Tyme Said

Bloggers start blogging for many different reasons. Some use their blog as therapy; they do not care if anyone is reading their blog. Many are surprised when they find out people are reading their blogs. There are others who start off with the idea of having a large readership. Of course, there is the commercial blogger out to earn an income from their blog.

Most blog software has the ability to have comments. It’s become a standard. I mentioned before that I don’t think a blog is a “blog” unless there are comments; otherwise it’s a website. Websites have the ability to initiate a conversation. Blogs have the ability to initiate and allowing users to participate in the conversation. To me, websites evolved into blogs. Blogs have evolved from having plain text to media. See the pattern?

If readers are commenting on the site, attempting to hold a conversation, why isn’t the blogger participating? From a reader standpoint, the equivalent is talking to a brick wall. In fairness some bloggers respond via email and I admit I used to do this as well. Then I realized the stupidity of doing it. If a reader leaves a comment, and I respond via email – no one else can see the conversation and participate. Perhaps my comment would encourage the reader to respond again or someone else to add their thoughts to the conversation. On my sites, the more I interact the more participation I receive.

My blogs are a bit deceiving because a lot of my interaction happens behind the scenes via email. I love this because it is a one on one conversation with my readers. Note the difference between receiving email from a reader and the reader posting a comment. If a reader posts a comment on my site I will respond in the method they chose to communicate – comments. If the reader sends me an email then I will respond accordingly. Many readers do not want to publicly participate in a conversation and I respect that.

For those that really do not want to interact with your readers, do everyone a favor and disable your comments. A one-way conversation is a website. There is nothing wrong with a website and in many cases a website is the better route. Remember websites initiate a conversation, planting the seed. A news site is a perfect example of this. They post a story; bloggers pick it up and run with it, initiating many conversations. If there isn’t going to be a two-way conversation, make it clear: disable comments so you’re readers aren’t deceived on the true intent of the site.

Deceived…I smell another rule coming on…

Related posts:

1. Tyme’s 6 Golden Rules
2. Why blogs have to have comments
3. Golden Rule #1: Enjoy blogging. When it stops being fun, stop.
4. My Thoughts: Robert’s statement on embarrassing yourself
5. Blogging vs. journal - the real deal