1. Answer the following questions:
- How often do you comment on other blogs during a typical week?
- Usually 1 or 2 a day.
- Do you track your blog comments? How? What do you do with your tracking?
- Prior to finding CoComment No. Just manually watched conversations evolve as required.
- Do you tend to comment at the same blogs or do you try to comment on at least one new blog per week?
- Mostly the same ones, unless I was pointed to an interesting post by someone else.
2. Now review Gina Trapani’s Guide to Blog Comments and ask yourself how well you’re doing in each of the different areas. Are there any specific areas where you think you need to do some work? What do you want to do to address these issues?
Stay on topic.
Most of the time I can manage this.
Contribute new information to the discussion.
I always like to add an extra thought to a conversation, though with a few selected friends blogs I have been known to post to be noticed.
Don’t comment for the sake of commenting.
Often guilty of this one.
Know when to comment and when to e-mail.
Been caught out here too.
Remember that nobody likes a know-it-all.
Good, luckily I’m not one.
Make the tone of your message clear.
Most of the time. Sometimes I do waffle though.
Own your comment.
I always comment as TFT. I’m not scared of owning what I say.
Be succinct.
Generally, but have been known to stray at times.
Cite your sources with links or inline quoting.
Generally do. I always link to sites I’m obtaining information from.
Be courteous.
Always. I hope.
Don’t post when you’re angry, upset, drunk or emotional.
Oops. Not letting on which one though.
Do not feed or tease the trolls.
Gulity.
Summary: reasonably happy with where I’m at. I need to stop commenting when I really don’t have much to say, or want to be a “smart bottom.”
3 comments ↓
Okay I’ll be honest I like Gail’s post but didn’t agree with all her points. So I wondering what are your thoughts? Totally agree? Or there are some you don’t necessarily agree with?
[Reply]
Your audit seems to mirror many of those I have come across (including mine) in that we do some regular commenting, but the threads of the dialogue get left behind. I do that, too, and I hope that coComment might help leave me some familiar breadcrumbs (if the cyberbirds don’t eat them first).
Thanks for sharing your reflections.
Kevin
[Reply]
@Sue: You’re right, there are some of Gail’s thoughts that are a bit out there. On the whole she has good points, like not posting for the sake of it (Guilty as charged there)but, I don’t agree with only posting if you can add something “new” to a conversation. As I shared in comments to a previous post, adding your support for an idea or thought that someone else has posted is equally important.
@Kevin: Yes we all seem to be very similar in this respect. Hopefully all of us using co comment will allow us to keep track of our Conversations.
[Reply]
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