Lifehacker’s guide to weblog comments
Thursday, November 24, 2005
A copied article, a gift to some of my readers, your key to welcomed comments. My dream of a comment!
Paragraphs I find great are in blod, although all the article is great.
A real post tomorrow.. Inshallah!
by Gina Trapani
Leaving a comment on someone’s weblog is like walking into their living room and joining in on a conversation. As in real life, online there are some people who are a pleasure to converse with, and some who are not.
Good blog commenters add to the discussion and are known as knowledgeable, informative, friendly and engaged. Build your own online social capital and become a great blog commenter by keeping these simple guidelines in mind before you post.
Stay on topic.
Bloggers enable comments on specific blog posts to hear more about the content of the post. Don’t change the subject. There’s nothing more annoying than seeing a comment on a post about Hurricane Katrina that reads, “By the way, do you know anything about turtles?”
Contribute new information to the discussion.
Twelve people saying the same exact thing in one comment thread is useless and irritating. Before you comment, read the entire thread and make sure your comment offers something new to the conversation. If you don’t have the time or patience to read an entire thread, then don’t comment at all. The longer a comment thread the more likely someone has already said what you’re thinking, and the less likely it is to be read by future visitors anyway.
Don’t comment for the sake of commenting.
Commenters who only say “First!” or “Nice site” on an open thread have no business hitting that “Post” button at all. Further, only spammers comment for the sake of adding their name and URL to a web page. Useless comments will gain you the reputation for being a useless commenter.
Know when to comment and when to e-mail.
A weblog comment is a public one-to-many communication within the context of a blog post. An e-mail is a private interaction. A weblog comment that reads, “Oh yeah, that link is cool. By the way, how’s your sister?” doesn’t contribute to the public conversation and belongs in an e-mail message to the author instead.
Remember that nobody likes a know-it-all.
The best kind of comments come from thoughtful, knowledgeable people who add more information about a topic. However, tongue-lashings from condescending smartypants will go over as well on someone’s blog as they would in that someone’s living room. Expect to get shown the door in the form of the delete button. When fact-checking, pointing out a typo or dead link or asserting a dissenting opinion, do it in a respectful, friendly way.
Make the tone of your message clear.
No one can hear the tone of your voice or see your facial expression online. Sarcasm, in-jokes and exaggerations can easily be taken the wrong way in a public forum. Remember that a simple colon and a parentheses can change the meaning of a sentence entirely. Use emoticons or additional information to communicate the spirit of your message.
Own your comment.
Anonymous commenting, while sometimes necessary, can be seen as cowardly. Build your identity and own your words by placing your name and weblog address on your comments wherever possible.
Be succinct.
Longwinded lectures are for college professors, not blog comments. Stay short and to the point. Everyone appreciates brevity.
Cite your sources with links or inline quoting.
To comment on specific bits of a blog post, copy and paste the lines in question and add your response below each section. If you’re referencing information located elsewhere, provide a short summary and a link to your source so others can click through for more information at their discretion.
Be courteous.
Chances are something someone says in a comment or post is going to irk you. Still, personal attacks are unacceptable, useless and can quickly degrade a discussion to a third grade “Yo Mama” flamefest. Resist the urge, and be respectful and objective at all times.
Don’t post when you’re angry, upset, drunk or emotional.
There’s no taking back a published blog comment - once you post, it’s there for everyone to see and for Google to cache. Remember, you’re not going to show your best face in the heat of an emotional moment. If you find yourself angrily typing a message into someone’s blog comment box - STOP. Get up. Take a breath. Walk around. Give it a day. Revisit the thread when your head is clear. This goes doubly for public blog comments as it does for private e-mail messages.
Do not feed or tease the trolls.
No matter how many articles like this get written, there will always be people who surf around the Internet and inject pointless vindictiveness into any available textarea. Don’t let the terrorists win. Do NOT acknowledge these people with refutations, disagreements or even a mention of their screen name.
****
Why bother write a post like this if it's already there!!
And for people sitting in my living room, you're most welcome into civilized discussions. :)
I searched for last year's post on this day, and ironically, it was this.. Najma angry at commenters! I'm not angry at anyone now, but I'm fearing that I will at sometime.. Don't force me to do things I don't want to do!
