Who comments on this blog and why?
About 250 people come by this blog on an average day. Another 300 or so access it via email or the RSS feed. Yet it's a good day if 3 or 4 people leave a comment. So I've been wondering. What motivates someone to leave a comment? What kind of person leaves comments on blogs? And why?
I read a fair number of sailing blogs myself. I leave a comment if I like what I read, if I disagree with the post, if I want to express support with the writer or commiserate with her, if I find the blog funny or informative, if it raises a question in my mind, if I feel I can add something to the discussion... whatever. I'm not a naturally chatty person in real life. Maybe I'm just a geek who finds it easier to communicate via blogging. But I'm sure all commenters are not like me.
So please tell me why you comment on this blog. Or why you never do. Or why you think other people comment. Or why you comment on other blogs but not this one. Please tell me why some posts provoke comments and others do not.
22 comments:
Google the 1% rule.
I subscribe through a reader, and usually scan the posts and then move on to the next feed. I like keeping track of your progress, and sometimes I mull over your ideas, but it rarely occurs to me to comment. And because I read you through the aggregator, I never see your other commentors, and sort of forget there even ARE comments. I know how to get in touch with you if I need to....
I think that some people (including myself) believe that comments should be left by poeple with more knowledge of the subject matter.
I don't sail Lasers and I live in Australia. Although I find the your posts fascinating I don't feel connected enough to what you do to provode useful comments (except for this one).
Would you like people to leave more comments?
I comment when I feel like making a comment.
OK, well, that doesn't exactly answer your question ... I guess I would have to define what causes me to feel like making a comment. That's a bit more difficult.
If the post, or the comments that others have made to it, triggers something I want to say, I comment.
But even that leaves much undefined. What triggers something I want to say?
Sometimes, it relates to something I care about. Sometimes, it relates to something that, at that moment, is important to me, but that might not have been important at some other moment.
And then, there's why I tend to comment a lot on this blog, and a few like it, but not so much on others ... That is probably a function of comfort. I know that here, I'm among friends, and so it's less scary to expose myself. And when I share with the friends here, I get helpful, positive responses, so that encourages me to share more.
Yeah, you may think you're about technical knowledge, or some of the other people who look at this blog may think that, but you're really about the love of sailing and about helping others who love sailing to get the best that they can from the sport.
And I want to contribute to that effort as well, although I am a newcomer to the sport and may not have all that much to contribute.fefy
I have no idea why the first four letters of the word verification showed up at the end of my last post. As an English teacher, I must protest. I cannot have computers creating errors that might be attributed to me. All errors must be my own.dlvi
I use an RSS reader in my sidebar (Sage for Firefox) and don't always read a post unless time permits or the subject line peaks my interest. As for commenting, I do comment but only on blog where I can contribute to the content, or have developed a friendship or regular daily reading with the author. That said ... this might be a start here!
:-)
Great blog! You have a gift of expressing all the frustrations and joys of Laser sailing. Great to know I am not the only one still trying to improve after 30 years of trying to beat “that guy”
David
I never comment because I dont have a laser and dont care about lasers. I just love your stories!
I comment only when I trust the blog author and respect his/her ideas and opinions and when I have something that I think may add value to the conversation. I read this particular blog because we share a common love of laser sailing and chasing "that Guy" around the race course.
I comment on blogs for many of the same reasons I write a blog ... to try out ideas to see what other people with similar interests think of them, to discuss and maybe clarify areas where I have some expertise, or want to build some, to express support and agreement with some ideas, and to propose ideas or possible solutions to help people with problems perhaps like those I've faced. And sometimes, I comment just to make fun of some of the silliness of the world.
Also, I want to be part of a community of people who love sailing, which is a challenge where I live, with sailors scattered far apart.
And, I blog to keep a record, to remind myself of joys and frustrations, to mazk progress, to spur myself to take on new projects and challenges, and remind myself of my past, and to share all of that with whoever might be interested.
Is this a sailing blog or a fishing blog?
OK, I comment when, after a day at work, a toddler's bedtime, a meal, some time with Frau Random Doubt, perhaps even a drink, i finally haul myself out of the armchair and go and check emails and blogs. I comment for lots of reasons, some sentimental, some because the writing has amused, interested, annoyed me. I do have a few blogs I comment more often on than others (this being one,). I know that I appreciate comments and like the community aspect, it's nice to know someone out there reads my crap.
I comment because I really like to see my name in print. It's purely a vanity thing. I'm branding EVK4 and I can reach out to 250-300 people per day with my less-than-insightful comments that rarely have pertinence to your post. Honestly, I rarely understand your posts...something about laser death rays and socks?
ah, just to see my own name on this website would be enough reason as mentioned above.
I've been reading this weblog for a few months now. Just started sailing a laser this week. I can now finally experience all that has been talked about here! I might even comment on some posts later on (after sailing a bit more :) )
I read your blog for almost 2 years now,I am a laser sailor in France, and there aren't that many blogs talking about Laser; I love Laser sailing and I love to read all about your regattas, experiences, etc...I am not commenting because it would probably not add much to your blog, at least this is what I think; please go on with laser stories, they are all very interesting, and sometimes, when I don't go sailing, I learn a lot just by reading your posts :-))
Well, I've been reading your blog regularly for the last year, it is my only RSS feed, and now this is my first post about a blog - so I've just signed up for an online identity.
As a fellow laser sailor, aspirational, older and late into sailing, I find your blog to be truly an inspiration. It is incredibly honest, witty and with some fascinating technical discussions.
I had been pondering how much feedback you got, but if you need some more to realise how myself and many others are quietly appreciating your outpourings, here it is - Thank You.
For me it is a kind of contribution to the writer. To show that his/hers blog gets attention out there in the real world. And it is a good way to get your own blog being noticed within a certain community.
I haven't been sailing in months, so your blog keeps the passion boiling in my blood. Thanks for your stories and insights. I read your blog as it's Blogrolled thru my own. Cool. Thanks again.
Cyalayta
Mal :)
I haven't a clue who comments on this blog and why? I suspect that you are paying them money under the table to further your evil plan to have the Laser take over the world.
There are a few brave souls who will stand fast against this creeping cancer. "Give me a liberty (from the Laser), or give me death!"
Your humble servant,
Joe
Hmmm. I think I have discovered the secrets to generating lots of comments...
a) Write a post that's nothing to do with sailing so more than four people will understand it. Chances are that if you write about blogging then people who read blogs will have some interest in the subject.
b) Finish the post with a question. Or several questions.
c) Stand back.
Apparently to get lots of comments, (b) is the answer. For me, blogs are like ship's logs (pslogs?), a record of the rate of a ship's speed or of her daily progress. So in a way, it's a little out of tradition, or even rude, to scribble in some other captain's book, but hey this new media promotes new ways of sharing or commiserating. Would you have commented in Shackleton's blog? Drake's? Slocum's?
People tired of political blogs comment on sailing blogs. Opposites attract.
I have been sailing Lasers for most of my life and my 3 daughters all sail Lasers (& are away at sailing camp right now in fact). I have been reading this blog for several years and never comment. Just know that for most of us blogging is not a participatory sport. Your blog is a great pleasure to the 99% of us who don't comment.
Keep up the good work...
and beat that guy!
Post a Comment