This was mentioned in a forum and I can give a few reasons why since I am just as guilty as the next person at not always giving feedback.
You can’t assume that because there are only a few or no reader responses that the blog isn’t getting any traffic. Mine gets hundreds of people reading every month but most don’t leave feedback.
Why?
If you have an “add comment blog,” meaning a blog with a box at the bottom for replies and you aren’t getting any comments it can be one or more of these reasons.
1) There are already dozens of comments and they feel theirs will just get lost in the rubble and probably won’t be read anyway.
2) They have to register or leave an email in order to comment and they don’t want to bother with all that. Wordpress has this feature, Wordpress does it to protect the author but it makes it difficult for the reader to reply. Blogger notifies us about new comments and we can always delete the inappropriate ones.
3) They are busy and just quickly reading before moving on to whatever task they have to do that day and don’t have time to leave a response. People are overwhelmed these days with so many blogs to read it’s hard to keep up.
4) Your reader agrees with everything that has been said and has nothing more to add. In fact, statistics show that if a person doesn’t disagree or feel strongly about your blog most won’t write anything.
5) And last but not least, it didn’t interest them. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t well written it just wasn’t something that particular reader was into. Not all blogging websites will appeal to every reader.
Everyone has their opinion of which ones are the best blog sites, I prefer Blogger for many reasons.
Back when I first started writing I used to worry about comments but after getting stat counter and a few other tools that show I am getting readers and the money started coming in I decided it wasn’t that big of a deal.
Check with your blog service and see what free options they have. Google Adsense, Amazon and other advertisers will give you a report of earnings.
8 comments:
I think you hit the biggest reason with #2. Sometimes it feels like one has to sign their name in blood and give their SS# just to leave a comment. I don't think some of the blog sites make it very user friendly. On MySpace, it was simple, because we were all signed in and could go from blog to blog freely and comment. Now we have to follow a link from facebook (or other places), and then sign into that place, and then leave the comment. And it's not as easy to come back and interact with the blogger or other commenter. People (myself included) are just too lazy. I really think facebook should jump on the opportunity to have a better blog option than the "note." It would make it much more like MS used to be, and I know I'd write more and read more. I do read a lot of blogs and just don't comment, because I don't want to sign in.
For me Pam, the only reason I don't leave a comment at times is I don't even finish reading the blog. It just has no interest to me. Other than that I always like to write something.
I think it's interesting that people who enjoy writing (blogs) - won't take the time to write a comment. It makes me think that many just write to put voice to their thoughts and perhaps don't care to read anyone elses.
Lol... I leave tl;dr (too long; don't/didn't read) comments, unrelated comments, picture comments (when available), trolling comments (when necessary), and unexpected, out of the blue sky comments that spotlight some extraordinary characteristic (good or bad) of the entry or blogger on a daily basis. Often, on a good entry, or one written by someone I like (or strongly dislike, lol) I will then scroll through the comments, and comment the commentors... pointing out those that are noteworthy, those that are scornworthy, and those which are fit for my picture comment "I can catch lightning in a bottle, and I still can't figure out what the f*ck you just said" response.
The absence of comments is more common on sites that limit comments to text only, but in sites that offer all the features, the absence can generally be attributed to one thing: the entry is one which has no particular appeal or is of a hospital bland flavor.
If you're not willing to "put yourself out there" to some degree in order to reach folks/affect folks then count on uncommented/ undercommented entries, or perhaps a couple generic "great post" responses.
IMHO, of course. :)
Deanna, I miss MySpace for the camaraderie we had going on. I didn't make any money but made the top blog list pretty often.
Facebook could benefit from doing that since they are competing with Google+ now.
Mykuljay, I try to leave a comment when I can or if I like the writing. I don't always have time though.
Way2aware, comments can add to a blog and give it the spice it needs. I agree that many are too wordy and could be cut down.
I hate "word verification", commonly known as captcha. After years on myspace, I am not afraid of a comment. Why do people blog if they are afraid someone might leave a comment they don't like? Then there are the ones who not only have a captcha, but approve comments before they post. I started a blog this morning on just this subject, but trashed it because I was afraid I was about to get snarky.
Next...I have come to appreciate my google reader. Of course with a reader, I'm not getting anywhere near the actual blog. I click on over to friend blogs or to people who I know want comments. Me? I am not wild about the comment game. If there are no comments on my blogs, that is fine with me. I write for the pleasure of writing and am satisfied to watch numbers go up on my counter.
Bottom line is that I do try to leave comments, but sometimes it is simply a chore that I don't need to add to an already busy life. Also, sometimes I just don't have anything to say... This isn't one of those times. LOL
Darlene, I don't like Captcha either, it's annoying. My Hubpages website has to be approved, I didn't set it up that way and have tried to get them to take that feature off but they won't. It hasn't kept people from commenting but maybe more would if they didn't feel their comment had to be "approved" first.
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