Category: General

Comments make me Orgasm

I have not written a lot of posts lately since I am unmotivated, had a birthday and been relaxing in Napa all weekend with the gf. What does get me motivated to write these ever so catchy titles and hopefully thought provoking posts are those sweet little comments. That comment notification I get when random strangers, stalkers and friends leave me a comment is uncomparable, well mostly. So is this is a cheap way for you the reader to give me that ever fulfilling comment that I so desire, possibly.

What I have been wondering are:

1- Why do people feel the need to comment on blogs?

2- Why do some uber successful bloggers turn off their comments (ie. Steve Pavlina and Russell Beattie)?

You tell me…

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22 Responses to “Comments make me Orgasm”

  • Devin
    February 21st, 2006
    6:34 am

    1. Because blogging is not a passive activity.. those who enjoy it will go out and actively persue furthur discussion. Plus, it makes us look like we’re smarter than we really are. I’m waiting for the day I get caught.

    2. Spam, lurkers, jerks. If there’s something truly worthy of contribution (see #1) you’re forced to blog about it and link back… I guess? No, I guess I really don’t know.

  • Bjorn
    February 21st, 2006
    7:48 am

    I just switched to wordpress from blogger. Fresh, un-spidered blog. I am an attention-deficient, traffic-hungry blog bastard. lol

    But honestly, I think blogs really open up an innate need in readers to converse with what they just read. This need has been with us ever since we first started drawing in caves, read newspapers, watch tv. All that is happening now is that an avenue has finally been created mimicking old media and innovating beyond it to better tailor the internet with normal human behavior.

  • eddie
    February 21st, 2006
    9:14 am

    1.Commenting makes people feel important because it allows them to communicate with writers that they think highly of and it is out in the public. This is different from the dynamic of having a email conversation with someone who writes for a newspaper. In that case you get to have a conversation with them but you don’t get any opinions from other people who may have great insight into what you are discussing.

    2. I think some really successful bloggers turn off comments because they don’t want to deal with the hassle of moderating their comments. Another reason is that they don’t need commenters in order to get readership. Lesser-known bloggers may want to retain readers by joining in on the conversation with them and making them feel like it is worth their time to read that specific blog.

  • Shivani
    February 21st, 2006
    10:11 am

    1. I comment because I have a lot to say, and I agree with Devin that blogging is two way. I don’t get traffic if I don’t make comments on other people’s sites and I also don’t learn as much if I keep to myself.

    2. People that turn off comments suck. Feedback is important, and without comments a blogger doesn’t really get that feedback.

    3. I especially like commenting on your blog because I like to piss you off and I guess i like to make you orgasm as well???? hmmm??? :)

  • Jonathan
    February 21st, 2006
    11:55 am

    Orgasm, eh? That’s it. No more comments for you! :P

    Comment moderation takes time. And the more popular you are, the more spam you get. Finally, only a very very small percentage of visitors comment, and it’s usually the same people over and over again (for example, check out this blog). So I can see their point, but I still love comments.

  • ang*e
    February 21st, 2006
    12:08 pm

    because it’s web two point oh.

  • Noah Winecoff
    February 21st, 2006
    12:22 pm

    I comment to contribute and also to gain readership.

    Plus when I google “Noah Winecoff” I get to see my name more =B.

  • wen-wen lam
    February 22nd, 2006
    9:08 pm

    Noah, if comments make you orgasm… lets just say you are one hell of a lucky guy

  • Meme’s are the new thing: Watch out or Chuck Norris will Take your Virginity at Okdork.com
    February 23rd, 2006
    3:49 am

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  • Court
    February 23rd, 2006
    6:04 am

    1. I’ve been reading your blog for awhile and it never occurred to me to comment. Which is completely ironic, because I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few years studying exactly what it takes to make people comment on my own website (which features lots of other writers, who I consider it partially my job to make sure get the feedback they deserve).