Paragraphs I find great are in blod, although all the article is great.
A real post tomorrow.. Inshallah!
by Gina Trapani
Leaving a comment on someone’s weblog is like walking into their living room and joining in on a conversation. As in real life, online there are some people who are a pleasure to converse with, and some who are not.
Good blog commenters add to the discussion and are known as knowledgeable, informative, friendly and engaged. Build your own online social capital and become a great blog commenter by keeping these simple guidelines in mind before you post.
Stay on topic.
Bloggers enable comments on specific blog posts to hear more about the content of the post. Don’t change the subject. There’s nothing more annoying than seeing a comment on a post about Hurricane Katrina that reads, “By the way, do you know anything about turtles?”
Contribute new information to the discussion.
Twelve people saying the same exact thing in one comment thread is useless and irritating. Before you comment, read the entire thread and make sure your comment offers something new to the conversation. If you don’t have the time or patience to read an entire thread, then don’t comment at all. The longer a comment thread the more likely someone has already said what you’re thinking, and the less likely it is to be read by future visitors anyway.
Don’t comment for the sake of commenting.
Commenters who only say “First!” or “Nice site” on an open thread have no business hitting that “Post” button at all. Further, only spammers comment for the sake of adding their name and URL to a web page. Useless comments will gain you the reputation for being a useless commenter.
Know when to comment and when to e-mail.
A weblog comment is a public one-to-many communication within the context of a blog post. An e-mail is a private interaction. A weblog comment that reads, “Oh yeah, that link is cool. By the way, how’s your sister?” doesn’t contribute to the public conversation and belongs in an e-mail message to the author instead.
Remember that nobody likes a know-it-all.
The best kind of comments come from thoughtful, knowledgeable people who add more information about a topic. However, tongue-lashings from condescending smartypants will go over as well on someone’s blog as they would in that someone’s living room. Expect to get shown the door in the form of the delete button. When fact-checking, pointing out a typo or dead link or asserting a dissenting opinion, do it in a respectful, friendly way.
Make the tone of your message clear.
No one can hear the tone of your voice or see your facial expression online. Sarcasm, in-jokes and exaggerations can easily be taken the wrong way in a public forum. Remember that a simple colon and a parentheses can change the meaning of a sentence entirely. Use emoticons or additional information to communicate the spirit of your message.
Own your comment.
Anonymous commenting, while sometimes necessary, can be seen as cowardly. Build your identity and own your words by placing your name and weblog address on your comments wherever possible.
Be succinct.
Longwinded lectures are for college professors, not blog comments. Stay short and to the point. Everyone appreciates brevity.
Cite your sources with links or inline quoting.
To comment on specific bits of a blog post, copy and paste the lines in question and add your response below each section. If you’re referencing information located elsewhere, provide a short summary and a link to your source so others can click through for more information at their discretion.
Be courteous.
Chances are something someone says in a comment or post is going to irk you. Still, personal attacks are unacceptable, useless and can quickly degrade a discussion to a third grade “Yo Mama” flamefest. Resist the urge, and be respectful and objective at all times.
Don’t post when you’re angry, upset, drunk or emotional.
There’s no taking back a published blog comment - once you post, it’s there for everyone to see and for Google to cache. Remember, you’re not going to show your best face in the heat of an emotional moment. If you find yourself angrily typing a message into someone’s blog comment box - STOP. Get up. Take a breath. Walk around. Give it a day. Revisit the thread when your head is clear. This goes doubly for public blog comments as it does for private e-mail messages.
Do not feed or tease the trolls.
No matter how many articles like this get written, there will always be people who surf around the Internet and inject pointless vindictiveness into any available textarea. Don’t let the terrorists win. Do NOT acknowledge these people with refutations, disagreements or even a mention of their screen name.
****
Why bother write a post like this if it's already there!!
And for people sitting in my living room, you're most welcome into civilized discussions. :)
I searched for last year's post on this day, and ironically, it was this.. Najma angry at commenters! I'm not angry at anyone now, but I'm fearing that I will at sometime.. Don't force me to do things I don't want to do!
posted by Najma at 5:48 PM, | 
10 Comments:
Najma, I promise that I will try not to make you angry. :)
I think this is a very good post. I know you've had problems before with commenters. I think folks leaving comments should know what the rules are. It would seem obvious that people should be civil and constructive, but in things related to politics people may forget that they are talking to a real person with real feelings.
