Sunday, November 14, 2010

Thing #12: Creating Community Through Commenting

There are several blogs that I have "lurked" for maybe up to 2 years.  A couple of times I have almost commented but never did.  I felt like I didn't have anything to say that would be important to them.  Now that I have a classroom blog and have very few parents actually go there, I understand that after putting time into a blog you want to know that someone is out there, you also want to know what others think. 
I really liked what Meredith Farkas of Information Wants to Be Free  said about sharing knowledge.  She says that by sharing you will help others, feel good about yourself, make friends.  Sharing will encourage others to share, and we will all benefit.
I also thought 10 Techniques to Get More Comments on Your Blog had some good advice.  The techniques are so simple that you think "oh, I know that" but sometimes you just forget about the obvious and need to be reminded to ask questions if you want people to talk, or flat out invite comments.

I commented on Elementary, My Dear, Or Far From It I found this blog and had never seen it before, or read anything else except that one post.  The post was about her librarian opening the library 30 minutes before school starts every morning for the students so I commented on how great that is to have a librarian that is willing to give up her time.  I also commented on Six Until Me.  I have read this blog for a couple of years now but have always been to intimidated to comment.  She is a wonderful writer, she writes about life with Type 1 diabetes. 
I have commented on the following blogs:

3 comments:

Selena said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Selena said...

Like you, I had NEVER commented on anyone's blogs or even on Facebook. It just felt weird. But all of that changed whenever I would look at my own blank comment box and wish for comments. It is so exciting to see a comment! I pledge to comment more!

Unknown said...

Bloggers live for comments! As you said, you really want to know if someone else is 'out there"