I’ve invented the perfect comment system. Mine.
When discussing the quality and quantity of blog comments, the system makes a difference.
First: Major hat tip to Judy Gombita, we’ve had some wonderful exchanges on this subject. Second: The choice of a commenting system is a personal decision every blogger must make themselves, right up there with which platform is right for their blog.
Let’s compare the usual comment system suspects
- WordPress has about a gagillion plugins to prettify the nesting replies, CommentLuv for links, spam zapping. Plenty of ways to go native and build a tremendous blog community.
- Disqus. I like that it saves my comments, that I can reply to replies from that site if I want. Has ‘Like’ Button. Has added the @mention, following the competition. One thing I like: EDIT button, helps me fix typos and make sense of my rambles.
- Livefyre. Game changing upstart with its real-time posting, social mentions and notifications. Has ‘Like’ Button. Started the @mention, a way to Tweet at someone
when you’re talking about them behind their backs.. a way to make it more ‘social.’ One thing I DO like about it, the @group reply: Person A comments, B replies, so on; if there are 5 people in a thread, I can post just one reply ‘addressed’ to them all.
Google, Intense Debate, Open ID are other options. While the captcha of some of these drives me batty, at least that ‘preview’ lets me see if I’ve shared something galactically stupid. Another issue with various different systems: they don’t always run on other blogging platforms. YES I think WordPress is The Standard, but cannot deny the existence of Typepad, Posterous, Blogger though maybe Tumblr is just technobeasts.
My dream comment system? A wacky hybrid with one key feature – I call the shots.
I want my own buttons. Like is not enough. LOL, LMAO, What He/She Said, Facepalm! Let me have some fun with it. Seriously though – racking up points and gamification aside, I’m not sure of its purpose – the “like” button. I often use it to show that I’ve read it, or seen your reply to my reply as some has to shut up already and NOT get the last word. At times I’ve felt silly typing in a “like” or “ITA” in a comment and yet, there are times that’s all I have to add.
Fewer hoops. I don’t like registration required. I did sign up for Disqus a few years back, since it was commonly used. I’ve set up my LiveFyre profile but I don’t consider a Twitter-auth a full-on registration. As blog owner, I’d still want to give readers the option of the old fashiond name, email, URL to post a comment.
Better format. If the blog field is a narrow width, then the nesting replies become an issue as they indent to tiny little slivers.. or just go on forever in a unattractive hot mess. I’d want to collapse threads, nesting replies as they go a little off topic, to maintain more structural integrity and readability. After the Xth sub-reply, have a neatly collapsed thread like on some BBS and forums.
Link love for guests. I like how the CommentLuv plugin gives back to those who honor me with their comments. More than links, we see what each other is writing about and maybe discover a new blog or two. A must have.
Notification options. Ad nauseum or never, WTH kind of choice is that? Marcus Sheridan’s BWENY post would have had my inbox begging for mercy had I not stopped subscribing to comments. I’d want control over how many emails my posts send; AND give to subscribers, a lot more options for annoyingly frequent updates.
Social sharing. If someone wants to tweet at someone about my post, power to ‘em. And thanks. A lot of people like the ability to pull others into the discussion via the notifications, I’m just not sold that more comments equal better discussion, quality vs. quantity debate.
What are your dreamy commenting features? Please share.
Photo credit: Went with an old Dilbert.
Weekend Reading List: Recap Round-Up
It’s the weekend. You’re tired, you’re over it, you’re looking forward to much needed sleep, family time and plentiful adult beverages. Not necessarily in that order.
You’ve missed many of the latest blogging hits and interesting news. Meanwhile your scheduled Monday blog looms like an anvil dangling by a lonely string of dental floss, precariously over head. Where to turn?
Content curation to the rescue
I subscribe to Sarah Evans Commentz and Jay Baer’s 3-2-1 Connect. A lot of good bloggers review and curate other good blogs and articles for you and I’ve shared other curation lists before like Shonali Burke’s Weekly Roundup of PR and social media posts.
Working for the weekend, here are a few more good “week in review” lists.
Thank the Reader, it’s Friday
Kristi Hines (aka @kikolani) does a Fetching Friday list and this week picks many articles including tips on commenting before a RT, not to mention Stephen Colbert crooning with The Roots.
