Monday 24 September 2012

A day in the life of a comment-hungry lazy blogger

Well, this post has been on my mind for some time but the urgency to post something like this was egged on by a visit to a recent blog which I came across in a recent blogger friend's blogroll. So here, goes the post.

Let's call the comment-hungry lazy blogger Narnia.

Narnia logs in after coming to her work-spot and the first thing that she does is open the dashboard of her blog simultaneously thinking, So many blogposts and so less time. Let me shoot!

The first blog she opens is a poetry blog. Narnia thinks to herself, "Ah, everyone is a poet these days and I can't imagine reading through this poem no matter how short it is." She hits the comment icon and writes, 'Good poem.' and moves on to the next blog.

The next blog is a photo-blog. Narnia with a sly smile, does not bother to appreciate the picture but hits the comment icon and keys in, 'Nice photo.' Narnia sits smug thinking that the owner of the photo-blog will return to her blog following her link and reward her with a comment. Some back-scratching for my popularity won't hurt anyone ;)

A prose writer's blog is the next one that Narnia stops by. Here she has one look at the long prose rendition and thinks, "Let me read the comments and then write a comment. That will save me some time from reading that loooong post. I wonder why people write such long posts and think that they should receive comments." She reads just three comments from the twenty and types her comment, 'Good read (and a summary from the three comments)."

The next blog is also a prose one which has reflections as part of the title and Narnia wonders, "Reflections, Musings, Thoughts, Pondering . . . I think all these literature students can just not get wacky titles and end up saying heavy stereotypical words like reflections. Well, . . .." This time Narnia adopts another strategy while commenting -- She reads the first paragraph and the last one and keys in her comment.



Narnia is happy that she has managed to satisfy and ego-boost the bloggers whose blogs she follows and finally sets to write her own post. After completing her post and giving it appropriate labels, she hits the publish button and starts her regular office-work. But every two minutes, she checks and rechecks her blog for comments and is pretty restless when the comments don't come. Finally, after checking the post for the seventh time, she finds the message, "New comment on  . . ." Narnia happily clicks on the comment that is waiting to be moderated. She finds the comment and it says, 'Good post.' Narnia is angry, and on the verge of spewing expletives. She mutters to herself, "Why do people write comments as these. I wish people like this never stop by my blog. Then, on a whim, she adds, at least people are reading what I write." Narnia waits for the comments to come one-by-one.

This post is sure a funny one and to be honest, I have not come across any reader like this. They may or may not exist but I am sure that sometimes time and passion don't always fuse to give a wonderful blogging experience.

What say, dear readers?

Image: Internet

33 comments:

  1. Susan, Hilarious post, but true too. I have come across a lot of one or two word comments on so many blogs, including mine sometime back. But I guess, it depends on the posts, state of mind of the reader, time constraints...Short and sweet is good sometimes too :))

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  2. I agree with you here... there are such people who exist in this blogosphere :)

    You won't believe I came across a person who had taken the onus of being my critic, which is good in a way for my improvement. But when I read his posts they were disastrous.thinking about all the gyaan he gave me on grammer, meaning, alignment, font size etc etc make me laugh like crazy..why cannot people just look at themselves first before doing such things.

    But truly a post worth pondering on..though I comment only when the post compels me too, like it touched me. I try hard to mean what I say and type only what I genuinely mean.

    BTW: Sorry for the long comment :D

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  3. Susan - Nice post. That's it ;)

    I enjoyed this...it is funny. I try to save blog hopping for times when I do have time to read the whole thing and comment validly.

    I have to admit that on my own blog (which I have neglected lately) I do troll for comments ;).

    BTW - I did read the whole post ;)

    Be well,
    Ron

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  4. nice post :D :D

    (thank god we have not come across insincere followers yet!)

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  5. I get a lot of great post comments and sometimes summary types too :). Sometimes with poems and pics, I am at a loss as well about what to write. But, in the long run Narnia will get left way behind. I see blogging as a way of interacting with fellow bloggers. This whole comments, hits, stats business is fun but not the core purpose of blogging. The post was really funny.

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  6. Good one. I myself am a one phrase commenter...my justification is this-all the comments preceding me have said it all...and When I have nothing more to add or elaborate, I say its a nice post. That's because I get the point.

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  7. hehe, yeah they exist...have you ever read introduction to poetry by billy collins? its a poem, short, but pretty funny on how people read...i have to periodically check myself...if the point of blogging is just to collect comments you just work it and it happens but it lacks the basic thing i believe is the backbone and that is people connecting....funny in a sad kinda way

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  8. Generally, such comment blasters do not have a long innings. After some time, they find that even doing the things mentioned in your post is difficult for 100++ blogs that they follow. There is a burn-out(!) and eventually they stop writing. One cannot play a test match using the strategies of a 20-20 game. I am not saying that its wrong, I am just saying that its not a sustainable idea.

    Destination Infinity

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  9. I read the first paragraph of your post and then the last. (OK, OK, I read all the ones between too.) I think comment mania is the mark of a new blogger. After you've been around for awhile, you are in it for the relationships and not just the number of comments.

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  10. First of all, there's not many words one can use to comment upon "photo blogs". (Who ever decided that a photo was a posting? Look and Like went out of business years ago, for a reason.)
    Secondly, what do you think someone should write who wants the poster to know they read the blog and are in total agreement? Great post? Thanks for sharing? They are appropriate. Unless one has something to add, anything else is simply bloviating.
    Thanks for giving me a reason to leave longer comments!

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  11. Nice Post.

    Ha. Just kidding.

