Everyone proclaims that one of the big advantages of blogs over website is their interactivity: readers can leave a comment and you can engage in a conversation. For business blogs, this is a great feature.
So I am amazed at some of the blogging software that makes the process of leaving a comment difficult and frustrating. Why put barriers in the way of the conversation? I understand the necessity to keep out the spammers, by including codes that you have to type in to verify you are a human and not a robot.
But some require that you create a username and password, and then you forget what they are...
I'm not the only one... Dr. Ellen Weber, over on her Brain-Based Business blog writes about her frustrations and what you must prepare for when you go out to the blogosphere to leave comments.
Here's how to prepare yourself for commenting:
-- Look to see if the blog allows comments before you waste effort reading to formulate a thoughtful dialogue…. You’ll save time….
-- Be prepared to rewrite ...several times ...that little code that tries to separate humans and makes it impossible to detect some numbers and letters.
-- Don’t waste too much time looking for posts to add a comment… or fighting the systems that enable your two-bits to appear. It’ll only make you angry... so that while you started out with cheerful responses … by the time you fight your way through systems ... shut out comment sections and codes to copy... you end up starting a flame war in return…
-- Track the permalink to your comment page .. so you can retrace the comment to check for any responses.
-- Ignore any comments made in poor tone… and use an Online tone that shows you respect others … while at the same time articulating different views with supports to add edge….
Good points, Ellen. And I agree, commenting shouldn't be that difficult. I like the Typepad blogging features for their ease of use, but others software can be baffling.
