good question. I have also said on many occasions that only bloggers post comments - partly to draw traffic and goodwill from being seen on the other blog (of course I am not doing this here, only participating in this conversation), but partly because they are most familiar with how & why to do this.
In fact I pointed this out the other night on my blog when a particular post created a bit of a stir on a subject of contemporary note.
I am looking for a template for my blog that incorporates comments into the post a lot more and does not simply treat them as afterthoughts or notes in the margin. Have you come across anything like this? Can you imagine how it might work? I don't want to turn a blog into a forum exactly, but there must be some way to bring the comments more into view?
Anyway, nice having a conversation with you :)
Ryan
· 1 year ago
I've been looking into it Robert, and there are a few solutions. The one place I like best though(their solution that is) is Chowhound, the way the comments are set up you create a forum with a blog feel...hope to do something like that at some point.
thirstforwine
· 1 year ago
good question. I have also said on many occasions that only bloggers post comments - partly to draw traffic and goodwill from being seen on the other blog (of course I am not doing this here, only participating in this conversation), but partly because they are most familiar with how & why to do this.
In fact I pointed this out the other night on my blog when a particular post created a bit of a stir on a subject of contemporary note.
I am looking for a template for my blog that incorporates comments into the post a lot more and does not simply treat them as afterthoughts or notes in the margin. Have you come across anything like this? Can you imagine how it might work? I don't want to turn a blog into a forum exactly, but there must be some way to bring the comments more into view?
Anyway, nice having a conversation with you :)
RichardA
· 1 year ago
Maybe "conversation" is not the appropriate terminology because of its usual connection to verbal exchanges. What about calling it "dialogue?" The American Heritage Dictionary gives one definition for "dialogue" as "An exchange of ideas or opinions." That sounds like what the comment section is intended for, to exchange our ideas and opinions about the topic of the underlying post.
We should also consider that though bloggers are probably the most likely people to comment on other blogs, even those contributions can be minimal. It takes some more controversial topics to really get significant dialogue going. For many posts, we are lucky to get 1 or 2 comments from other bloggers, if even that. So, even if bloggers are not commenting much, and they are passionate about wine, why should we expect non-bloggers to make many comments?
Ryan
· 1 year ago
I would agree on the dialogue idea, though I would ask, do conversations take place in online forums? Or are they too dialogs?
To your point about comments, I disagree, comment numbers are tied to readership. If you go outside of the small wine blog readership you find blogs with "real numbers" and in these cases you find that the comments are very rich and lengthy. The problem is wine bloggers, I'm afraid, may never have the critical mass to elicit these big numbers.
On the other hand, if someone doesn't know that the "comments are really a dialog or Conversation, then they may never ask a question in them, or write a response to the original post. I do think many people find them to be only comments in the truest sense of the word and therefore don't bother with more meaningful responses.
I know my friend is watching, I wonder if he'll join the conversation?? ;)
Ryan Opaz
· 1 year ago
I've been looking into it Robert, and there are a few solutions. The one place I like best though(their solution that is) is Chowhound, the way the comments are set up you create a forum with a blog feel...hope to do something like that at some point.
RichardA
· 1 year ago
I think online forums are more dialogue than actual conversation, though there may be conversational elements in certain threads. And it may depend as well on the topic of the forums. Some may lends themselves better to conversations.
I agree that there are non-wine blogs that garner far more comments than most wine blogs. But then that also leads to the conclusion that many people already do understand the nature of comments as they are posting such, just on non-wine blogs. Sure, there are some who don't understand the dialogue that comments can generate, but there are obviously many more people who do. Asimov's recent post on children and wine certainly garnered plenty of comments.
So, it also seems important to find ways to generate increased readership to get additional comments. And the more comments that we receive, the more people will realize the dialogue nature of such. Which may then lead them to post their comments too. We can tell them until we are blue in the face that comments lead to dialogue. But they accept it more easily when they see that occur.
RichardA
· 1 year ago
Maybe "conversation" is not the appropriate terminology because of its usual connection to verbal exchanges. What about calling it "dialogue?" The American Heritage Dictionary gives one definition for "dialogue" as "An exchange of ideas or opinions." That sounds like what the comment section is intended for, to exchange our ideas and opinions about the topic of the underlying post.
We should also consider that though bloggers are probably the most likely people to comment on other blogs, even those contributions can be minimal. It takes some more controversial topics to really get significant dialogue going. For many posts, we are lucky to get 1 or 2 comments from other bloggers, if even that. So, even if bloggers are not commenting much, and they are passionate about wine, why should we expect non-bloggers to make many comments?
Ryan Opaz
· 1 year ago
I would agree on the dialogue idea, though I would ask, do conversations take place in online forums? Or are they too dialogs?
To your point about comments, I disagree, comment numbers are tied to readership. If you go outside of the small wine blog readership you find blogs with "real numbers" and in these cases you find that the comments are very rich and lengthy. The problem is wine bloggers, I'm afraid, may never have the critical mass to elicit these big numbers.
On the other hand, if someone doesn't know that the "comments are really a dialog or Conversation, then they may never ask a question in them, or write a response to the original post. I do think many people find them to be only comments in the truest sense of the word and therefore don't bother with more meaningful responses.
I know my friend is watching, I wonder if he'll join the conversation?? ;)
RichardA
· 1 year ago
I think online forums are more dialogue than actual conversation, though there may be conversational elements in certain threads. And it may depend as well on the topic of the forums. Some may lends themselves better to conversations.
