Are blog comments a dying art?
I'm a member of the LinkedIn Bloggers group where this question was recently asked, "What do you think? Is commenting (on blogs) a dying art?" The blogger referenced this post by a fellow member.
I responded by suggesting the real issue, and one us long-time bloggers may have trouble adjusting to, is the fact that there are now so many other places to comment than a few years ago. For example, I had a Twitter exchange with someone yesterday who read my latest post. He made several comments, none of which ended up on my blog.
When you think about it, apps like Twitter, Plurk, or Pownce may be the best places to comment. Because they have the character or "feel" of instant messaging applications, they are much better suited to carrying on a conversation than a blog. Besides, who really reads comments anyway, especially when there are a number of them.
This begs the question, how does one follow the conversation that may be going on about a post? Or rather, how does one catalog the conversation if it's happening on disparate sites? One answer, which can be added to WordPress and Blogger. (It's not yet available for Typepad users however.) I'd expect to see similar widgets for Twitter being made available as well.
I certainly hope conversation is not a dying art. If it is, then why are we spending so much time trying to engender it. We just need to find ways to "corral" it...but that may be tantamount to herding cats.
