It Ain’t Social Media If You Don’t Say Something

August 23, 2010

One day while reading a post on Chris Brogan‘s blog, I noticed something. Brogan’s post had been retweeted hundreds of times, but it had only a few comments. By few, I mean 40 or so, which I’d take any day. I’ve noticed a trend similar to this when I read other people’s blog posts. And then I look at my own traffic and see that I don’t get nearly as many comments as I get views. Of course, there are other factors to consider in that (bounce rates, new visitors, etc.)

This got me to thinking about reasons that people don’t comment on posts. Maybe they aren’t moved to do so. Maybe the content in my own blog posts and those written by others aren’t worthy of people’s comments. Maybe some people read the posts, think they’re crap, and move on. In all fairness, everyone’s entitled to his own opinion.

I’d be lying if I said that I commented on every post that I read. Sometimes I feel as if I don’t have time. Sometimes I feel as if I have nothing to contribute. Sometimes it’s hard to say something other than “I agree” or “Great post.” And if you hate the post, you need to say something more than “This sucks.” That’s not helping anyone.

But I think there’s another group of non-commenters. I think that there are those who feel that they have no reason to say anything. They feel that they have no credentials. No expertise.

If you’re in this class of people, stop thinking like that. You have every reason to speak up. You’re a person. You have a voice. Use it.

Especially on my blog. If you think you have no credentials to talk on my blog, I have no credentials to be blogging. So we’re even.

If you’re waiting for permission to speak, consider it granted. On any blog at any time.

After all, it ain’t social media if you don’t say something.

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  • Anonymous

    I like this. I actually always like your take on things. When I don’t comment on blogs I usually fall into the category you described of “I feel I have nothing to further the conversation with” so I don’t want to waste people’s time. I always find myself wishing I had commented more though at the end of the day. Maybe I just need to step up and be a man and do it.

    Thanks Jake for another great post.

  • http://jakelacaze.com/ Jake LaCaze

    As I said in the post, I don’t comment on every single post I read. You comment regularly on my blog, so this post wasn’t necessarily directed at you. You obviously find a way to contribute and add to the conversation. But there are people who only read and never ever ever comment, and they do the same thing on Twitter. I’d never know that some of my friends read my blog if they hadn’t told me to my face.

    Although there are a variety of reason anyone would refrain from commenting, it kills me to think that people might not say anything because they think they have nothing to say. I just want to encourage others to say something, and you and I need to keep commenting and setting an example. :)

  • Anonymous

    I agree. I didn’t feel singled out or anything in your post, I just have the same feelings a lot of the time about my blog, which you comment on regularly and I appreciate.

  • http://twitter.com/jeansarauer Jean Sarauer

    This was especially interesting to me today, Jake, because Everette on Far Beyond the Stars had a post today explaining why he’s turning off comments. So, reading your post was like seeing both sides of the coin.

    I’ve had to cut way back on commenting so I could create products, write guest posts, and take on the client work that’s come through blogging. I still love to read posts though and will pop on and comment now and again when something grabs me like this one :)

  • City Sylvester

    Jake, great post as usual. Try to look at the situation from your readers point of view to see what’s going on here. In the beginning when you first start out your blog, most of your visitors will be people with blogs looking for back links.

    The problem or I should say the situation with most blogs is they don’t credit out going links. Most bloggers will tolerate this from high traffic blogs, but for the ones dipped under the radar, they’re just not seeing enough incentive to comment.

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  • http://personalbranding101.com/ Ryan Rancatore

    Jake – I trust your opinion here as you are easily my #1 blog commenter. I happen to be much more of a retweeter than a commenter. To me, a retweet silently says “Hey everybody, this post is awesome, read it. And hey you that wrote this post – you rock for writing it. Whereas a comment is 1-1, a retweet is 1-1-many. You know?

  • http://jorgensundberg.net Jorgen Sundberg

    Agree with Ryan, I tend to retweet good content which could be better from a promo perspective but could perhaps be a tad lazier than commenting I suppose :-)

  • http://jorgensundberg.net Jorgen Sundberg

    Have you tried emailing/tweeting regular readers with “would love to hear your opinion on this?” – it works really well apparently although haven’t tried myself.

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  • http://melissacooley.com/ Melissa

    I agree with Ryan, as well. Of course, given the topic at hand, I *have* to find something more to say…

    Some people may still have concerns about the lack of anonymity once you start talking on the Internet. Despite all the reasons for why people should start doing things to take ownership of how they are perceived online, many folks are still not there.

  • http://jakelacaze.com/ Jake LaCaze

    Great point about anonymity. Just look at YouTube and see people with their screen names, saying: “u suk lololololol”. Some people just aren’t ready to show their faces online, I guess.

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