Thursday, July 21, 2005
What we learnt from yesterday's comments about comments
| | Tuesday | Wednesday |
| Time taken to write post | 1 minute | 3 hours |
| Length of post | 12 words | 908 words |
| Effort expended | negligible | considerable |
Number of daily website visitors
(measured in double decker busfuls) | 7 buses | 8 buses |
| Number of comments | 41 | 54 |
• An effortful post can get more comments than a effortless post
What sort of blogposts get more comments?
• Posts about universal topics which everyone can relate to (e.g. food, TV)
• Posts on topics (or news) about which readers have strong opinions
• Posts that are short, sharp and to the point ('quickie' posts)
• Posts about blogging (e.g. why do people write comments?)
• Deliberately interactive posts (e.g. quizzes)
• Deliberately provocative posts
• Posts that pose a question
What sort of blogposts get less comments?
• Posts about places that readers have never visited
• Posts about things that readers have never experienced
• Posts so long that people don't have the time to read them
• Posts so long that the comments box doesn't appear on the main screen
• Posts so comprehensive that there's nothing more to add
• Posts that are informative rather than opinionated
• Overlooked posts (i.e. those more than a day old)
• Posts made at weekends
Conclusions
• It is worth writing effortful posts
• It's hard to write a comment when you have nothing to say
• Just because people don't comment doesn't mean they're not interested
• Just because people don't comment doesn't mean they're not appreciative
• Some effortless posts get comments, but a blog with only effortless posts will get none
• Sometimes comments boxes are much more interesting than the post they're commenting on
• People who only read blogs via RSS or newsfeeds are missing out on the comments, and on commenting
• An effortful post can get more effortful comments than a effortless post
• Gratuitous comment whoring is shallow and vacuous
• You like my London stuff even if you don't comment on it (roll on August!)
• It's great to read comments from readers who don't normally comment - thanks
• You're all lovely
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