Entries (RSS)
Commenting dictates a blogger’s life
First I would like to state that I know that commenting on other blogs is a way of communication so that one won’t be confined purely in their own blog. I am not trying to put down other people from commenting, though they might (likely not) be influenced by my words. This post is purely dedicated through my experience. If you think something is a fallacy/false, OK. I don’t mind. This post is an explanation of my views in the aniblogsphere. Also don’t mind my random insertions of jokes. So let me begin with my history of commenting and my epiphany.
Back when I first started my blog I literally did not comment on other people’s blogs. And when I did, it was a really short reply that had no significant value. I didn’t know the “system” of “how to get commenters” so really, I just did not bother with commenting in other people’s blogs. In the small hope that I would be as popular as Random Curiosity 1, I just posted like a robot, trying to replicate what Omni did. And what a fuckface I was for doing it. In fact, I didn’t like a single moment of it. But I kept on doing it because I had hope. A year after this, I started to notice that if I commented on someones blog, they were likely to return and comment back on my own blog. There are reasons for why they would do that, and I realized these reasons by deductive reasoning 2. I will state what I believe to be the reasons.
- To have me comment back on their blog for future posts.
- To be more social.
- To do a “take and give” policy.
Those are the three reasons I currently see it as. So noticing this trend, I would do some mass commenting on people’s blogs and notice that they would come back. I’m sorry if I’m being pessimistic about this, but when I started to act on the trend I noticed that point 3, the “take and give” policy played out a lot 3. Here’s why: When I “actively” commented on a person’s blog, they would sometimes comment back on mine. When I didn’t comment on their blog, they didn’t mine. This means that they don’t exactly think my blog is interesting (and I wouldn’t see why wouldn’t they, being such a great and funny guy I am) so they don’t give a damn when reading it but was willing to uphold the “take and give” policy. And like a monkey, I followed the policy as well.
After awhile, instead of getting < 100 views I started to get more than that. I still haven’t reached the point where I gain 600+ views daily yet (and goddamnit I’m trying). This became so because of my commenting 4 to other people’s blog. I was completely fine with the system, but also started to become lazy. To be exact, I got bored of doing posts that were like Random Curiosity’s. It was not what I wanted to do and not how I expressed my thoughts. It was completely mechanic and was boring. So I started to experiment with blogging styles and figured that short imaged posts were more fun. I also realized that my shorter posts were more fun and became obsessed with making things short, “funny”, and vulgar. It more or less grabbed more attention and comments. Then I met purelyshin.
purelyshin made me realize what I really wanted in blogging. Literally, I knew what I wanted and was “preaching” it to her but never really looked at my own words as something for myself. What was “what I wanted?” Fun. I wasted my time desiring views and comments that I forgot that doing something that wasn’t fun to me made me feel less like wanting to blog. But before I go any further, I’ll get back to the point: Commenting + views comes from the “take and give” policy. More or less this policy doesn’t apply to popular + consistent blogs like Random Curiosity. He has commenters who actually care about his posts and shit. purelyshin wasn’t too big on the commenting + views, if you ask me. She wanted to just have fun blogging, and well, she said she did 5. I wanted the fun.
What makes blogging fun? Obviously you’ll need to enjoy it. In fact, I won’t even be a smart fuck who says “Do this and you’ll get that result.” People have different interests and I’ll respect that. I’ll just tell you what makes blogging fun for me. Now, in the past I sought fun via comments and total views for a post. The “fun” was in commenting in other people’s blogs, which I’ll truthfully say are in no way to me fun/entertaining to read, and being commented. Now, commenting and views have become old to me. I’m not saying that I don’t enjoy comments and more views — I do. What I’m saying is I really don’t want to lie to others and comment on their blog to let them believe that their post are interesting. For those types of posts, I really have nothing good to say. Controvseries are one big thing that I sometimes actually read. If the post’ controversy is given immediately, I normally just comment with that small knowledge. Too long; don’t read (tl;dr) posts were posts that I found to fit the area of “boring” posts. Most of them at least. There were few posts that I actually completely read and those posts are GOOD material.
I’ll just conclude this post with this last paragraph. More or less I am not going to continue the “give and take” policy. I will just comment on people’s blogs when I see that they have something interesting 6 to read. I am in no way saying “I am a great commenter” because I know I’m not. I’m just some guy on the internet who wants to only comment on people’s blogs when I want to and when their post are interesting. I am not saying that lots of blogger’s blog are boring to you. I am saying that their blog aren’t intersting enough for me to want to read it. Posting and commenting is supposed to be a fun (and probably learning) experience, not labor 7.
This is probably the longest post I’ve ever written. Yay me.