    Religiously, like it or not, I read every word of the posts I comment on. I love comments, but those that are so bland as to say nothing, I can do without. I enjoy really hearing from people. And I know my poetry doesn't appeal to some, it's just my thing now to experiment with this form of expression, but I'd rather someone read it and tell me they don't like it, than not read it and say "nice".

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  12. A friend of mine calls these "readers" (and I use the term loosely) "Blog whores". They leave comments like the ones you describe so you can visit theirs. They'll follow you so you follow them. They may never visit you again, but ahhhh they are one of your followers!

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  13. I would just like to make it clear: I read the whole post! I do admit that I'm a little like Narnia. I tend to browse the blogging Facebook groups and open any article I like the idea of in a new tab, so it's easy to get lost. I like multitasking, as well, so I read multiple things at once, which certainly doesn't help me to focus on one thing. When I notice that I don't understand what I'm reading, I begin reading again and write my comment (if I have one, sometimes I don't) afterward.

    A little part of me wishes that I get a comment back each time I comment on someone's post, but I know that that may not always happen. So, I just read what I like/want and comment whenever I have something to say. I also "like" what I really like. haha

    I hope you have a good day! Thank you for writing.

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  14. This was so entertaining, Susan! Whether there are bloggers out there like this, I can't say for sure. I will say you did a great job of showing how Narnia's karma came back to bite her big time! Love it!
    Blessings to you!

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  15. Hi, Susan Deborah! ~

    You crack me up with your witty insight! No, REALLY, I'm sure we've never come across a reader like this, have we??? haha!

    XOXOXOXO

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  16. Oh! I have come a across many such bloggers. I wonder whats the point of back scratching in blogs? It all leads to a bunch of unworthy comments, no readers but just crazy statistics to say "OMG! You are famous blogger!"

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  17. Oh! I have come a across many such bloggers. I wonder whats the point of back scratching in blogs? It all leads to a bunch of unworthy comments, no readers but just crazy statistics to say "OMG! You are famous blogger!"

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  18. Lol...that was a funny post Susan (and I really did read it!) ;) I bet there are people like this out there...they just have to be. I had this one person who would leave comments like "good post" and "nice photo" and didn't realise until much later they were just spamming me to receive clicks to their site.

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  19. This is Bang ON!! Loved it and it's so so true!!
    I guess, Narnia's behave like this in the early part of their blogging journey. In the long run, am sure, they'd realize that blogging is all about Communicating, Connecting and Commenting... so quality is needed for all the 3Cs!
    And 'Nice Post' and 'Great Pic' will not go very far!

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  20. Replies
    1. he he he he YOu published this , I thought you wont :)

      Delete
  21. ooooooooooops :) he he he he :) I thought i could get away with it .. but i just remebered what i read above in the article.

    Well there are a lot of people who do that , usually they read the first line and the LAst line thats it .. :)

    the reason is they want you to come to their blogs too thats how it works in the current time ..

    I have seen people who will say good post to the crappiest of the posts tooo and thank god you dont have the like button .. otherwise LIKE button is what they press and move on..

    I try not to comment on all blogs because I think the writer has spent time writing good or bad , I am a nobody to say anything on that .. who am i to say its good or bad as I am not that intelligent myself

    so whatever I understand I write as a comment

    Bikram's

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  22. Hi Susan:
    Here's what thoughts flowed around when reading this:
    You get what you put out.
    Without EVEN realizing it, Narnia was practicing Law of Attraction. She was putting her actions into the world and she was receiving back what she put out. It's one of the basic tenets of Law of Attraction that our thoughts and actions create our reality. If Narnia wants a different reality she has to change her thoughts and actions.
    --
    Chris

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  23. Hi Susan

    That was a fun read..I do not comment without reading the blog post but sometimes even after reading all I can think of adding as a comment is 'Good Post'. Whenever I do that, I definitely think 'Now this person is going to think that I actually did not read what he/she wrote!' :D

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  24. In the early days of my blogging, I used to write looong looong posts. I knew from the comments that most of the readers were not reading but merely commented 'nice post', like you said here. Slowly I understood that looong post don't get true comments and started shortening my posts. Sometimes it is difficult to cut interesting lines and just think that 'let them not read, if they don't want to'!

    If we read too many posts at a stretch, we get bored and start writing 'nice post' comments!

    Interesting post, Susan! Hahaha!

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  25. I think there ARE a few who does this (or may be many) but when you read their comments you can make out that they have not actually read your blog and the comments are just superficial.

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  26. What a thought provoking article, Susan! I rarely get this type of comment on my blog these days, but back when I was first getting started I did get a few. You can always tell from the written comment, I think, when someone hasn't really taken time to read through your full post. I'm happy that my readers DO take time to fully read my work, and I certainly put the same time investment into the blogs I follow. In some ways, it's a selfish act on my part, because I don't want to cheat myself out of the joy of reading all the wonderful work out there! This post was inspired, honey! :)

    - Dawn

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  27. Ha ha, this was hilarious - and takes one back to the question, why do we blog? what motivates us to blog? what makes us happy? Do we rate ourselves based on the number of comments, followers etc? Nice work Susan!

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  28. Hi Susan, its humorous and true!!
    We do have Narnias in the blogosphere doing everything you've mentioned here.. But yes, when they get similar to what they do to others, they'll realize the true feeling of an authentic blogger. Nice read :)

    -
    Anand
    Life's like that

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  29. You bet! I am indeed blessed to have wonderful readers like all of you but inspite of that I did this post . . .

    Thanks for the comments that made me laugh, think and wonder.

    I hope Narnia gets the message and starts becoming a bit sensible in her blogging life.

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