Comment ON

Here’s my post for the Teacher Challenge Student Blogging Activity #3 on Comments.

I’ve got two main message: Switch commenting ON and Comment ON.

Why comment?

(To list or not to list, that is the question.)

  1. Comments are affirming. It lets the blogger knows that there are others who share or like the same ideas. I’ve received plenty of comments like this and I like leaving comments such as this as well. Β And because comments are affirming, they are also encouraging. Readers are important to me.
  2. Comments extend blog posts and conversations. When a post asks questions, readers can respond via comments and so the conversation continues. A good example is this one in Janelle’s post on cotton ball clouds.
  3. Comments are good sources of ideas for blog posts. It might be a question or a bright idea that’s worth pursuing or reflecting on. My post on creating a Follow me on Twitter widget was prompted by a question on someone else’s blog.
  4. Comments can be crumb trails. Commenters can either embed hyperlinks in the comment or within the avatars. In this way, they too can be visited increasing the chances of continued conversation, perhaps via other channels such as Twitter. Of course, commenters can be anonymous, too.
  5. Comments are feedback. Whether positive or negative, comments provide the blogger an insight into how the post is received. Feedback is important to learning and since I’ve said the blogging is a learning platform, it makes sense to set up a feedback mechanism, don’t you think?

(To list wins!)

So if you’re a blogger, please switch commenting on. I may not leave a comment in all blog posts I read but when I do want to, I want to be able to. This means I want to keep the conversation going. I suppose I have to respect the possibility that you don’t want to.

As for you my dear reader, know that I want to hear from you. Feel free to agree and disagree. Ask me questions. Challenge my ideas. Extend my learning.

Is that too much to ask? πŸ™‚

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9 thoughts on “Comment ON

  1. Lydia Schultz says:

    You are so right about how important it is to receive comments on our blogs. I feel so much clearer in who I am writing for and who I am addressing if I receive comments on my posts. Interacting makes all of our experiences stronger and our thinking more rigorous.

    Please feel free to stop by my new post at Book Frontiers.

    • malyn says:

      I definitely love receiving comments and getting an insight into my readers. Comments allow for 2-way conversations – not a given but a definite possibility.

  2. mrsjwilson says:

    Malyn,

    I agree! Comments on is the way to go! And with my Stretching Forward, I don’t even moderate comments. (I do use a spam filter, though.) That way, comments show up right away. I wouldn’t do that with students, but with adults, I definitely think it’s beneficial. Do you have any thoughts about that?

    I think you are really good at #3 as a commenter. You have definitely left me lots of great comments that have given inspiration for additional blog posts. Thanks for doing that!

    • malyn says:

      Moderating is definitely a good idea if you have the time. I used to have spam comments which I just delete in bulk when I can. Nowadays, I don’t get them (knock-wood) and love that people’s comments show up instantaneously and other readers can view them, and even respond accordingly. That’s awesome.

      I think in a shared social space such as a class blog, participants share the responsibility of moderation. Lapses can be treated as opportunities to learn and what better way to do it than in the comfort of their own “home”.

      AND happy to always contribute ideas for more blog posts – speaking of which I’ll go back to your cloud post for another question I just thought of!

  3. Anne Mirtschin says:

    Malyn, you have raised some great points in this blog post. I really like your idea of ‘crumb trails’! Like you I love to read blog posts, but as it is time consuming to leave the comments, I am guilty of moving on and forgetting this all important element of networking and blogging.
    (ps Hey Malyn, you think you are behind, I haven’t even finished my response to the first challenge in this series. The first response is still sitting in my drafts. So, you are doing well) Look forward to reading your next post.

    • malyn says:

      I’ve got some idea how busy you are. You also seem more deliberate in your writing as this is at least the 2nd time I’ve seen you mention drafts. I don’t tend to do that…maybe I should. πŸ™‚

      Thanks for dropping by and leaving crumb trails. πŸ™‚

    • malyn says:

      You’re welcome Sheri. I’m sure you’ll find bloggers who have perfectly valid reasons to turn commenting off – comments aren’t as vital for their purposes. My point is, you’ve got to be flexible when talking to others about having comments on as this may be the reason for reluctance to blog in the first place.

      See you again here I hope.

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