Reasons why I may not be commenting on your blog - eNidhi India Travel Blog

Reasons why I may not be commenting on your blog

When I read a blog, I make an attempt to leave a comment. It could be very simple one but I think a simple comment is better than no comment. Comments are the only way you can notify the blogger that you were there and have read the post. However, there're multiple factors that discourage me from leaving a comment and move on. In this post I am listing some of the reasons why I might be forced to skip commenting on your post. I am sure other readers are also affected by similar issues and addressing these might result in more comments for your posts.

Reason 1 : Third party comment management system (like Disqus) for which I need to sign in again and again

It is a lot convenient for me if I can leave a comment with Name, URL. But many bloggers use 3rd party platforms like Disqus which are kind of annoying to me. Annoying because of following reasons
  1. Another user name/pwd to remember
  2. Disqus doesn’t redirect readers to my blog when they click on my name. Instead it takes them to my Disqus profile and then readers need to check my profile there and click on URL. It is double work for readers, most would exit by then. In other words, disqus increases the traffic to their own site with my effort. I don’t like this. One of the motive for me to leave a comment is that at least one out of 1000 readers who may see that comment visit my blog as well. With Disqus like platforms trying to take traffic away I am less motivated to comment.
  3. Another irritating aspect is the need to login again n again to comment management systems. I would rather walkway without commenting than trying to sign in again n again. Of course it has a "Remember Me" option, but I might be using different systems, might clear cookies or might be using a private browsing option. Blogger and wordpress are far more effecient in remembering users than Disqus

Reason 2: Can’t leave a URL
Because of some SEO advise, many bloggers/websites have disabled provision to leave a blog URL next to Name and email while leaving comments. That is another demotivating factor for me


Reason 3: Comments disabled: 
Some bloggers turn off comments for older posts, for whatever reasons. Obviously I can’t comment if it is not enabled

Reason 4: Long Posts without a summary
Some posts are very long. In such cases, I expect to get a context of what to expect in first few paragraphs. If I don't get that (I can't understand what this post is about and why I should spend time reading all the text), I usually skip the post. Respect your reader's time, give them a brief in the beginning.

Reason 5: Irritating popups and ads
If the blog irritates me with one or more popups, asking me to subscribe or like their page or stuff like that, even before I am allowed to read the post content, I might simply close the tab.

Reason 6: Can't connect with topic
Some kind of contents I can't connect well with. Such as poems, topics not of my interest etc. Even if I want to, I won't have anything to comment. This is not blogger's fault, just me being wrong target audience. 

Reason 7: Complicated Captcha
Keeping captcha to avoid spam is fine. But if the captcha gets too complex (8+ characters, too tricky etc) then it may irritate genuine humans.

Can you think of more? What encourages you to leave a comment and what doesn't? What scenarios make you close a tab and move on, without even attempting to leave a comment?

14 comments:

  1. Having to scroll down a lengthy conversation.

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  2. Hi Shrinidhi , your blogposts are always worthy to comment , to appreciate the content. And there are some Wordpress blogposts, which don't allow us to comment unless & until we have wordpress account. Most of the times I am unable to comment on superb posts by Pooja Bhatt & Anahita Irani due to their Wordpress blogs. Other reasons you have specified about discus , captcha etc are common irritants.

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  3. @Sharmila- Thanks
    If latest comments are on top then it is good

    @Sujatha
    I think it is not possible to escape wordpress- you can create an account there. When you login via wordpress and comment, clicking on it can still go to your blog URL

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  4. I fully agree on all the points mentioned here and also what Sujata Tawde said above.

    Besides all these technicalities, my reasons for not commenting are a few more.

    1. I read way too many blogs and I read them thru RSS feed. If someone gives me a short/summarized feed, I skip commenting on it unless the topic is very convincing or interests me.

    2. The post doesn't interests me or I do not have anything to add value to the post. I don't believe in marking my presence by saying 'nice post', 'loved it', 'great picture'. Whenever I comment, it's definitely more than that. You would have noticed this from me on your blog also. :) Quality vs Quantity. :) That doesn't mean I don't read blogs, just that I don't comment on them. :)

    3. If someone is posting too frequently, say everyday, I skip a few posts. I have time constraints and can't afford to visit the same blog everyday.

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  5. I believe that acting upon your guidelines, we will be able to have a boost in comments and encourage people to make a valuable comment.

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  6. Can relate to all those. I also skip commenting it is a sponsored post.

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  7. As far as comments on your blog is concerned it is annoying when you see people commenting on your post just for the sake of commenting without understanding the central message or theme of your post, sometimes even without giving it a cursory glance. Of course such insincerity can be easily made out.

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  8. Absolutely agree. Many of the points you listed are very true.

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  9. @Sujatha Sathya- Thanks

    @Durga - Correct.

    @niranjan- Thanks

    @Albert- Thanks

    @nisha-Thanks for sharing additional points. Yes, time is a factor

    @RUpam- THanks.

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  10. Disqus thing throws me off too. But i need to be more engaged...sometimes I just don't get time due to daily chores.

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  11. I just commented with name/url but comment didn;t get published. So yes these things like disqus and what happened just now with my comment discourage me to make effort again in commenting

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  12. @Shoma
    I have enabled moderation for posts older than 2 days. Otherwise no restrictions. What error did you get?

    ReplyDelete

Appreciate your efforts and interests to comment. Comments may be moderated due to increased spam. Will ideally respond to comments within few days.Use Anonymous option if you don't wish to leave your name/ID behind- Shrinidhi

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