If you are reading this and have never commented on my blog, this blog post is for you.
Over the past week, Chris Brogan, Daniel Scocco, and Marko Saric shared tips on increasing blog comments.
- Chris wrote about persistence and experimentation
- Daniel suggested building a blog community
- Marko added how one comment translates into 230 visitors
There is another way: Pay homage to your lurkers.
That’s you.
Veerle Pieters borrowed the idea from others, describing De-Lurking Day as a special day “celebrating lurkers and exhorting you to muster the strength and bravery to click on that comment button and end the deafening silence.”
I read hundreds of blogs every week. Some are by title alone, others are by the first paragraph, but many include the entire content which sparks me to add a comment.
In recent days, I added comments to a diverse selection of blog posts, including:
- Don’t Pick the G.I. Joe Action Figure
by Julie Roads - Turning Towns into Cities
by Danny Brown - The Most Hard Working Tech Bloggers in the World
by Amit Agarwal - Thank You 2008, You Finally Gave New Media a Name
by Elias Bezannes - Thoughts on Social Media Careers
by Rick Mahn
If you choose to add a comment below, don’t think of it as a favor to me but as a favor to everyone else. See, as much as I enjoy reading a comment, I can assure you many comments are added just because other comments preceded them.
In this vein, if you choose to de-lurk, here’s what to do:
- Whether you are reading this in a feed reader, an email message, or a syndicated blog post somewhere, click here to visit the actual post.
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and follow the directions to add a comment.
- Type in your real name so I and others know who you are.
- Type in your email address so I can email you privately, thanking you for de-lurking.
- Type in your blog address, or your corporate website, or maybe your Facebook page. Somewhere where I and others can click your name (your web link will be linked to your name) and read more about you.
- Type in your Twitter id, if you have one.
- Type in whatever text you want, e.g. how long you’ve been reading, where you live in the world, what you do for a living, etc. Pretend we met at a bookstore and you’re introducing yourself to the world.
- If you want to read subsequent comments of other people, you need to check the applicable box under the text box to receive emailed updates. I click this box on every blog I comment on.
Please don’t be shy. Care to de-lurk now?
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I’ll add a comment here. I’m not so much a lurker who has decided to de-lurk, more like a drive by commenter. I’ll promise to stick around or pop back from time to time though. What are you called once you de-lurk – a commenter or a participant ?
This is my first visit to this site. So that I don’t ever get confused as a lurker, I will de-lurk myself right here and now. You can be my witness that I am no lurker (no offense to all those lurkers out there).
My name is Erica LaChappelle. I’m a 39 year-young mom of four great kids and eight birds. I’ve been a mom for nearly 2 decades and a pet bird enthusiast for just as long. I enjoy writing, reading, arts & crafts, and creating graphics with Paint Shop Pro.
.-= New from Erica: Is Chivalry Dead? Not Necessarily. =-.
Found you while I was doing a little topic research. I looking for additional ways to market myself on the web as a freelance designer and creative problem solver. The website is there, but I’d love to drive more and more traffic to it!
I’m in Providence, RI and have some clients that are all over the US. The internet makes it possible for me to work for just about anyone.. So now.. Time to attract everyone!
(And time for me to stop reading along without participating… here’s to a new year of de-lurking.)
The good thing about commenting on blogs is that you always learn something new by reading the article, or comments. Marketing, blogging, SEO, search engines, the list is large.
Hi Ari,
I was just stumbling around various blogs and found yours, and am delurking (better later than never). I have just started blogging and have been researching various areas on the subject and found your article to be extrememly helpful and packed with great tips and information.
I have bookmarked your blog and promise to delurk again sooner this time than later:-)
Excellent post. How can you get people to be more active in commenting and in responding in general(retweetss on Twitter or any action you ask of them in a post)? I even tried a comment contest once on one of my blogspot blogs.
If you don’t ask a question, you won’t receive an answer.
I was really amused by this article. I’ve been thinking lately that I’d like people to post comments to my blog, with no intention of commenting on anyone else’s. I’m not sure why I don’t generally comment, but I suppose that I’m going to have to stop de-lurking and step up. Much like the butterfly effect, maybe if I start commenting it will ripple back to me!
Thank you so much for writing this! I am one of those discouraged bloggers who have no comments! It’s nice to know that I’m not alone! This is the first time I’ve read your blog, but I will definitely be back!
I’m a college who student who enjoys writing as an outlet (even if no one reads it!). I live in a boring town in Ohio with my parents and two younger sisters. Right now I’m preoccupied with counting down the days till graduation (54 in case you were wondering). Thanks again!
Thanks for sharing yourself. Be sure and subscribe to this blog and you’ll never feel left alone.
March 5, 2011 at 1:18 AM
I have to say that you’ve voiced what I felt. I too have been guilty of lurking, not commenting because of laziness. I must confess that since I’ve become more active on Twitter, I feel that if I’ve taken the trouble to read a post, I should also make the effort to think about it, and then share my thoughts in comments:)
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