As I started to blog more frequently, I started getting more replies, but let us not forget that comments in the comment box are not the only feedback you have. You have pingbacks, trackbacks. Sometimes people mention that they read your blog, loved your post, but they never wrote a comment. I see so many educators frustrated when they start to blog because they say they don’t get a reply. Again and again I’ve mentioned the idea of blogging as a habit, and now I’m forcing myself to this other essential blogging habit of commenting. I read many blogs, comment in very few. So, the challenge has forced me to reconsider that to make my connections to the world and to people who really matter to me and had impacted on me I should be more visible, my ideas should reach unknown paths. My blogging connections have been changing since I have consistently applied the writingmatrix concept of using tags and technorati search, and now I want to refine them with this challenge.
I was glad to learn from Jeff Utech that
I got my first comment on my 10th post. I didn’t get two comments on the same post until around the 100 post mark. So it takes time, write because you want to, write for you, don’t worry about the comments. What I have found lately is how much I end up searching my own site looking for something that I wrote, a website I know I mentioned, or just to reflect on what I was thinking. I write as a way to store my thoughts, as a way to reflect on my practice and share with the larger community. If you decide to leave a comment great….if not I have my thoughts down to share with others if they ask.So, let us keep blogging and commenting, for comments are everywhere and as we mentioned so often in our blogging4educators session, each one of us needs to find his own tone, style and voice online.
Find your niche, find your purpose, and then just blog!
First, blogging is about us, then us connecting to others.
I like this:
“First, blogging is about us, then us connecting to others.”
I think we forget that sometimes and I think we get caught up in the “15 minutes of fame” where we feel like if we don’t have comments we we’re not good bloggers?
We each are a nod of information on the web, we each have our place…we just need to find where that is.
Thanks for the link to the Writing Matrix. I haven’t run across this before and am planning on taking some time this afternoon to go through it!
I like your idea of commenting as a habit. I notice that habits or routines are essential for me and I’m hoping the challenge will help me make a habit out of commenting as well. Part of making commenting a habit (for me) means that I need to really thin down my RSS reader too. Trying to take in too much information without putting enough back out… Glad to have you as part of the challenge!
Kim,
I think we should face commenting, as well as blogging as a habit. My blogging has really taken off only when I realized it had to be part of my routine.
It’s my big pleasure to be part of the challenge as I’m surfacing as a commenter. For example, I’ve read many of your interesting posts, as well as Sue Waters’s, but you never would have known that as I NEVER added a comment to your blogs! Here’s my chance now, and I’m connecting with fantastic people and ideas! THANKS!
Ha, and with comments comes junk
Just to let you know I’ve updated the junk filter so you may get a few captchas or whatever for a few days until Monty ‘learns’.
Hi Carla,
The connections made through the comment challenge have been really interesting. By challenging us to go outside our comfort zone and comment on some new and different blogs, we’ve been able to make some new connections. Of course it is nice to receive some comments on your posts, but the real joy is meeting another person in the blogosphere to connect with and continue the conversation through future posts and comments. Although I followed along shyly too, it has been a good learning opportunity!
Mary,
I feel the same. I just love to keep track of my friends’ blogs, but this challenge has made me explore other terrains in the blogosphere with very interesting people, as well. I still have to catch up on my tasks, but I think it has made me even more aware of the many commenting strategies we can use to enhance true conversations.