Thing #4 - Commenting

Commenting within blogs serves as a means of openly communicating ideas/ideals about a multitude of topics in a manner that allows and often encourages full expression. When you are engaging in “face to face” conversation, we are constantly monitoring the non-verbal cues of the person in front of us and we adjust our conversation based on these observations. In doing so, many times we fail to reach the true belief or direction as we chose to take a more politically correct stance. Within the blogging community, you are free to openly express yourself without the distraction of reading the other person’s comportment. We are able to genuinely be ourselves, and we are often encouraged, by other members of the post, to express our opinions no matter how controversial they may be. Blogging also allows an avenue for you to seek individuals who share your interests and ideals, and create a format for you to communicate, brainstorm and grow through a combination of your experience and theirs. Encarta defines virtual community as “a group of people communicating with each other over the internet.” The correlation of interactive conversations of both similar and disparate views creates a sense of community and fulfills the very definition of a virtual community.

In reviewing some of the suggested websites presented by Dr. Wall, I was especially intrigued by the Cool Cat Teacher’s blog as I felt it was by far the most informative and encouraging. I valued the Cool Cat Teacher’s perspective of becoming a part of a blogger’s life by simply taking time to post meaningful comments. The comments validate the insecurities of a blogger and it shows that you have taken an interest in their writing, whether you agree of not. It also, encourages the blogger to continue to write and engage others in active conversations. Many times, the blogger will begin to visit your own site and reciprocate the kindness you have shown in their blogs.

I also enjoyed Darren Rowse’s “10 Techniques to Get More Comments” as it touched on some key areas of interest. As with any form of communication, we often utilize open-ended questions to encourage conversation, so it is not unusual to introduce this technique in blogging. What I found to be interesting was the fact that only 1% of bloggers are actually actively engaged in conversation. I suppose that this does make since as I will read various blogs, but I usually choose to not contribute. I felt that actually inviting comments was an effective approach as it signifies to the readers that you are interested in their thought. Additionally, when a blogger posts responses to guest comments it further substantiates the bloggers interest in openly communicating.