“Video killed the radio star.
In my mind and in my car, we can’t rewind we’ve gone too far.”
Are you singing along yet? Cause I am. And I’ve been singing this song to myself for quite some time now, only with slightly different lyrics. Twitter killed the blog comment. Twitter killed the blog comment. And then I hum the tune in my head.
I’ve been on twitter since March 17, 2007. And for a little while, I was tweeting into the wilderness with just a few other winos, testing a new platform, seeing that new followers joined up, my blog readership began a steady uptick in traffic from twitter. But it came at a price. You see, the people most likely to comment on a blog (in my humble opinion) are involved in social media…they have blogs of their own (whatever the topic), they are one twitter, on facebook, etc. And while those people, and others are clearly still reading blogs, twitter has moved the conversation.
I still get a lot of traffic every day from twitter. But all those folks who used to leave comments on my posts….well, it seems they comment on twitter now. And that makes me sad. I believe that twitter has a place and function…but I don’t want it to kill the blog comment. Because I think that people who wouldn’t normally comment on a blog are much more likely to come out of the woodwork if they see a couple comments on the post. But those first comments from those who are already engaged in social media seem to be coming on twitter.
For example, yesterday I received these tweets about my posts, yet, between the two posts on the blog I only got 2 comments in the same time period.
chambertinone of the most important vinous RT’s of the quarter? quite possibly: RT @Sonadora http://bit.ly/QDgxN
She_Loves_Wine@Sonadora I’ve wanted to try that for a while. It’s so odd to me up here bc I first assoc Schlum with Oil Fields. 🙂 I’ve heard it’s gr8.
JuliaRosien@Sonadora Easy Drinking: http://bit.ly/WXeGt love that it’s peppery and still goes down easy – Glass for me please!
mwangbicklerGreat post by @sonadora on winery tasting rooms. http://bit.ly/YnRnM
I’m just as guilty of this as anyone else, but I’ve been making a concentrated effort to get back into commenting around the blog-o-sphere. I think that while twitter is one strategy to draw new folks to your blog, making relevant comments on other bloggers’ posts is just as valuable, if not more valuable.
Wannabe Wino Wine Blog 
Yes…I was singing along :). I appreciate your perspective on commenting on blogs. I have been a long time blog reader, but I rarely comment on people’s posts. It’s not that I don’t want to contribute to the conversation. Honestly, as I sit here thinking about it I really don’t know why I don’t. In fact I have been reading your blog almost everyday for over a year. This post helped me wake up to the importance to letting the blogger know what you think and joining in on the conversation. I will definitely be making an effort in the future to comment more on the blogs I read. Cheers, and a belated thanks for all of the wonderful content you post everyday.
Thank you!! And welcome out from lurkerdom! It’s good to know people are out there reading and enjoying, and the conversation is really the best part. Especially when folks like yourself can help add value for all readers!
Very good point Megan. If I find a blog posting that is interesting, I will usually comment if I have anything to contribute. I will also tend to tweet about the posting as well, as you can see from my tweet you pasted here. I have noticed, however, that others may give you kudos in Twitter, but may not post. That’s a shame.
Great tune.
It is soooooooo much better when the comments are in the blog. Then you get a contiguous conversation – everything is in context. Ever notice that when you watch comments in Twitter you sometimes feel like your are on the outside looking in…
I use Twitter to find cool stuff and then visit and comment. It’s how I found your blog, but I will be responding here….
PS – I added you to my blogroll…
Here, here..I’ll drink to that. Since I grew up in the “Video killed the radio star” era..and was in the radio industry at the time, I agree with your observation.
I also think there is a population that reads blogs and are afraid to comment, even if they can do it Anonymously.
I’ll certainly agree with what “The Wine Road Less Traveled” says here. And Michael Wangbickler’s choice to use Twitter to further the conversation is a wonderfully gallant approach that I am happy to be seeing fairly regularly in the microblogging world.
Like you said, when others do not see any commenting activity on a blog post, their assumption may be that the blog isn’t attracting any visitors, that the blog may not be worth reading, and/or that the blog holds little value. Perceived value may shift along a sliding scale across all of the possible ways we can interact online these days, but for now, the highest, most durable value that we can perceive is from the comment streams generated at the source itself – the blog post, where context is king. And when we keep the conversation at its source, we draw in others, and the conversation therefore can only get better.