Gini Dietrich has dubbed her Friday weekly Gin and Topics, and includes a post on the Mythical Work-Life Balance. And IIRC twas she who introducte me to Lisa Barone’s very topical Weekend Coffee links. Hmm.. wonder if I’m following any wine or Disney bots?
The ‘Savvy Sisters‘ have a B2B slant to their Friday Weekly Wrap Up, so it’s on my “I should really read more often” list.
Saturday Blog Fever
Sweet Sunny Saturdays is another great blog round up. Like many of these lists, Brankica sometimes introduces me to new people and reminds me to visit some blogs more often like MarianLibrarian.
I kinda liked that Beth Harte was late (makes me feel less a slacker), ran this week’s Saturday Morning Reads on Sunday with a closer look at the social side of CRM.
Bloggers feast for Sunday dinner
Ingrid Abboud has the SuperPost Sunday sampler with tons of links including posts by Mark Harai and Paul Wolfe. Hell this week’s list I there may be only 13 bloggers that didn’t make it. 
Which is to say it’s a thorough look at social media, introducing me to the notion that ‘spammers are people too.’ Had to read that one.
New to me, Jason Sokol does a Sunday Shout Out post even giving me some love a couple weeks ago. Nice.
Do you publish or know about a great marketing, PR, social media weekly recap? Add it to the comments, I’ll read the hell out of it.
Photo credit: Going to the Someecards well, too easy.
Blogging, Criticism, A-Lists and other Social Media Bullsh*t
How’s that for a linkbaiting headline?! Last week four posts got me thinking about blogging and criticism, about elitism and the echo chambers in which we choose to work and play.
NOW this is what I call Social Media, Vol. 1
This is thoughtful, reflective debate. Communicators and marketers at the top of their collective games, mixing it up with vim and vigor, snark and humor, humility and bravado, even single malt Scotch talking about criticism.
Blame it on Danny Brown, who got the ball rolling with: “If you offer an opinion, have the balls to have people disagree and question you. After all, they’re the guys who put you where you are now. The least you could do is respect their opinions.”
Because I’ll follow him anywhere:
Geoff Livingston: “When I fail — and yes, I do fail — I can live with and even better learn from it rather than worry about the Karaoke Show image hit.”
Ike Pigott, with Geoff: “Criticism is part of publishing your views online publicly… we’ve both got quite a few scars (sometimes from each other) from scathing criticism. It made our thinking better.”
Chris Brogan: “Be clear in what you’re criticizing. Show examples when you can (because that helps me learn). And if you’re just trying to bait me because you’re competing with me, save us both the effort, and go lure my prospects to your better offering. Because then we’ll both learn.”
What’s missing
My comments. Rare that I don’t toss my pennies into the coffers, but this was one of those times I had both too much and not enough to say. One post lead me to another and another, by the time I got through it all, I was both spent and fired up writing this post. And clearly in over my head.
It’s about the conversation.
Possibly one of the tritest, most overused truisms in social media but in this case it’s no bullshit. Comments can be The Juice of a blog post, so here are just a few:
“What someone thinks is snarky, another may think is funny, and yet another may feel is fine communication. I think interpretation is the other side of the equation…” James M Cooper.
“As long as people don’t purposely sell bullsh*t, it all has value – pop and punk, chewing gum and truffles, basic theory and advanced applications.” Olivier Blanchard has two comments on this one, better than many a blog post.
“..Unicorn Flatulence.” Ike Pigott, gotta remember that one.
“I have always considered you a factory of odor-free feces.” Mark W. Schaefer can turn a phrase.
“The thing that I keep coming back to about all of this social media crap is that we’re ALL new to it – no matter how BIG any one of us are or may be. We’re ALL experimenting, adopting, trying and discarding, talking, sharing …. and a multitude of other things.” Shelly Kramer.
Final thoughts: A central theme I noticed is growth, learning from mistakes and criticism. I agree with Shelly, think that in such a dynamic and rapidly-changing area as social media, there will always be a learning curve as the game will keep evolving, changing around us.
I want to snark something clever, blah blah get over ourselves and back to work blah. Something deep about wisdom and the other points of view. Best I can do is this quote:
“There are as many opinions as there are experts.” – FDR.
Photo credit: Despair makes awesome posters and calendars. You can buy them.
Death to FREE E-Crap Popup Ads
“Quickest way to get me to NOT read the post you tweeted: cover it with a popup ad for your e-crap.”