Annotations
1. I started blogging about Anime because of his blog. [↩]
2. Having lelangir also made the reasons more imminent. [↩]
3. Kairu (http://kielmaru07.wordpress.com/) demonstrated this point as he mass comments on various blogs. I don’t know if that was what his goal was, but that was how I saw it. This does NOT mean that he wasn’t trying to be social — he sure as hell could have done it for being social. [↩]
4. Which I might add, made me a bit more social to the aniblogsphere [↩]
5. I don't know if she really felt she did, but she said she did. [↩]
6. Interesting things normally have interesting titles. Remember that. [↩]
7. Labor via commenting on every blog you see, etc [↩]
Related posts:
- We’re going, going, dead!
- New School Year
- Kurokami – Annotations
- Otaku no Musume-san – 41 – Was Tae-chan violated?
- When blog takes over…
Loading ...
What I find a little sad in my commenting style is the posts that I find to be best are the ones that I have nothing to add to and I feel like a moron just leaving a “You rock!” in the comments so the best posts go unrewarded, ironic eh?
On “take and give” policy: that’s not exactly like that. A person’s comment on your blog makes you curious, and if you find something interesting there, you comment.
On Fun on Blogging: Isn’t the most fun to click on the publish button? To feel “I have posted” and have a hope for a short time, that somebody will read it?
And, commenting on blogs of your friends is also enjoyable. Getting replies too. There are quite some things when you think about it.
I also try to have fun blogging (and believe me, I do =3) but fun isn’t the only reason I started blogging. I also try to get better at everything post-wise, whether its my writing style, drawings, or how quickly I can make a terrible pun at something. Basically, I try to improve in ways that benefit the reader and most importantly: myself, cause if you don’t get better at what your doing, I honestly think its a wasted effort. I’m glad you’ve found a writing style that fits you. I’m also debating whether to change my style, but I’ll keep going at it for awhile longer before I decide =3
I think this little bit from ED put my thinking of blogging in perspective.
I mean who cares about comments and views? Your E-peen? Validating you have something worth saying by getting comments from others? If you’re doing it just for comments and views you’re doing it for attention. Aren’t we all? I mean you could have just made it a private blog, but still I believe if you’re going to write something make it public.
I personally don’t comment very often on other’s blogs because I don’t read other blogs since I am rather disinterested with what everyone says. It’s either very tl;dr, a topic I am uninterested in, or some just seem so technical for a subject like anime. I mean, this is ANIME. How technical can you make this shit? Anyway, this post is probably the first I have read and commented on in a while. Mainly because the title caught my eye.
I don’t know. Maybe I’m angry. Maybe I have issues about this but I am used to not getting comments and being niche and obscure. But you know what I really don’t care because I like what I write and I do it for self enjoyment and it gets me into that zone of being a fan of the things that I’m into even more. Not to mention it makes a tangible thing I could always look back on to see how I thought about this or that.
I’m glad you’ve realized your ways though because maybe you’ll get the feeling I get when people comment on my blog. Least I know they took the time to read and make a comment that wasn’t some kind of generic give and take kinda deal you mentioned.
Sorry for the tl;dr rant and it’s probably off topic alittle, but I figured this was the kind of insight comments you were looking for.
For the record, in RL, Im an anti-social faggot.
Used to check my views each day, now it doesn’t really matter anymore. The only thing you should actually care about is the satisfaction you get after writing each post. That’s what matters. Commenting helps build a network and makes things more interesting and sociable. Although I’m not going to get all technical from here…been there done that.
We all have in our best interest to post something we hope would catch somebody’s attention enough to comment and to somehow get this process to repeat in hopes of reaching the same level as those of the more popular blogs. But if blogging only falls to those two objectives, I might as well think aniblogging nothing but “King of the Hill” sort of game where everyone is just primarily concerned of promoting their blog.
On the other hand, if you blog while considering comments as a mode of discussion instead of a measure of your blog’s popularity, then it all becomes a totally different experience.
That said, I quit checking my views every single day just as Seinime did. It sort of become a disease.
I don’t have too many friends in real life who follow anime like I do. And even then, those conversations are limited by the number of participants. Therefore, I blog to talk about anime with other people. Comments are big to me, since they represent actual back-and-forth conversation. That’s why I make it a point to respond to every single comment ever posted on my site (and I have).
Of course, there are other means for communication here. Twitter, #IRC, etc. But blogging moves at my pace and gives me an outlet to control the topic of conversation. I post on other blogs when they strike up something interesting to me. Obviously enough, I tend to comment more on sites where the author replies frequently, as that continuing conversation is what I’m aiming for.
@Blackholeheart: If that’s your style, there isn’t anything wrong with that. This post was really an “all about my distaste in what I did” kind of thing. You shouldn’t feel bad about what you do as that’s just how you are. Some people might just like the “Great job” comments anyways.
@Gargron: That’s how you look at it and it’s perfectly fine. My experience really is different. It’s a selfish outlook of mine, but that’s how I saw things as. I will agree that seeing another person’s comment does make you curious about what they have on their blog, but it will sure as hell takes a curious fuck to really want to look. I’m not one of those curious fucks, much. I really don’t see why some random person I comment on would really comment back on my blog every time I comment on their blog as well. Strange that if I never say shit they won’t say shit either, huh?