I have some experience "moderating" discussion boards, controlling member access and keeping discussions civil and constructive rather than letting them descend into a chaos of insults and flame wars. Almost always I have found that simply explaining to people what standards are applicable to their posts is enough. Control of comments in a blog is less flexible but the same principle should apply: there is somebody in charge, they control the discussion, and everybody must play by their rules. In your blog, that "somebody in charge" is you. As long as this is clearly understood it is usually enough.
I really am glad you have enabled comments, I treasure the opportunity to offer what jems of wosdom I might have from time to time, and the chance to to leave an encouraging word or two when I am not feeling so wise (which is most of the time).
I have some experience "moderating" discussion boards, controlling member access and keeping discussions civil and constructive rather than letting them descend into a chaos of insults and flame wars. Almost always I have found that simply explaining to people what standards are applicable to their posts is enough. Control of comments in a blog is less flexible but the same principle should apply: there is somebody in charge, they control the discussion, and everybody must play by their rules. In your blog, that "somebody in charge" is you. As long as this is clearly understood it is usually enough.
I really am glad you have enabled comments, I treasure the opportunity to offer what jems of wosdom I might have from time to time, and the chance to to leave an encouraging word or two when I am not feeling so wise (which is most of the time).
Salaam Najma
This is a great post. Coincidentally I was going to reply to one of your visitors who thought that you were wrong at moderating comments. The funny thing is that I would have told her that this is blog is really your house and the rules are yours. One's blog really does feel like ones home (isn't it :)).
Does it not feel that your blog has evolved? We all have learnt a great deal from it and I thank you for it.
This is a great post. Coincidentally I was going to reply to one of your visitors who thought that you were wrong at moderating comments. The funny thing is that I would have told her that this is blog is really your house and the rules are yours. One's blog really does feel like ones home (isn't it :)).
Does it not feel that your blog has evolved? We all have learnt a great deal from it and I thank you for it.
I love this post! if u might, I would like to "STEAL" it. dont worry, i'll quote you on it!
salam sis.
salam sis.
This was very interesting. I take a different view from the author, however. I don't see how one can claim publishing a blog on the World Wide Web as one's 'living room'. It is more akin to a street corner with a soap box from which all who are able can agree, disagree, make arguments and refute others. To me it seems selfish to take to that soap box and make controversial statemnts, then turn and pick up that box and then deny others their turn. If all you seek to do is have a civil and friendly discussion, you should limit your blog to subjects which lend themselves to such discussions.
All should consider or ignore what they deem worthy or unworthy without filters. Those who engage in pointless and obscenity laced attacks to he point of being offensive are a different matter, but anything inside the bounds of generally acceptable public conduct should be encouraged, not banned. Society, culture and especially governments may try to define those standards differently, but 'freedom' is an innate human standard which seeks to defy those limitations institutions seek to apply as can be seen the world over through the internet.
If one uses the WWW to publish controversial statements and topics, one should be open to others replies.
If you take the view of the author that a blog accessible to all and open to comment is like one's living room, then the owner of the living room should also consider their guests and not broach subjects and make statements which could obviously lead to energetic or heated discussion unless that is what they wish to have. Would you invite someone into your living room and discuss thngs like religion, politics, war and then feel you were wronged if a guest took issue with your comments? Only if you were arrogant and felt privileged. On the other hand, the guest should stay within the topic of discussion and not seek to raise the 'temperature' unilaterally.
If one is unwilling to engage in open discussion, they should refrain from controversial topics or remain silent in public and the WWW is public to an extent that it is almost unimaginable. But freedom also means you get to view it your own way and do things as you wish, I only wanted to offer an alternative view.
All should consider or ignore what they deem worthy or unworthy without filters. Those who engage in pointless and obscenity laced attacks to he point of being offensive are a different matter, but anything inside the bounds of generally acceptable public conduct should be encouraged, not banned. Society, culture and especially governments may try to define those standards differently, but 'freedom' is an innate human standard which seeks to defy those limitations institutions seek to apply as can be seen the world over through the internet.