Megan, I believe you sat at my table at last year’s WBC Unconference when I initiated this topic, so I’m glad to see that you’re fighting the good fight! Right on, sister.
Before I say I totally agree with you, I must point out that 3 out of the 4 tweets you received had a link BACK to the blog post, thus reaching their followers (and possible new followers for you). That is the beauty of social media, if the content is good, people will want to share it with their friends, and so forth. With the ever expanding presence of the trinity of social networks (Facebook, Twitter and Blogs) you will get people who would rather comment on your status update on the post, or in a tweet, or even in a blog… Conversations happen on each medium.
Anyways, now this is where I say.. I totally agree… It bothers me when people do that to me as well… But I look at it as, hey, at least people are interested enough in your content that you are having that conversation!
I still have the “Video Killed the Radio Star” in my head which means I’m boarding a plane w/ @mmalm to the east coast in a couple of hours. The guest bedroom better be ready! 🙂
~Pamela
I pretty much just lurk on all blogs I read. I don’t even comment via twitter. I will start trying to comment more often on my favorite blogs.
Have to admit I look at my blog and pray for comments. They come sporadically and many times are comments that should be on Twitter or direct to me or……….kind of funny, but I wonder if there isn’t confusion on how each of these types of media should be responded to?
I too am bad about responding unless it really gets my ‘dander up’. Feedback is good and think we forget that it is a lonely world without it.
For now I just get excited to see my feeds increase!
The Mustang Winemaker
I totally agree that blog comments are becoming less frequent and I know I’m commenting less too. The problem is that it’s hard to control where people choose to have the conversation.
The best solution I have seen is
http://yoast.com/wordpress/tweetbacks/
which is a WordPress plugin to pull in tweets about your post and display them on your blog. Not sure if that’s an option for you but it’s something I’ll try soon.
Fraser
Managing comments and response to blogs is a pain. Like you, I post out to twitter, and also facebook. I often get great response from FB, but sometimes nothing at Dirty South Wine. There is no way to get those back to the dsw site.
It would be nice to be able to publish to multiple locations, but to maintain a single discussion.
That would be a great biz. Web 2.01
Good point, but I’m afraid Twitter is killing the comment thread. But don’t worry, I’m sure there’s something just around the corner that will make it all better. I’m going to try leaving polls for people to answer. NO typing required. It’s a little impersonal but at least people might still leave their mark.
Thanks Michael-I’ve noticed you do that, but many others definitely do not.
Hi Wine Road! Thanks, and welcome! I do wish everything could be in one place!
HVWG-I agree, there is that certain population, but I truly believe they are more likely to come out if others are already commenting!
True Shana-I just think it would be so much more beneficial to do it both places…as a commentor, you lose back traffic to your own blog if you don’t post on an actual blog post!
It’s all ready Pam!
Hey Courtney! Thanks! Glad to get out and commenting!
Penny, I agree about praying for comments! I love the feedback!
Hi Fraser! Welcome and thanks for leaving a comment. That’s an interesting service, I’ll have to check it out!
Hey Dirty–maybe that should be your next project…or someone else other than me….so not technically savvy here!
Things always do change winelabel, you’re right. I guess we just wait and see what is coming….but in the meantime, I’ll do my best to keep commenting!
I’m not on Twitter, & I agree with you – commenting on the blog itself is good for both the author & reader.
I’m an avid reader of this blog, but sadly, I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t been able to read it daily. Heck, I haven’t written on my own blog in well over a month! Gah. I hope that slows down soon.
Hey Sondra,
I’m SOOO guilty of skimming and commenting on Twitter or Facebook instead of on the blog. Thanks for the gentle reminder that we need to support each other by taking time to comment on the blog.
And I do love your blog!
Julia
I have definitely seen a big drop in the comments on my blogs since I became active in Twitter. I love Twitter connections but I miss the more in depth conversations that used to occur on my blog.
The Twitter Thread plugin was serving as a bridge as it organizes my twitter feed into conversations on a page on my blog. For some reason it stopped working last week. 😦
You have inspired me to remember to comment on blogs and not just tweet. It does take longer but there are many benefits!