To me, it’s fun to just vent out my feelings for something; I don’t like holding thoughts to myself. Knowing that people are reading my thoughts and “agree” makes me feel less alone; I won’t feel that I’m the only guy thinking it. Though that is so, it is not a necessity for me to want to blog. Pressing the “Publish” button is just a retarded phrase and really, I think “who cares” about it. I only care that I’m expressing myself and nothing more.
Getting comments and views and what not is great. But once it starts to make it a necessity of your daily “blogging career”, you have a problem.
@Jesus159159159: Firstly I want to say that you have a great name. Jesus. Hahaha. Anyways, if you feel that your writing style should change, change it. Thinking that your readers will leave just because you change your blogging style is just another form of “commenting dictates your life.” I always want to improve my posts the way I like it. If you improve it in a way that it goes against your beliefs, that sucks :( That’s my 2 cents.
@Koji Oe: *swts* I had to read your comment a few times to comprehend everything.
I really agree with your comment. It is more or less completely true. I don’t know who this “ED” is but that person probably had an epiphany as well. Seriously, I don’t want blogging to become an onus. Realizing one and two I just said “Fuck it” and did what I really wanted to do. I enjoy getting real comments like yours and some others and not the “take and give” ones. I used to enjoy those, but now I see it as spam, really. Not all, but most are to me.
Just an FYI I barely look at my previous posts, which is why I barely ever link back to any of my posts. I just post to express myself and really, I think (subconsciously) I don’t want to know how I felt before as it might either bring back emotions I wanted to express and lose or make me think of what a jackass I was. I might be too hard on myself, but that’s just who I am. I don’t like being a phony and I don’t want to be one either.
Lastly I want to say that most (if not all) people in AnimeNano talk about Anime 95% of the time. It’s a given. It’s rare that people talk out of it because they vaingloriously think that Anime is the main attraction to get viewers. It might be, it might not be. I think it’s only good for a moderate amount of audience. I sure as hell aren’t exempt from it and if I say anything against it I’m lying. And I’ll even agree that Anime blogs have become a banal shit that pries into technicality. That’s pretty much why I barely view AnimeNano anymore or any other blogs. They’re too fucking boring.
@Kairu: I was once an anti-social faggot. The internet didn’t make it any better either. Interaction with others fixed that anti-sociality.
@Seinime: To you it matters. That’s what I want to correct you on. I’m not against you or anything, but to some people posting is really something normal without fun. I feel satisified only when I’m able to describe my emotions in words. When I can partially do it, I feel bad about myself and when I can’t do it at all I don’t post it at all and feel normal. All my words can be private and I would still feel the same satisfaction. But my want of wanting others to know and think “Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. I felt the same way.” stops me from doing it. But as I said, it’s just a want and not something I’m too hard-core on.
I check my views and shit whenever I’m bored. Does that mean I care about it? No. It just means I have no life. I sure suck.
@7: It was never said that blogging became a dichotomy of popularity and dispopularity. There are definitely more to that than blogging and some have definitely been said here. Am I able to name five more, though? No. Does that mean there’s only a few option? No. It just means that I only know of a few reasons for why people blog and really, why I want to blog.
Yes, commenting is a form of discussion. It always have been. And it isn’t a lie that if you have lots of comments you’re pretty popular. You cannot argue that fact (I wanted to say this even though you didn’t, as extra information). But if all you cared about were getting comments, that becomes an issue. Really, I wouldn’t want comments to be completely “discussion.” Why? Because discussions are for forums and if I wanted that kind of crap I would have made my blog into a bloody forum.
@Michael | Low on Hit Points: Me neither; and the friends who do just want to just watch Anime/read Manga and not blog/comment on it. They aren’t as emotional as me when it comes to things like Anime/Manga. Comments are good for communication, as I said before. But it really shouldn’t become something that dictates your life. Blatantly put, if you just want to comment to communicate then great! That system works for you and I have nothing against it. Great job!
Comments, no comments, it’s all the same. I didn’t have comments for the first two years of my site. Writing was still fun enough to keep it up.
I agree that most blog posts are boring. I think it’s because most people don’t ask one very simple question before hitting the publish button: “Would I actually read this?” I ask that question every time I write a post. If the answer is no, I go back and edit. If you wouldn’t read your own writing, chances are nobody else would. If you would read your own post, chances are somebody in the far reaches of the internet will too.
Finally, a lack of comments doesn’t mean your posts are bad. Some people just don’t feel the need to comment. I’ve been reading an awesome sports blog for the past two years but I’ve only commented on it about 5 times. Just didn’t feel like I had anything worth saying.
I completely agree with this post. I should be studying for an exam right now, but here I am spending lots of valuable time reading and commenting on other anime blogs. I think I need help…
Heh, I will admit I didn’t check out your blog until you commented on mine. But that’s because I didn’t know it existed, and I only started watching because your blog was interesting to me.
Blogging should be fun though, and that’s what it is to me. I actually find not getting comments a good thing, as 95% of comments I get are people disagreeing and sometimes being really rude about it.