Posted by Raul on November 25, 2010
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About commenting in other blogs:
Stopping commenting in other blogs that I read was because of being really busy with many things, including my vehicle that started to ask for many more repairs after the initial ones. What supposed to be a winter preparation, with the addition of an “ice breaker” in front, and the re-doing of the wiring for the emergency lights, turned into a complete front suspension replacing and the 30,000 miles interval maintenance (the vehicle reached 260,000).
At the other hands, and without even thinking about it at first, the no commenting issue became a test on its own. How many of the comments we make in other blogs are mostly because of being nice, rather than being really impressed by the post?
From what I can see, there are many different plugins that help to see statistics such: Where the commenters come from; the time of the day, etc. But they don’t say anything about the thoughts and feelings the commenter might have when making a comment (helpful, supportive, selfish, or simply boredom). So how do we really know? (Besides of the comment itself).
There are ways to analyze the data so to get different conclusions about this, but in my opinion, just letting the water rest will tell us if it’ll remain, or secretly (slowly or quickly) drain out.
You see, it is very easy that overtime, what started as genuine mutual support, turns into a routine action that cannot be easily be away from by the fear of being expelled of the circle. If we create a round holding hands, dancing and singing together, turning around with a smile and a sense of community and support, and then we decide to release ourselves from the circle, we risk to be left out and forgotten by the ones still in the circle.
How many bloggers remain commenting by the fear of abandonment? (I know I can be very nasty sometimes!).
I’m not saying people who keep commenting are afraid of being forgotten. I’m sure most of the times the continuous commenting comes from a genuine interest and have nothing to do with sustaining a “round”; but there is a possibility that, in some instances, some people might be commenting more as a task in the process of blogging to sustain readership, than a real desire of participation.
I know in my case I like to leave comments when I feel I have something to say; and that’s’ why I might seem to be away from visiting sometimes. And the same seems to happen with the people who visit this blog; which I thank you for that…receiving comments without meaning are not what we expect, right?
So what started as a short break to complete some other tasks in the physical world quickly became another experiment of mine, in order to see what would happen, and what would be the reactions.
What I noticed is that, even though the comments received were reduced, statistics showed an increase in readership. (plop!)
And about receiving comments?
Those are fun, aren’t they? It gives us a sense of being heard, even if statistics show twenty visitors only. And when statistics show a continuous increase in readership, but there’re no comments received, logic will say things are going good, but feelings get hit by a sense of loneliness.
We are such weird creatures! Aren’t we? 
Raul
Posted by Raul on February 15, 2010
Since this blog is fairly new (less than four months, from November 04, 2009) I visit the Pros to learn and find tips about the craft, so to learn about blogging, English, writing, etc.
One of the tips I read is about getting to be known, and for that matter a blogger was recommending to visit and leave comments (with a link) in at least 100 other blog posts everyday.
One hundred!
Then I read in another blog a complain about people leaving very insensitive comments that clearly show the commenter didn’t even read the post and showed no concern for the feelings of the blogger.
No wonder why!
I won’t deny that one of the many reasons I started this blog was about the possibility of some day making money out of it, but the main one is about communicating with other people. This blog is becoming the line that connects my mind to the outside world; I tell my thoughts with my fingers now (no, not that finger gesture! 
)
So what happens when some people, in the intention of blogging for profit, start commenting in other’s people’s blogs? No surprise there’s so much spam instead of genuine comments (so far my ratio of comments/spam is 46 to 277, or 6.02) and if it wasn’t for the spam filtering program I would be crazy by now (thank you akismet!)
At the other hand, one hundred comments? How they do that! I cannot make more that three comments per hour after reading the post a couple of times (sometimes), just to make sure I understood the concept explained (English is my second language with no formal training), then writing something that not only applies to the post, but also try to contribute to the general idea presented; then checking my spelling and grammar before clicking the “add comment” button (and I still make mistakes after that!)
So, if the idea is to be a honest commenter and blogger, then 100 comments seems a complicated number and if the idea is to make money out of the blog as soon as possible, then those 100 comments had to be insensitive (quantity over quality), but then, those 100 comments go to prison (akismet) and never see the daylight again, so what’s the point of spamming; no links left behind in other blogs anyway.
Many “comments” I receive are like: “gfstrjxvftdre tfdregysff gftrojgfs gdftr” so I believe those are not real comments, unless they are written in a language I don’t know about.
Obviously I prefer to receive comments that complement the idea presented and contribute to make it bigger, better, or give the reasons why I am wrong in my concepts, so I learn something new and have the chance to grow a little more.
Those are the principles under which I try to leave comments in other blogger’s posts; and that’s why it takes so much time, which in turn guide this blog into a personal expression and communication channel rather than a business venue.
But the problem remains with spam and the amount of people blogging for money, not for blogging.
Fortunately I’ve found many excellent blogs that I follow and comment when I have something worth to say. Reading them I’ve been learning many things about this “infecting” craft called blogging.
Now, since you are a more experienced blogger (sure you’ve been around more than four months, right?) let me ask you a couple of questions:
-What is your take in the whole comment idea?
-Do you get lots of spam? What’s your ratio comments/spam?
Raul