    First, I think people feel the need to comment because it empowers them. I want to say that to some extent, people know exactly how much a comment affects the author, which in turn may actually affect the way the author writes (or the material he chooses) in the future. Also, it’s instant audience for any reader’s opinions. The reader can immediately become just as important as the author by having the “last word.”

    Second, controversial topics stir some people’s emotions to the point where NOT saying anything almost feels like backing down. I’ve witnessed many examples of this, where I talk to the commenter later (on IM) and they admit that it feels like someone just talked down to them in person, and they couldn’t (emotionally) just “let it go.”

    Third, I also agree that many people do it as a way to gain traffic to their own blog/website.

    Fourth, as a self-analysis, I think the honest reason it finally occurred to me to comment here (I hardly ever take time to comment ANYWHERE) is that I felt like I had somewhat of an “expert” opinion on the field. I imagine someone reading this and saying “hmmm, that’s cool, it sounds like he knows what he’s talking about.” So perhaps people comment for respect. And perhaps it only occurs to them to strive for this in response to posts/articles on topics they feel qualified to analyze.

    2. Continuing with the last note, I think when you’ve reached a certain amount of success or respect from a community, it’s no longer necessary to have this affirmated publicly. Why let your writing be “watered down” with less-qualified or critical opinions from others? I suppose it also depends on how seriously you guard the quality of content published on your blog. I sense that amateur bloggers are more open to having public criticism and a two-way conversation, whereas professional bloggers are more likely to provide only their email links so that feedback can be done in a more private setting. This would then still impact future writing, but without admitting to exactly “how” you have gone about improving.

    With the advent of word verification and other anti-spam tools on most blog applications, I don’t see the argument for “moderation hassle” being the reason for turning off comments. Unless you’re referring to actually filtering a large percentage of the “less-qualified” comments I was talking about and leaving only the best comments up. But that would almost seem like deceiving a user, because who would take the time to comment if there’s a chance it won’t go up anyway?

    And I’m spent.

  • Charles Tran
    February 23rd, 2006
    12:28 pm

    I’m glad I can “please” you, just make sure your g/f doesn’t get jealous.

    That being said, comments/reviews are fun, which often gets users to contribute to sites like yelp, wiki, etc (as referenced in your earlier post). I don’t think a few cents from adsense will do much.

    Unfortunately it’s a balance with spam. If you have time, hit me up thru email, I would love to hear your take on my current project.

  • Charles Tran
    February 23rd, 2006
    12:31 pm

    Court, you have such a good point! I used to love using BBC’s talking point area, but then I noticed that not all my comments would appear.

    It “hurts” to see that my 10 minutes of work gets filtered out or doesn’t pass some gatekeeper. At least if they replied to me and said ‘thank you, but your comment wasn’t in line with our liberal views’, than I would be okay… but it’s just like my comment went into a vacuum (along with 10 minutes of my life).

    Now the irony is, will Noah approve this comment? :)

  • Noah Kagan
    February 23rd, 2006
    12:35 pm

    The only comments I don’t approve are ones talking about doing nasty things to Jenn Sterger and spam. I prefer people to challenge me, agree, cry or whatever but getting the comment is quite rewarding. Feel better Charles?=)

  • Joe McCarthy
    February 27th, 2006
    6:34 pm

    Great post — and great comments … I wonder whether commenting might, in some cases, be orgasmic for the commenter as well as the commentee :-)

    Seriously, though, I have noticed a trend in my own commenting behavior that reminds me of driving. When another driver is kind to me, e.g., letting me merge into his or her lane, I find myself more inclined to reciprocate, not necessarily to that driver, but perhaps letting another driver merge in further on (a sort of driving karma). Likewise, when I feel the joy of having another person post a comment on one of my blog posts, I am more likely to peruse that person’s blog, and post comments … _and_ as this pattern recurs, I find myself more and more willing to post comments on others’ blogs … I want to share the joy!