I started to tweet this yesterday, then I remembered I tweeted that last week, dammit!
Do not pass go, head straight to fail
Popups ads for free stuff are a scourge upon the Interents, a basic blogging what NOT to do.
Whenever I click a link via Twitter or Google reader, the second I see that popup ad to subscribe to your newsletter or download your FREE e-book, you’re lucky if I even bother with the post.
Free is Good
Lots of smart people share some wonderful tools and info for free.
- Jay Baer has social media worksheets, ebooks and other social media tools.
- Gini Dietrich won’t let you pick her brain (neither will I) because she shares a ton of great advice for FREE via newsletters, blogs, videos and more.
Via their blogs, tweets and networking I know that everyone from Jayme Soulati to Sarah Evans to Kimmo Linkama has something worth reading, that they share for free. So I’m happy to follow, subscribe; they don’t need to ask or push with the hard sell.
Call me a romantic
You want to get all posty and retweety and subscribing with me, I expect a long courtship. I expect dinner and movie first. And quality liquor. Don’t believe me, ask guest blogger Jenn Whinnem.
Matt Cheuvront posted that in social media you don’t get married after the first date (save a drunk Vegas thing, said I). Social media, marketing, relationships are not one-night stands. Don’t hit me with the sales pitch before I can even see what you have to offer. If ads and sidebar widgets aren’t enough for you:
- Change your “comment posted” message. “Thanks for commenting, feel FREE to subscribe…”
- Share it in replies: That’s why the blog is open to comments right? Reply to my comment and oh, direct me to your stuff you think I might like.
- Send it in an “old-fashioned” email. Personally thank me for the comment on your blog, then maybe share the link to your latest e-book.
- But please for the sake of puppies and unicorns, do NOT auto-DM me with it, I’m the quickest UNFOLLOW in Atlanta.
Now if only The Oatmeal would do a Popup Ads From Hell cartoon, I’d be set. Thoughts?
Image Credit: That over-the-top gif courtesy: By SpiderWeb-MarketingSystems via Wikimedia Commons
For Love of the Blogroll: Follow Friday edition
Yesterday Hubspot suggested deleting the blogroll from a blog’s sidebar. Sidebars can get junky with too many widgets, but I look to blogrolls to find new bloggers and likes me a good, current blogroll. So I’ve updated mine.
Expose the Guilty
One of the first things I have changed is recognizing the blogger by name rather than blog title. I like the Spin Sucks name, but I read it because I love Gini Dietrich and her community. See also Mark W. Schaefer’s Business Grow, Shonali Burke’s Waxing Unlyrical. They’re guilty of some good marketing, PR and social media posts so I gotta call ‘em out on it.
Catch Up with old friends
It’s been too long since I checked some of these, like Bad Pitch or Rohit Bhagarva lately. Glad I did; I read and tweeted some good posts, offered my two pennies in the comments.
Missing in Action
Blogs and bloggers move around, so your blogroll links may be out of date. I thought David Mullen’s blog had disappeared. Turns out it moved; my bad. Mack Collier has his Viral Garden, but it’s not updated as often as his business blog. Same for Augie Ray’s Experience; he does his blogging at Forrester.
Less is More
I “deleted” links from my blogroll, not because I don’t enjoy Beth Harte or Marc Hausman’s posts (I do) but there’s too much of a good thing. I wanted to include bloggers I’m currently reading, like Shonali and Neicole.
Gone, not Forgotten
I have not forsaken those who’ve been edited. Once I figure out the technological voodoo behind have two blogrolls, I may split it into Favoritest and Rest of the Best sections. And still read, link to your posts.
More is Better
Scott Stratten’s Unmarketing blogroll is made of win. He’s listed his favorite bloggers and told you why, right there in the sidebar. Love it. Kami Huyse has the latest post for each blogger linked in her blogroll, that’s a neat trick. Erika Napoletano lists a blogroll on a separate page, which can clear up sidebar clutter and give plenty of space for blogs and descriptions. Yet I suspect I’m one of the view who’s actually visited it.
One of the reasons my Follow Friday is done in blog form is so I can tell you why you should follow these people, give more detail about which blogs I’m reading most often. So it’s a quality vs. quantity thing I guess.
How often do you read a blogroll? Do you ever revisit or update your blogroll links? Tell me.