I agree that there are non-wine blogs that garner far more comments than most wine blogs. But then that also leads to the conclusion that many people already do understand the nature of comments as they are posting such, just on non-wine blogs. Sure, there are some who don't understand the dialogue that comments can generate, but there are obviously many more people who do. Asimov's recent post on children and wine certainly garnered plenty of comments.
So, it also seems important to find ways to generate increased readership to get additional comments. And the more comments that we receive, the more people will realize the dialogue nature of such. Which may then lead them to post their comments too. We can tell them until we are blue in the face that comments lead to dialogue. But they accept it more easily when they see that occur.
Ryan
· 1 year ago
Richard, the people I'm trying to draw in though are the people who don't get it yet. Why not, make it easier to understand. I'm not saying that you aren't right, just that in the end if we help them along we may benefit. Why not say what we mean, instead of saying what we mean "if your in the know".
Ryan Opaz
· 1 year ago
Richard, the people I'm trying to draw in though are the people who don't get it yet. Why not, make it easier to understand. I'm not saying that you aren't right, just that in the end if we help them along we may benefit. Why not say what we mean, instead of saying what we mean "if your in the know".
Richard
· 1 year ago
I don't really want to get in to a conversation about it but it's interesting what can come out of them. (That's the second ever comment I have left).
Richard
· 1 year ago
I don't really want to get in to a conversation about it but it's interesting what can come out of them. (That's the second ever comment I have left).
All Comments
In fact I pointed this out the other night on my blog when a particular post created a bit of a stir on a subject of contemporary note.
I am looking for a template for my blog that incorporates comments into the post a lot more and does not simply treat them as afterthoughts or notes in the margin. Have you come across anything like this? Can you imagine how it might work? I don't want to turn a blog into a forum exactly, but there must be some way to bring the comments more into view?
Anyway, nice having a conversation with you :)
In fact I pointed this out the other night on my blog when a particular post created a bit of a stir on a subject of contemporary note.
I am looking for a template for my blog that incorporates comments into the post a lot more and does not simply treat them as afterthoughts or notes in the margin. Have you come across anything like this? Can you imagine how it might work? I don't want to turn a blog into a forum exactly, but there must be some way to bring the comments more into view?
Anyway, nice having a conversation with you :)
We should also consider that though bloggers are probably the most likely people to comment on other blogs, even those contributions can be minimal. It takes some more controversial topics to really get significant dialogue going. For many posts, we are lucky to get 1 or 2 comments from other bloggers, if even that. So, even if bloggers are not commenting much, and they are passionate about wine, why should we expect non-bloggers to make many comments?
To your point about comments, I disagree, comment numbers are tied to readership. If you go outside of the small wine blog readership you find blogs with "real numbers" and in these cases you find that the comments are very rich and lengthy. The problem is wine bloggers, I'm afraid, may never have the critical mass to elicit these big numbers.
On the other hand, if someone doesn't know that the "comments are really a dialog or Conversation, then they may never ask a question in them, or write a response to the original post. I do think many people find them to be only comments in the truest sense of the word and therefore don't bother with more meaningful responses.
I know my friend is watching, I wonder if he'll join the conversation?? ;)
I agree that there are non-wine blogs that garner far more comments than most wine blogs. But then that also leads to the conclusion that many people already do understand the nature of comments as they are posting such, just on non-wine blogs. Sure, there are some who don't understand the dialogue that comments can generate, but there are obviously many more people who do. Asimov's recent post on children and wine certainly garnered plenty of comments.
So, it also seems important to find ways to generate increased readership to get additional comments. And the more comments that we receive, the more people will realize the dialogue nature of such. Which may then lead them to post their comments too. We can tell them until we are blue in the face that comments lead to dialogue. But they accept it more easily when they see that occur.
We should also consider that though bloggers are probably the most likely people to comment on other blogs, even those contributions can be minimal. It takes some more controversial topics to really get significant dialogue going. For many posts, we are lucky to get 1 or 2 comments from other bloggers, if even that. So, even if bloggers are not commenting much, and they are passionate about wine, why should we expect non-bloggers to make many comments?
To your point about comments, I disagree, comment numbers are tied to readership. If you go outside of the small wine blog readership you find blogs with "real numbers" and in these cases you find that the comments are very rich and lengthy. The problem is wine bloggers, I'm afraid, may never have the critical mass to elicit these big numbers.
On the other hand, if someone doesn't know that the "comments are really a dialog or Conversation, then they may never ask a question in them, or write a response to the original post. I do think many people find them to be only comments in the truest sense of the word and therefore don't bother with more meaningful responses.
I know my friend is watching, I wonder if he'll join the conversation?? ;)
I agree that there are non-wine blogs that garner far more comments than most wine blogs. But then that also leads to the conclusion that many people already do understand the nature of comments as they are posting such, just on non-wine blogs. Sure, there are some who don't understand the dialogue that comments can generate, but there are obviously many more people who do. Asimov's recent post on children and wine certainly garnered plenty of comments.
So, it also seems important to find ways to generate increased readership to get additional comments. And the more comments that we receive, the more people will realize the dialogue nature of such. Which may then lead them to post their comments too. We can tell them until we are blue in the face that comments lead to dialogue. But they accept it more easily when they see that occur.