Please Don’t Take The Social Out Of Social Media!!!
comment and respond
One of my huge pet peeves in the Social Media, Web 2.0 world are people who do not reply to comments left on a blog, tweet, forum or any other online venue where there is an opportunity to extend the message/post in a spirit of one-on-one communication. In my opinion, NOT replying removes the Social aspect of Social Media and is a “Dis” to the commenter(s) who took the time to leave a comment in the first place.
Now I am not talking about replying to those comments that are clearly only there for back-linking purposes. You know the ones: “Great Blog. I’ll visit often” or my favorite new SPAM comment where the URL of the commenter points to a SPAM target:
I have just found your website great.
I am from Peru and bad know English, give please true I wrote the following sentence: “Apply lace wigs, marked, he goes his villain johann fischer to poorly include clocks from a war department smoking in algiers.”
Obviously, there is no need to reply to such a comment and it should be deleted from your Comment/SPAM Queue pronto! But for the legit comments that are there, please reply with a “thanks for visiting” or engage the commenter with a follow up reply. And don’t tell me that you* are “too busy” to respond. If really busy individuals like Lynn Terry, Nicole Dean, Andy Jenkins and Steve Pavlina can respond to comments, then you can as well…:)
Seriously, you want to create a community of active participants, not drive them away. If I have taken the time to comment on someone’s post, adding value to their post, and they do not reply, I take that personally. It’s like talking to someone who ignores you. After a while you just give up and leave, not wanting to engage that person again. It just doesn’t make any sense to me why you would want to drive people away.
Just for the record, I made this same mistake when I first entered the Social Media arena. But I quickly learned that this was not the way to go, so I made sure that I would acknowledge those who left me comments. And what happened? I started getting more comments…:) And more comments means more interest in what I have to say. I’m not writing a post because I want to hear myself talk, I am writing for the sake of others, and I want to hear what they have to say whether it is positive OR negative! In fact, replying to a negative comment can show your readers that you value what they say, regardless of how they feel. Everyone has an opinion and those opinions, good or bad, need to be addressed and responded to. You can take this opportunity to really hone in on your post idea, or an alternative view can provide you with a new blog post. What a wonderful thing!
Ok, so you may be thinking: “What happens when I have a whole bunch of comments? Do I have to respond to each one with a lengthy comment?”
Not at all! A simple “thanks for dropping by” can suffice if the comment is complementary or just a “thanks for the post” type of comment. Or, if there are a string of these type of comments then a “thanks for your thoughts everyone” at the end of the string would be cool.
But if the comment adds value to your post, or is an alternative view, then you should definitely respond in kind. Engaging your audience is what the Internet is all about in my opinion, and a simple few lines of conversation can go a long, long way.
End of rant. Thanks for listening. Oh, and if you feel like commenting…I’ll respond…:) Take care all.
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*The general you, not the specific you, since I know YOU reply to comments…:)
Ironically, when I was listening to a webinar featuring Andy Jenkins, and hosted by Lynn Terry I was also writing this post and some of his thoughts mirrored the exact content that I was writing. What a smart man Andy Jenkins is…:) As a member of Lynn Terry’s Elite Member Group I will have the opportunity to listen to this webinar again as she records and uploads such events for her Elite Members. You can bet I’ll be listening closely the second time around!
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October 2nd, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Hi Lyle
Excellent post! I am often confused why on earth someone wouldn’t want to drop a line or two just to say “thanks for visiting my site and taking the time to comment.”
Now, granted, I am a newbie at this blogging thing and certainly am not too busy to respond (even though sometimes I forget… oops), but you make a valid point. REALLY busy people like you mentioned respond.
And here’s where I get a flicker of light from the light bulb over my head… connect the dots… Maybe they got that busy because they cared enough about their readers to send them a little “thank you!” Duh! I have to laugh!
Anyway, I had a bit of flurry on one of my posts caused by a person who, how shall we say, was less than a fan of mine. She just didn’t GET the idea behind my blog - thought I was referring to 50+ year olds as “Wrinklie” and “old”… etc. When, if she had taken the time to really read my stuff, I write about Getting Older and Living Remarkably… Anyway, I did email her directly (a quite pleasant lengthy email, very supportive of her view) and replied to her comment on my blog. Well, she commented AGAIN and so I’m thinking “This is good.” She created a flurry among my little group of readers, some of whom commented, too, in support of me. And she supplied me with a learning experience, and a few laughs with Nicole.
So, it’s good to keep the conversation going! I LOVE your point, Lyle, and will be back to read more. Take care!
October 3rd, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Hi Patty and thanks for the GREAT comment!!…:) I enjoyed reading your recent experience and it really shows how starting, and keeping a conversation going, can be great benefit for all concerned. I’ll be dropping by your site as well soon. I’ve been a bit busy and have neglected a few things but am getting around to them soon. Take care and all the best.
Lyle