This post is community in motion.
I think the commenting patterns a lot too. When I left Xanga for my personal space a fraction of the people left to follow me to lazyi.net. Did that bother me? Yes and no. Yes, because I like people to see what I post. But, no because some people really don’t know what they are doing on Xanga and they are better off left there (their random commenting and substance/content lacking posts).
Now, on the upside, I think that Xanga has made it easy to find communities of people, but I think that at times it lacks personality and that is why I left. However, it serves the vast majority of their patrons and they are the M$ of online journals. They don’t even call them blogs. So, really it could be that they are in a category of their own. I am almost hesitant to call them blogs on Xanga because they are hosted by Xanga. But, that is another story left for another time. I am not meaning to slam on Xanga, I was once an active member and I liked it when I used it. Also, there are some great people on there and post some amazing stuff, but I find it very stale at times. I can personally only handle so many similarly looking table layouts w/ different colors.
But, back to the topic. Does it matter that people comment or don’t? Not really. I post because I want to and like to, as people should, and if readers are moved to comment, then they do. I know people read my site and really, if they didn’t I probably would just keep posting anyways. I find this as a connection to my friends and those who happen to just find me online. It is just another facet of who I am. But, I digress.
Comments are nice, they show worth and appreciation to a post. I like to receive them and I am more than willing to comment on posts that move me as opposed to leaving a comment like “Just stopping by”. I am not really for any props style system, just commenting will do for me. But, sometimes I wonder why a post about the same event, with the same details will lead to vastly different comment results (1 comment v 11 comments). Is it the community? The poster? Or is just commenting to comment (which I find offense to)?
I guess I try to pride myself on the content that I post. I don’t have a user group. If I did, there would only be one user in it, me. I really do enjoy the comments that you all leave, I just wonder what it is that causes people to comment. I have my reasons, but what are yours?
I Dunno, just some things to think about I guess.
Note: This is a response/comment to a post made by my friend Kevin Pittman.