Commenting – it has become an extremely important part of the online experience. Are you, as a writer, leveraging comments to their full potential?
Listen in to this week’s Online Writing Insider podcast (Tips on Commenting) as Jason Menayan and Simone Smith, two long-time netizens, share the top dos and don’ts with leaving, accepting, curating, moderating, and responding to online comments.
What are your personal thoughts on commenting? Is there a policy you have adopted that works for you, or have you ever found yourself in a commenting quandary that you were unsure how to address? Let us know about it by sending us an email! We’re also looking for new online writing issues to discuss in future podcasts, so also feel free to send new podcast suggestions and request our way.
HubPages Blog 
Well, I’m tempted to say, Great Podcast! and leave it at that, but people who haven’t listened to this yet might miss the irony. 🙂
I enjoyed hearing Simone and Jason converse about the subject, and I actually learned some new ideas. I wish the practice of commenting in bursts, rather than as a steady practice, were preferred, because that’s what works best for me; but, of course, I wouldn’t have tried online writing at all if I weren’t up for learning new things.
The biggest thing I take away from this podcast is that the practice of leaving well-thought-out and insightful comments is one way of raising the overall quality of communication on the internet. Let’s do it!
Thanks for the comment Aficionada! It’s a good one!
I think that commenting in short bursts can sometimes work well- so long as one remains at least a bit active during times in between. The same goes for real-world dialogue, I suppose… if someone is a really great conversationalist for a couple of weeks and shows up at all the parties, but is then MIA for several months, they’ll be less successful, socially, than someone who is regularly present 🙂
I think it all comes down to personal style, preference, and time constraints. What matters most, as you’ve pointed out, is the practice of leaving insightful, high quality comments. They can make a world of difference!
That was the first time I listened to a podcast. I love (agree with) the idea about mean-spirited comments – sometimes they are just Artful (artistique) or sparkle my own fury/creativity. Boring comments/articles don’t have that potential.
I had no strategy with comments – but going around reading everybody’s work – it is just exhausting – to maintain readership that is tit for tat? I do respond to comments individually – but people who comment on my articles usually leave long responses, so there is no “bundling”.
There was one comment that I “loved” – Your level is too high. If you want to up your readership, do more fart gags.” I just stopped reading that hubber’s work – and I did not miss anything of value.
I don’t want to sound mean because I am not such a person and it is not quite the point – the podcast seemed to be too long, as if you needed to fill the time with too little information – by the time there was some more or less useful advice – I was losing my conscience. It sounded like rambling.
Maybe I am not to be considered the target audience – that is possible – when I check other people’s work, I am … do realize that. There is always a choice – say nothing or say something, even if it is inane – still it is only my opinion – no offense.
I think about quality more than quantity – less is more. Maybe it is just my mood – the third rule of Creativity (I have not written that article yet and God knows when I will, if I will): cut the c–p. The other wording “the essence of writing is in re-writing” (editing and cutting).
Maybe it is a good suggestion (I am complimenting myself. AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!) – give the real examples of comments – make it entertaining – more real examples – I like the “banality” one… Once I wrote a piece on a song and I took a selection of “youtube” comments – they were, in fact, the inspiration – they were just priceless. Not to be missed.
Sending you my best regards from my “Too high a level” post and refusing to do “more fart gags” (more? more than Zero?)….
Is there a way we can get podcasts in another format as well? I am unable to open .m4a on my computer. It’s making me install Magical Plug-in of Already Have. It’ll probably work on another computer, though. This baby’s a rickety beast.
Hahaa, Svetlana- that fart gags comment is HILARIOUS! Gosh, don’t you love some of the strange stuff that crops up! Thanks for the helpful feedback- we’ll try to tighten up our podcasts more!
And Melanie- one thing you can do is search “HubPages” on iTunes and get podcasts directly from there to your phone for mp3 player… would that solve the problem?
I wouldn’t want to add comments to a page, not having read it through at least twice. Scoring points is negative; however adding encouragement could improve the quality of pages, and we all like to read good quality material, don’t we lads and lasses?! It makes a change from reading newspaper articles by journalists who don’t seem to be able to write good English any more – too many passive verbs! Let’s get the language onto an even keel and head forward!
Aye, that we do, Alan Lancaster!
You actually make an excellent point- anything we can do to help the authors of articles we read improve their written language skills, or the quality of writing in a particular article, is on the whole favorable. I always appreciate it when someone points out any (not unusual) typos I may have left in a Hub, or when someone offers pointers on a sentence that I’ve obviously been struggling with.
If you’re referring to our great commenter level with regard to points, might I just add that it’s quite the informal thing, since Accolades are by no means tied to one’s success as an author on HubPages. That said, it can be a great motivator for some who would otherwise be hesitant to get engaged in the realm of commenting, and the way it is designed reinforces good commenting practices. We’re trying to bring in the best of all worlds, you see.
Samstag, 2. Juli 2011
2.7.11 – Comments by dali48 on Hubpages
dali48
“This great Hub reminds me of my childhood when I was visiting my Aunt Katie in Nuremberg, and chasing butterflies below the castle in the 60s”… (d.48)
Mrs. Menagerie
“Castle…wow! Were they royal butterflies? Haha!”
dali48
“I don’t know whether they were royal – the castle was only a ruin – but there were also Swallowtail Butterflies – and I couldn’t see one of them since then”… (d.48)
Mrs. Menagerie
“Thank you kindly dali48!”
Concerning: Raising a Swallowtail Butterfly – Mary’s Story…
by Mrs. Menagerie
dali48; that’s a good example of a functional comment thread.
Awesome podcast! Well done!
Er…What else to say? Erm the price of things today is er too pricey….and the weather is hot except when it’s cold…er.
When all else fails in utilizing a well thought out comment I just try and say something funny or an attempt at a funny, because that’s just the way I roll!
Great point, Wayne Tully! Thanks for listening in 😀
Very interesting topic. I’m thinking to do a hub about my online experience, especially embarrassing things I wrote, anger and hatred I suffered.