The Rules

Don’t Spam
I want to get this out of the way, as it has become a huge problem online with nearly every blog. If you are manually spamming someone else, you are not a good Internet citizen. If you are honestly wondering if your comment is spam, ask yourself if you would like to receive such comments? Or if you don’t have a blog of your own, try to remember how you feel when a telephone marketer calls right in the middle of supper.

If your comment is only to promote your own site, then don’t be surprised if it gets deleted as it detracts from the conversation.

If you are a spammer, and ignore this rule, I hope that someday there are laws that will stop you from having Internet access.

Fill Out Your Information Properly
If you want to make a good impression, be sure to fill out all the information requested. I know it can be worrisome to give out your e-mail address, but if that is a concern for you, create an e-mail account just for commenting on blogs. That way you can still start conversations with the blog owners if you so choose.

I have been able to build some amazing relationships with top level bloggers by commenting on their blogs. If I hadn’t filled out all the requested information, they would have had no way to find me and start that line of communication.

Reference Your Response
When you are getting ready to submit a comment, you will want to reference what it is you are commenting on. Sometimes this might be very apparent, but other times, other people might not understand if you are responding to the main article, or to another comment. This is a larger issue on sites that don’t have a threaded commenting system, but it is still helpful, and polite to reference what the comment is regarding.

If you say something like “I disagree”, and don’t say who you are disagreeing with, it can create confusion, and not help continue to build the conversation. Make sure you answer the basic questions: who, what, where, when and why? I know this can seem basic, but so many people forget to do this, treating comments like cell phone text messages or instant messages, thus reducing the meaning behind their message, and the value of what they have to say.

More is Usually Better
Text can be such a limiting medium, you lose out on pitch, tone, body language, and facial clues, and so adding more words to your comments can help make up for those shortcomings.

The phrase “yeah right”, could mean so many different things depending on the tone. It could be sarcastic, honest, questioning, or a variety of other things, and without any more description, it is up to the person reading the comment to try to judge the original intention of the message.

The Reasons

Increase Your Traffic
If you have a blog of your own, and followed the above rules, people may follow that link, and see if you have more knowledge to share, thus increasing your traffic. There are many bloggers that swear by commenting on other blogs to build up their own. It shows that you have knowledge, an opinion, and that translates into something people will want to read.

Learn Something New
Recently, I had commented on another person’s blog, and someone else had responded to me. It wasn’t the author of the post, but instead someone else that had found the post, and answered my question.

Had I asked this question on my own blog, I might not have received any response because it would have been outside the normal target audience of my blog. On some great blogs, if the topic is right, and the comments are open, there can be more to learn from the comments than in the articles.

Conclusion

Part of the reason blogging has become as pervasive online as it has become is due to the openness of commenting. This has helped blogs go beyond their traditional media counterparts and their “letter to the editor” style approach to creating a open dialog between the writers and their readers.

I would love to hear your opinion on commenting, and any stories you might have on how it has been beneficial or a nuisance to you.