fair, I was just sort of ignoring spam likes. We all hate those. But also to be fair, I think you have a point about the lack of human interaction. Still, I prefer a “like” to nothing at all.
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@euello
I liked your post. :)@everyone,
I’m trying to break a long standing multitasking addiction and it’s not easy. When doing work for our business or contracted work then I am only focused on it without distraction ie. no multitasking.When I answer questions here on the support forums I’m always multitasking and I’m frequently interrupted while typing comments so I do rely of copy and paste answers, and I often have to answer a phone and then make a second comment with more detail. Hence my copy and paste answers tend to be a little on the long side.
What I am doing when I answer questions here on the support forums, is running my chron jobs and data spill programs for my contracted jobs on another computer. The business is on a different computer too and I’m monitoring it continually. Aside from that I’m keeping pace with multiple email accounts and covering for my hubby in the business when he has to travel.
skim reading and bookmarking
I skim read many blogs when answering questions here and I bookmark ones to return to and read later.searching and lurking before following
I search for blogs on specific topics. I lurk before I follow a blog and have always done that as far back as I can remember. It all started at that diary blogging place that shall not be named way back in 2004 or was it 2005? I can’t recall and I’m too tired to check.ldon’t comment frequently enough
I don’t comment frequently enough on blogs I do follow and I use the like button more than I should. I click like only when I truly appreciate the work that went into a post, whether or not I agree with and opinions taken in it. If the like button did not exist there’s no doubt about it, I would comment more frequently and I would craft better comments than I do now. -
Still, I prefer a “like” to nothing at all.
Me too and sadly I think that it’s better than nothing when I click like because I don’t have the time to comment.
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Still, I prefer a “like” to nothing at all.
indeed ’tis true much ado about something
(perhaps to mis-name our bard’s play) -
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LOL
presumably: not cold and hard nickles and dimes…
Wouldn’t Midas today make all he touched into digital assets? (or was he a pre-internet spammer?)But don’t you think that folks blog and comment, lurk, and even like for love?
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The numbers say MOST Likes and comments are currently coming from spammers. Legitimate discourse about blog posts has moved to social media platforms.
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aye!
Isn’t that what I said? not worth the paper…
How many “real” comments per / spam comments?
And likes? well, i already said…
So why blog at all?
I’m not being cynical.
It’s a real question. -
I have never blogged in order to get a reaction out of the public. If you want to get a reaction out of the public, become a politician or a stripper.
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When someone has gone to the trouble to write something and you have read it then generally speaking it is surely worth a comment, however brief. I agree that sometimes it is easy to land on a blog or a post in error or on one that has no interest but it is good manners just to say “hey! I was here”. Automatic likes are fairly pointless.
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I’d hate to think that someone felt obligated to comment just because they read it. That’s got all the personalization of a “Thinking of you…because I feel guilty” card.
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It’s funny, in some instances, I appreciate “likes” a lot. Oddly enough, in forum discussions. I think they are a great way to say “I agree” or “Thanks” or what have you even if you don’t have anything in particular to add to the discussion. But for some reason, they don’t have the same feel in blogging.
While I do appreciate them and as I said, do prefer them to nothing. I wonder if I welcome them more in other venues because I am more likely to know the person doing the liking on FB or a forum than I am on WP.com? Perhaps I have an expectation that if I don’t know someone (or they don’t know me) that I would like to hear them make a comment about WHY they are liking whatever I posted. If it is a friend, I believe I can probably can make the guess (or at least an assumption) on my own.
Is that fair to expect in a large web-ecosystem like WordPress.com? Probably not. After all, the way WordPress.com is setup drives a lot of readers to blogs that wouldn’t have shown up if they were self-hosted. But with that comes some lack of a personal-touch from a lot of those readers.
Or maybe I’m overthinking it. In any case, I am going to try and make the effort to leave comments more often.
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I agree that I tent to “like” in forum discussions to indicate agreement with the content while “like” a blog post to indicate that I thought it was well-done or interesting, without expressing my agreement or not with the content.
While I write for me when I blog, I still want it to be of interest to someone. I like comments since, often, they can help me understand what the particular person gained from the post. Sometimes it is completely missing the point I was trying to make, which I use to help me read back over the post to see if I made my point unclear or focused on too many points in the post, etc.
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I agree with what’s been said about likes – they’re not as good as thoughtful comments, but it’s nice to know that people are reading and getting something out of what you write. Before likes existed, when I had a blog post with no comments from my regular readers, I felt really depressed about it, like I’d dropped the ball. But likes let me know that someone enjoyed it, even if they don’t have anything to add.
Legitimate discourse about blog posts has moved to social media platforms.
This is really unfortunate. Some of my favorite blogs and websites are my favorites just because of the awesome commenting community. I read the posts just so I can read the comments (I’m thinking in particular of the The Awl, at least when it started — I don’t read it much anymore). I think ideally comments add value to a site for all of the site’s readers. They don’t just make the blogger happy.
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@raincoaster
As euello says comments add value to the site. I agree, provided the comments are meaningful and do contain relevant and informative content.Legitimate discourse about blog posts has moved to social media platforms.
I
m with eurello on feeling thats unfortunate.Bloggers want to create blog centered communities. Well, how can that happen when full posts can be read off site and discussed on social media platforms?
Blogs are designed for interactive communication. Will use of social media platforms eventually eliminate the need for a blog at all?
Will use of social media platforms eventually lead to blogs becoming one way noticeboards with comments closed, prominent like buttons and discussion directed to social media sites?
@Tess
re: likesSo why blog at all?
I’m not being cynical.
It’s a real question.I`m strongly inclined towards disabling the likes on my blogs and still peeved that I cannot eliminate the ability to like any post or page completely. The fact we have no means of managing followers and that like button spammers exist means we have no accurate means of gauging blog growth.
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P.S. Before anyone tries to point me to this support doc Turn Likes On/Off on Specific Posts allow me to say that`s nice but not what I mean.
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I’d hate to think that someone felt obligated to comment just because they read it. That’s got all the personalization of a “Thinking of you…because I feel guilty” card.
I`m with raincoaster on that.
When it comes to commenting the degree of difficulty you experience in crafting comments is rooted in your personality type. It`s extroverts who like to comment and who expect comments. The pressure to comment in any conversation offline or online such as on blogs and social media platforms is generated by extroverts who are naturally drawn to discussion. The inclination to click a like button rather than crafting a comment is more prevalent among introverts.
Extroverts make up 60% to 75% of the population, and introverts make up the remainder. This explains society’s alleged preference toward extroverted behavior and if that preference did not exist we would not be discussing this here and now.
“It turns out that Introverts are people who are over-sensitive to Dopamine, so too much external stimulation overdoses and exhausts them. Conversely, Extroverts can’t get enough Dopamine, and they require Adrenaline for their brains to create it.
Extroverts also have a shorter pathway and less blood-flow to the brain. The messages of an Extrovert’s nervous system mostly bypass the Broca’s area in the frontal lobe, which is where a large portion of contemplation takes place.”
We can’t be in a group of people without instinctively mirroring each other, and groups follow the most charistmatic person (an introvert), even though there is no correlation between being charistmatic and having great ideas. Despite the fact collaboration kills creativity, we’re also living in a culture that increasingly values groupthink. We blog to connect and communicate and as raincoaster pointed out above that communication is no longer blog centered. Hence the desire to encourage introverts to comment on our blog posts is becoming increasingly more pronounced.
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