If one uses the WWW to publish controversial statements and topics, one should be open to others replies.
If you take the view of the author that a blog accessible to all and open to comment is like one's living room, then the owner of the living room should also consider their guests and not broach subjects and make statements which could obviously lead to energetic or heated discussion unless that is what they wish to have. Would you invite someone into your living room and discuss thngs like religion, politics, war and then feel you were wronged if a guest took issue with your comments? Only if you were arrogant and felt privileged. On the other hand, the guest should stay within the topic of discussion and not seek to raise the 'temperature' unilaterally.
If one is unwilling to engage in open discussion, they should refrain from controversial topics or remain silent in public and the WWW is public to an extent that it is almost unimaginable. But freedom also means you get to view it your own way and do things as you wish, I only wanted to offer an alternative view.
"b will derd" it is all a matter perception. We have to ask ourselves whether Najma created this blog for us or for her? She is not an institution, she is a person who is free to run her personal (/web) space, whether in the public domain or not, as she wish. We should be lucky that she is happy for us (who contribute constructively rather than retaliate) to read and comment on her experience.
Hi,
I'm not agree at all. It's funny to see all the guides that exists today on everything, the howto,... how to make comment, how to blog, how to write a poetry, how to success, how to make love...!!!
I think that blogging and commenting is something very personal, it's so intresting to see behind the post or the comment the Human face of the blogger...
with such guide, i think that we will see one day a cloned blogs everywhere... such the people now in the globalized world (think about Matrix)... blogs without any specifity...
So, I really want to say to people and bloggers to do comments by the way they want and to feel free to write by the way they want and by the words they want...
I'm not agree at all. It's funny to see all the guides that exists today on everything, the howto,... how to make comment, how to blog, how to write a poetry, how to success, how to make love...!!!
I think that blogging and commenting is something very personal, it's so intresting to see behind the post or the comment the Human face of the blogger...
with such guide, i think that we will see one day a cloned blogs everywhere... such the people now in the globalized world (think about Matrix)... blogs without any specifity...
So, I really want to say to people and bloggers to do comments by the way they want and to feel free to write by the way they want and by the words they want...
to Craig
No one knows the future, we can only predict, and humans make mistakes!
One of the things I thank God for is that we can correct mistakes.. But it seems as someone writes down in a blog, people tend to see them as constant, but we change!! Life changes and changes us.
to Waldschrat
Your words of wisdom are greatly appreciated.. :)
to Faisal
It does to me.. My own home, with my own visitors. Glad you learnt something :)
to b will derd
Faisal answerd you well.. I'm not an institution!
to nothing_justillusion
Howto's are only there 'cause people need them, or else, no one would read them in the first place!
Let them do what they want, and I'll moderate! :)
Hey, I've only been in this world for 3 years! And if I've ever learnt something from Saddam, it is that Power brings system!
No one knows the future, we can only predict, and humans make mistakes!
One of the things I thank God for is that we can correct mistakes.. But it seems as someone writes down in a blog, people tend to see them as constant, but we change!! Life changes and changes us.
to Waldschrat
Your words of wisdom are greatly appreciated.. :)
to Faisal
It does to me.. My own home, with my own visitors. Glad you learnt something :)
to b will derd
Faisal answerd you well.. I'm not an institution!
to nothing_justillusion
Howto's are only there 'cause people need them, or else, no one would read them in the first place!
Let them do what they want, and I'll moderate! :)
Hey, I've only been in this world for 3 years! And if I've ever learnt something from Saddam, it is that Power brings system!
Terd had some good ideas but totally missed the point. Like trying to say vandalism is free expression. Anyway i have no fear, cuz Auntie N has taken control and will moderate, yay for the delete key!
Look at how wrong this person you quoted last year was!
"How with dozens of major daily attacks going on they expect people to peacefully cast a ballot is beyond me. This is a total political gimmick so they can say they had a vote. What we'll end up with is maybe 20% of the country registering and then them saying to the world well, 50% of those registered voted!"
I guess that's an example of somebody being a know-it-all, but at least he wasn't rude about it. I know you don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but Happy Thanksgiving anyway :)