My blog friend Roger has mentioned several times in his blog that while he receives possibly thousands of visitors every day, he has very few comments. Sadly, he’s right. He’s probably one of the most interesting bloggers I’ve run across, too.
On the other hand, I read two blogs written by people most of us would agree are “celebrities.” There is nothing they write that doesn’t get at least 100 comments. Which begs the question, what is the reason people comment on something in a blog?
I don’t comment on everything I read. I have noticed that often I will receive comments on the most mundane bull while posts I’ve spent quite a lot of time researching, writing, and refining are completely passed by. Roger has noted this same phenomenon. In the entry I linked above, he notes that a blogger he reads wrote about her hair and received 30 comments. Some commenters cheekily commented that he didn’t write about his hair enough. However, he is right. I have noticed the exact same phenomenon. Frankly, people, it’s weird. I think the entry I have written, to date, that has the most comments, is an entry about how I have developed a fondness for department store makeup and salon shampoo. On the other hand, on occasion, I have directly invited reader response with a question and heard crickets. Real crickets.
I’m not inviting pity comments (ironically, you all will post comments to this, I feel pretty sure) so much as scratching my head over a phenomenon that I, like my friend Roger, find really perplexing.
Why do people comment? Why don’t they comment? Why does some odd bit of nothingness about hair and makeup incite so much discussion?
I feel like I comment too much, and my comment seems to be sporadic. I go through phases where I comment a lot and then not so much. I think a lot of people comment on topics like hair and makeup because they can relate more to those topics and it's a level in which everyone feels comfortable commenting on. Not everyone feels confident enough to comment on certain topics or subjects, particularly when they're of an "educated" nature. As negative as it sounds, the majority of people are quite full of fluff and not a lot of anything else – the Internet isn't a safe harbour for that, as we'd like to think. That's why there's a very small list of blogs you've linked to and not everyone and their brother, too (Other blogging sources are famous for it … makes me laugh … everyone's sharing the love and in a face-to-face situation, they'd not give the person the time of day!).
I have left a comment for Roger – and now here is one for you. I always comment when there is something that interests me, or when the blog has sparked a good memory or a synchronicity. Hair does not usually fit into my idea of interest – but who knows – it might someday. LOL
I just found your blog through a google search (for something totally irrelevant to your topic), so I hope you don't mind me posting. I think with blogs there's so much ambiguity whether it's personal or public that people are afraid to "intrude" with comments. Visitors don't know whether 5 people arre reading the blog or thousands, and if there aren't comments there already, they may not feel comfortable adding theirs. I've found that you need people to get the ball rolling.
In addition, if the blog is fairly personal in nature or it seems only a small group of 2-3 people comment, it might still seem like an intrusion. Make it clear in the blog that you appreciate comments from all the lurkers out there.