    I recently read the book “How Full Is Your Bucket” which talks about each interaction as either filling or taking from another person’s bucket (of self-worth, positive energy, joy, etc.). I view comments — and trackbacks — as a way of filling others buckets. I blogged a bit more about this, for anyone is interested: http://gumption.typepad.com/blog/2006/02/filling_buckets.html.

    [Note that I recognize that such "self"-reference may be viewed as self-aggrandizing behavior ... and indeed, that some view all actions as selfish ... but I'll leave the final verdict up to the reader.]

    As for some bloggers turning off comments, I think it is a combination of a blogger’s personality, as well as the tone and goals for the blog … which, in turn, affects the readership (and the tone of their participation). Kathy Sierra, my favoritist blogger in the blogosphere (http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/), maintains a fairly active dialogue with her readers, despite the large number of them … in fact, some of her readers seem to have assumed a role of quasi-moderator.

    Finally, following up on Charles’ comment regarding his frustration, I have found that TypePad users who use comment filtering have all comments with any external links sent to “Junk” folder. I have greatly curtailed my comment posting — in frequency and length — on any such blogs … which, I suppose, may come as a relief to those bloggers (and their readers). :-)

    Oh, BTW, if you really want to know why Russell Beattie has turned off comments, I bet he would tell you if you asked … and according to Google, Ben Metcalfe has had something to say about this: http://benmetcalfe.com/blog/index.php/2006/02/06/russell-beattie-drops-comments/.

  • Jason Waylons
    June 24th, 2006
    10:53 pm

    Jonathan Keyes related to Keyes Automotive Group? ie; cars sold from Europe and U.S – “Keyes Automotive Group”

  • Astra
    July 10th, 2006
    1:55 pm

    i wish i had comments now ;) lol you are one lucky guy to gte orgasm out of comments xD
    xXx
    bye.

  • Recruiting Animal
    September 15th, 2006
    3:25 pm

    If comments make you orgasm, trackbacks will give you multiples. But I don’t see any on your blog. Am I just missing them?

  • Mehul Patel
    December 27th, 2006
    4:31 am

    Comments is a proof, people have creafuly read what u wrote /posted, now they are agreeing or disagreeing, some will come back with there views or real life exp based on your post, its a Very Inetractive Orgasmic process, where all r involved even strangers are invited, its so much fun, freshness and much more :)

  • Raymond Stolp
    August 5th, 2007
    8:53 am

    “I am your nurse… and you are my hospital.”
    Raymond Stolp, 2003

    See Ray’s graetest performance here:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mpkAdaG9yU

  • karen
    August 19th, 2007
    9:28 am

    I wasn’t going to comment as this post was written a year and a half ago, but Raymond did…though it’s self-promotion, which may be his response to the post. Not to mention, I wasn’t sure if posting yet ANOTHER comment would piss off the gf, now that I know what it does for you. ;)

    1. Why we comment? It’s interaction with the blogger and his thoughts…a conversation, really. It gives you the knowledge that people are reading, understanding and care about giving you feedback (not to mention the ‘satisfaction’ it gives you, too).

    2. If you ever turn comments off, I will cry. Don’t even think about it…

  • Paul Robinson
    September 29th, 2007
    7:19 pm

    I have a blog on my website at paul-robinson.us. I have had one real comment on dozens of articles I’ve written. I’ve had literally hundreds of spam comments, most of which don’t even make sense, they are referrals to invalid web site locations. My guess is I have about ten people who read what I write, and three hundred who want to post spam that doesn’t even go to someplace valid.

    I had to turn comments off on my blog software for a time to drive away the spammers. I then turned them back on and figured out how to change comments to pending, and so far (crossing fingers) over several months I’ve stopped having spam.

  • Burt D. Bunku
    October 1st, 2007
    12:22 am

    You are way to absorbed by yourself. You really should get over it. It’s not that important. If you were female maybe it would be OK.

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