Photo by lazy_lobster.
Time is an illusion on the internet.
Search engines prove this statement true, evident by people such as Marc Pitman discovering old content to answer new questions.
Old content is especially helpful when one sees lots of comments, tweets, and other social sharing metrics reflecting the value of whatever is written. Here is a short list of some older blog articles that are popular for a reason.
90 is the number of comments about blog lurking, illustrating why you choose not to comment.
75 is the number of comments about the value of writing negatively, which according to Jeannie Chan, speaks volumes about what you think.
140 is the number of comments about my Foursquare account deletion, proof that you want to know where and what I eat.
163 is the number of comments about a guy named Bill Dorman, driving home the value of standing up to lead your community.
118 is the number of comments about the power of a thank you, showing that everyone deserves applause.
89 is the number of comments about a Facebook wall scam, which from 2008 provides a glimpse into the importance of search engines that led everyone here.
99 is the number of comments about blog commenting systems as written by Danny Brown, indicating this is a touchy subject among bloggers and readers.
68 is the number of comments about Livefyre, the commenting system that arrived here two months ago. Analytics indicate less people are commenting, but it is obvious you remain a committed lurker.
68 is also the number of comments about my belief that social media fails to bring us closer. You need to stop referring to your Facebook friends as friends — because people you trust are much more than friends.
About Ari Herzog
Hey, I know one of those people up there…………like a bad penny, I just keep turning up, huh?
Like somebody’s little brother, I just keep hanging around whether I’m wanted or not. I just act like I don’t know any better.
I like your new Avatar; the casual professional look.
Good to see you, hope all has been well.
@bdorman264 Who do you know? @DannyBrown perhaps?
@Ari Herzog@bdorman264@DannyBrown
We all know Danny.
This is a great way to share numbers and the conversations that you’ve had on your site. Have you tried searching for a term in the Livefyre admin? It’s another fun way to see what people are saying about a specific topic, across the site.
And yep, blog commenting systems is a touchy subjects, and it seems all bloggers love to write about it!
@jennalanger What do you mean by searching that way? What’s the benefit?
@Ari Herzog It can be interesting to see what people are saying about a specific keyword across your site. For instance, seeing all the comments that mention “Twitter.” I’m a data geek so I have fun with search.
@jennalanger Can’t the same results be gleaned via google or my own dashboard search?
Great and very new idea to write post
Nice one Ari
Love the idea just peeved that I didn’t think of it first.
163 is the number of comments about a guy named Bill Dorman – looks like the most comments.
@easyP You only need to scroll down to view @bdorman264′s comment and the number of @livefyre points he has accumulated on multiple blogs, e.g. @ginidietrich’s. It’s crazy how many points he has. I think @jennalanger should hire him as spokesman.
@Ari Herzog@easyP@bdorman264@livefyre@ginidietrich Wow there @bdorman264 you are a comment king! So when are we going to get you off of wordpress.com so you can have Livefyre on your site?
@jennalanger Comment king? More like a comment whore @bdorman264 is.
@Ari Herzog Hah! Are you going to take that @bdorman264 ?
So your takeaway is Livefyre equals less comments, but more readers are silently lurking?
@Diana of Elephant’s Eye The numbers speak for themselves. There’s been a slight drop off in visitors but only noticeable if you stare at the charts. It’s clear less people are commenting but people are still visiting.
@Ari Herzog@Diana of Elephant’s Eye
Does that tell us that it’s the signing-up process that people don’t like?
@easyP Unknown. I’d rather not speculate. I’ve never been about comments; eyeballs are always more important. @Diana of Elephant’s Eye
@Ari Herzog@easyP Objectively eyeballs may be more important, but for the blogger, a comment from a reader is feedback. I have to remind myself to also write to the 9 out of 10 who lurk silently.
Ari do you think you are keeping the valid comments, and blocking the spammy ones, by using LiveFyre as a ‘filter’?
PS I see Livefyre still hasn’t sorted the replacement for CommentLuv?
@Diana of Elephant’s Eye That’s a question for @jennalanger
@Ari Herzog@Diana of Elephant’s Eye Hi Diana, Livefyre has a feature called “LinkBack” that displays the latest conversation if the commenter is using Livefyre. We keep it in the network as it helps prevent additional spam as well and integrates directly into our system.