Monday, March 16, 2009

A Comment About Comments

Q. How many bloggers does it take to change a lightbulb?
A. 100. 1 to change the lightbulb and 99 to comment on how it should have been done differently.

It's funny, how all bloggers that I have spoken with regarding comments seem to feel the same. Bloggers place their entire self worth in the comments. (I will speak for myself now, although I have heard from numerous bloggers, and they all seem to feel the same way.) I sometimes write a post, and I feel very good about myself. I feel like it was a great post, perhaps one of my favorites. I hit the "publish post" button, feeling really good about myself. An hour later, I check my email, expecting to see at least two or three comments. Gmail loads, and the truth hits me. No comments. I start to rationalize. "Most people are probably not at their computers now." An hour after that, and yet another hour, and I still see no comments. I wake up the next morning to find someone has left a single comment on my awesome post. One comment?! Is that really it? I am horrified. And disappointed. I start to fret. "Maybe I wrote something offensive? Maybe I put in my real name instead of SD? What did I do wrong? How come nobody thought of anything to say on my post?" 
Isn't it ridiculous? I am second guessing myself? Why? Because these anonymous people online have nothing to say about my post? Don't I have more self confidence than that? Sadly, I am afraid the answer is no. Not really. A post of mine that receives too few comments will be read and reread, in the hopes of discovering the reason that people have nothing to add. 
Shame, huh?
But c'mon! You know this is you too. Some of us are too proud to admit it, and some of us don't really mind. Either way, comments are (IMO) the psychological reason behind the growth of blogsville
So nu, what are you waiting for? Comment!

28 comments:

halfshared said...

I saw 0 comments and just had to hit the comment button even though I have nothing smart to add. I used to be much more into the comments. At this point, though I truly value the input and the time people take to comment, I don't obsess over it at all. Maybe the same will happen to you when blogging loses some of its appeal to you (if that happens).

little sheep said...

just for you SD.

comment.

~ls

G6 said...

:D
I plead the fifth amendment....

BTW, ever notice that the posts that tend to get the most comments are the inflammatory ones?
This poses an internal conflict for me because the posts that I enjoyputting up the most are the ones that bring people TOGETHER....

Oh well, c'est la vie.....

Inspired said...

LOL, reminds me of the low riddle;)

Your posts are so great that I'm left speechless :p

Anonymous said...

People comment to add something to what you wrote. If they didn't comment it just means that they were amazed by what you wrote, and found nothing about it to comment on. I mean common- why waste all that time it takes for the comment screen to load and for that whole form thingy just to write wow!

Something Different said...

HS- blogging losing some of it's appeal? Oh gosh I certainly hope NOT. I appreciate the comment tho....

LS- don't kill me but.... loveya!!

G6- true, true. Unless the influx of comments becomes a discussion totally unrelated to the post, which is pretty agravating too. (See the hilchos havdala discussion in my post: desperation in shidduchim).
I don't have a dillema tho. I'm all for controversy. ;)

Insp- what's the riddle? How many low diabetics does it take to change a lightbulb? Gosh, I don't even know the answer to that one but I can guess.... ;)
And that is NO EXCUSE. :-p

Anon- I think you need to invest in faster Internet service.
If that is the first time that you have had anything to say about a post other than wow....all I can say is......WOW!

thinking... said...

OK... just to be yotzai...

But now I'm curious: how many low diabetics does it take to change a lightbulb???

:)

Something Different said...

Thinking- Stop! You shouldn't have.... :-p
I was wondering the same thing. Let's hope inspired decided to enlighten us...

EsPes said...

lol so true... i feel the same way

Something Different said...

EP- congrats! You are the first one to come out openly and admit to this...well, second. I was first. :-D

EsPes said...

i think most ppl feel that way...
and btw when am i getting my pics???? ;-P

little sheep said...

SD, we've discussed this before, so i didn't feel the need to get into it here. when was the last time you commented on mine?

Inspired said...

I'm not sure about the answer either, I found this answer though: It's Fine...leave me alone.. the light bulb is O.K. just leave me alone its FINE!!! stop buggin me its Fine Leave me alone will you!! IT'S FINE!!!

Let me not hi-jack this post with diabetes riddles. We're supposed to comment about comments :p

Something Different said...

EP- yeah, it just takes a lot of courage to admit it.
Your pics are---SENT! :-D (Btw, if anyone else wants to see em, email me justablob@gmail.com...and we'll decide on your eligibility...)

LS- sigh. yeah. Btw, should I take this as admission from you also? Would you care to be the third member of the I-Love-Comments-Club?

Insp- OMG! ROFL!!! That is AWESOME! :-D That is the low SD, in a nutshell.

Mikeinmidwood said...

Some of my favorite posts have gotten 4 comments, something I was expecting was atleast 10. Then I noticed when you write something where you put everything into to it, no one has anything to say to it, its all said in the post.

I did write a post where I bashed the people who complimented me, and said I liked where people say derogatory things to me, I get more comments that way. I got a lot of comments on that post

Something Different said...

MIM- desperation leads to...wow. So will you be the next member of the I-Love-Comments-Club?

Something Different said...

Ok everybody! I have officially started the I-Love-Comments-Club!
I am the founder/president. The other offices are up for grabs. Feel free to add the badge to your blog and let ppl know that they should be commenting more often. :-)

anon#1 said...

Well - this one got a lot of comments!

thinking... said...

Oh man, I am sooo joining this club!
Hmmm...how about an official commenting committee. You must contribute something intelligent to the comments section of each club members' posts, or else you can't join the club?! (or are we no thatttt desperate?)

;)

Something Different said...

Anon1- well if this post didn't get comments it would be pretty embarrassing.

Thinking- nah, it's not such an exclusive club. If you wanna join you can put our badge up on your blog. :) (In truth, I know that most bloggers will join in their heads. They might be too proud to admit to it though...)

EsPes said...

hahaha i see that badge on ur blog... very cute

Anonymous said...

soo..... here's your commment!

nmf #7 said...

Can I join? I totally agree with
G6's comment that only the inflammatory posts get recognition. What about the loving, happy posts?
Also- love the badge.

G6 said...

nmf #7 -
Let's all sit in a circle and sing Kumbaya!!!

Something Different said...

EP- yeah I think so too!

Anon- wow. I'm overwhelmed.

NMF- sure you can! Feel free to put that badge on your blog. :) Deep down, we all belong to that club.

G6- heehee. But seriously, isn't there a happy medium? Like a post that inspires thought but doesn't make people wanna throw rotten tomatoes at the cyber-you?

nmf #7 said...

G6- ROTFL. Thanks. I needed that today :D

Anonymous said...

Nope. It's tempting to aim for the comments, but sometimes something is just well-written and enjoyable, and doesn't bear commenting on. I try to keep that in mind; just because there aren't a lot of comments, doesn't mean it isn't a good post.

Shades of Grey said...

I agree with bad4, well-written, heartfelt postings have great meaning, regardless of recognition. Although, I have to admit that as a newish blogger, I am envious of the more established bloggers that receive 20+ comments on a post...