Comments on the Internet
I truly admire people who write paragraphs of comments on blog posts, TED videos, Facebook status updates, etc. Although large number of them are what we call ‘trolls’, there are a majority who can actually spell, and construct grammatically sound sentences that make a good argument. I wonder what these people eat for breakfast.
If I ever comment on a blog or video it is usually for two reasons:
1. Out of guilt of never leaving a comment in the past.
2. I agreed/disagreed with what I saw/read/listened to so much that I am compelled to say something.
The first reason mainly deals with works for friends and close acquaintances. I comment on these purely because of guilt. They comment and get involved on my blog, so I feel that I should too. This in no way means that they’re not good writers or creators, however, 99% of the time I simply write a babble like, “Nice post 
” because I want to show support.
The former reason is the most prevalent but at the risk of sounding like a jerk, I rarely find stuff online good enough to make me wanna write a comment about it. Even if it is very inspiring and thought-provoking, I rarely believe that my comment would add any meaningful substance to the original idea or argument.
The second reason is much more complicated. Internet is full of amazing things. I read some very interesting and, at times, awe-inspiring articles in my RSS reader every morning. I absolutely love them and carry the message along with me for the rest of the day. However, the most I will do is to tweet is out to my followers so they too can read it. Do I ever leave a comment? Not really. I agree that these comments provoke discussion and creates more ideas and thoughts. That’s great, but doesn’t it also distract you from the original thought? Why don’t you write a blog post on your own blog about it later to make your points?
If you are one of the people who appreciates comments or comments a lot of the web, I’d like to understand what drives and motivates you to do so. I have my ways of behaving on the internet, but I am interested in learning about the other ways and how they work.
Do I care about the comments I get on Fishing Buddha? Of course. I like when someone leaves a comment. Do I get upset when nobody comments on a new post? Never. It was a struggle to even allow comments in the first place on Fishing Buddha for the same reason. There were comments allowed, then not, then yes and finally I decided to have the comments on for readers who use it as a way to connect with me.
That’s all for now. Lately, I have been struggling to write for Fishing Buddha because I am so intensely involved in many other fun projects. But I promise to find something to write about regularly, if not as often. I don’t really like to make-up blog posts just for the sake of it so, I hope you stay tuned. I’d like to know your thoughts on this post in the comments. Just kidding.
Image: tutoriallounge.com
