Why comment on FriendFeed instead of the blog
Source: FTC Inside
Comment fragmentation is the term used to describe the process by which people comment on a blog post in multiple places where there is an associated link that you can use to reference the original post. Some people think that comment fragmentation penalizes the content creator.
This is particularly true on the FriendFeed website, where each blog post can be linked and relinked via social news and social bookmarking functions, which appear in FriendFeed whenever the author chooses to share their RSS feed from an application. The phenomenon multiplies, however, when the blog readers are also active in these social media services, which help spawn many instances or branches of the conversation.
You could compare this situation to an artist who puts a lot of work into a painting, but who doesn’t get to hear or see all of the reviews about his or her work. They may be frantic to get feedback about their work, but that feedback may be spread across dozens of conversations, including little groups of people that huddle together to talk about the artist’s painting..
At WinExtra, Steven Hodson argued that comment fragmentation isn’t the blogger’s fault, but he also made an interesting observation about fragmentation:
First we have when someone reads a post on some blog and posts a link to FriendFeed or Twitter. Or second we have the post link showing up on FriendFeed or Twitter when the blogger hits the publish button. In either case for us to read that actual post we have to click through to the blog and read it.
What happens next is the screwed up part.
We all go back to FriendFeed, Shyftr or even Twitter and we talk about the post there. I know because I have caught myself doing this numerous times but it wasn’t until this morning when I click through on FriendFeed to read Fred Wilson’s post only to return to FriendFeed to make my comment. I could just as easily have made the comment on Fred’s blog and really that is what I should have done but instead I added to some perceived fragmentation of the comments around that post.
The interesting point about Steven’s observation is that it seems to take more effort to jump in and out of FriendFeed to make a comment about a blog post.
Or does it?
Could it be that commenting on FriendFeed takes less effort than within the blog?
Consider the following advantages to commenting in FriendFeed over commenting directly on the blog:
- You can do the FriendFeed Like and Comment functions on the same screen. Many people like to do both when they want to drop a comment – this lets you do it on one screen.
- You don’t have to fill in Name, Website, and E-Mail address to drop a comment in FriendFeed; you just have to sign in and many people stay signed in.
- You don’t have to worry about your comment getting lost in moderation or Akismet spam filtering – the FriendFeed thread owner would have to delete or hide the thread somehow to suppress the comment (don’t even know if this is possible, actually).
- No Captcha functionality in FriendFeed to slow you down.
- No need for a separate user ID to leave a comment.
- Some bloggers are more responsive to FriendFeed comments than comments at their own blog, which means that in some situations the blogger actually perpetuates the problem. I’m sure that we can all think of an example or two where this happens.
I like Steven’s approach of trying harder to comment directly at the blog because it puts the comment within the blogger’s house, so to speak. However, if you think about the disincentives that I’ve noted above, is it really that surprising that the conversations are dispersing?
Louis Gray:
I was going to comment here, and then I realized it was easier on FriendFeed.
Check out Are Blog Comments Really Conversations, or Are They Just Replies? from Louis Gray
2 June 2008, 2:38 amNoah David Simon:
oh ho… that plot thickens. talking shit behind my back on a social network that is in an alternative universe? That is a low blow. Just for that I will send you out onto another time scheme… but no wait… twitter is down… so foiled again!
2 June 2008, 3:15 amSteven Hodson:
Your point about how it is easier to comment on FriendFeed is valid up to a point. If the blog sticks with the default commenting ystem preferred by the blog platform then yes trying to leave a comment can be irritating; but if the blog takes advantage of one of the 3rd party commenting platforms out there (Disqus, sezwho, JS-Kits etc) this lowers the bar to being able to comment on a post.
Yes there is the arguement that the commenter needs to still fill in that information but can’t be bothered. Well at that point the blogger is no longer the one to blame as they have done what they can to make the ability to comment as easy as possible AND they have also added value through using a system like that for the commenter if they would take the time to join whatever community the commenting platform has created to enable a protable profile to be used across other blogs using the same system.
Yes it is the responsibility of the blogger to do whatever they can to make the commenting process as easy as they can but beyond that the onus is back once again on the reader to be a constructive part of the conversation.
Check out Elite Tech News – The Crickets Episode from Steven Hodson
2 June 2008, 3:17 ammarkdykeman:
@Louis – but at least you commented
@Noah – I feel like I’m in an episode of LOST when I read your comment…
@Steven – (good form commenting here by the way…
)
I deliberately left out services like Disqus, but your comments are absolutely correct.
I agree that needing to fill in the info for Wordpress commenting (as an example) isn’t really a big barrier, nor is it the blogger’s fault, although I find Blogger’s comment system more annoying, although they did improve that by allowing some free format options plus OpenID. What I didn’t like was the my Blogger account pointed to a different blog than my main blog. It’s not a big problem.
Throughout all of this, my general comment is that some people will try to take the path of least resistance. Not much anyone can do about that.
2 June 2008, 8:21 amAndy Beard:
The path of least resistance is a comment on the blog if you are actually reading the post, and not just responding to the noise.
There is no requirement to add a website, though leaving a comment on a blog with a URL can result in a real link and another one if they are using CommentLuv.
The chance of someone seeing my comment in 2 weeks time is infinately more likely if I comment on the blog
I rarely see comments made on Friendfeed to my own posts
Check out I’ve Been Robbed!!! from Andy Beard
2 June 2008, 11:18 amRobin Cannon:
I think it’s somewhat dependent on where the conversation already is. If a conversation has started on a blog, then I’ll comment on the blog. If a conversation has started on FriendFeed then that’s where I’ll discuss.
I think the fragmentation will continue, which is why a service such as Yacktrack is so excellent. There you can make sure that you’re aware of all aspects of the conversation with a simple search. I found discussions on blog posts I didn’t realise had existed.
I find it interesting that here you seem to be actively driving your comment traffic away from the blog and towards FriendFeed, given the prominence of the FriendFeed plugin over the main blog comments.
Check out I Don’t Like Being Berated from Robin Cannon
2 June 2008, 11:51 ammarkdykeman:
@Andy – I never used to see much FriendFeed commenting on my posts, but lately that seems to be changing. With regards to path of least resistance, both yourself and some of the FriendFeed commenters have pointed out some of the traditional values of in-blog commenting, including linking, trackbacks, etc. and, of course, CommentLuv (as seen here!)
@Robin – Actually, I wasn’t trying to drive commenting towards FriendFeed – I just accepted the default placement of the FriendFeed stuff within the blog. Interesting catch, though.
2 June 2008, 12:07 pmRobin Cannon:
Heh. Well I imagine that the default placement is set up to drive commenting towards FriendFeed (given that’s what the app is for). I think it’s been most noticeable on your posts that have had active FriendFeed discussion, means a lot of scrolling to get to the blog’s own comments.
…That being said, given the app, I wonder if there’s not a long term argument for FriendFeed comments becoming something like Disqus in terms of their implementation is the only commenting functionality on a blog.
Check out I Don’t Like Being Berated from Robin Cannon
2 June 2008, 12:30 pmmarkdykeman:
@Robin – now that you mention Disqus – I’m seriously considering switching to it as my commenting app, but I wonder if there’s more integration coming between FF and Disqus.
2 June 2008, 12:33 pmSteven Hodson:
Mark I think you will see the ability to write back to your blog comments via FriendFeed and Disqus when they roll out their next update in (I think) a couple of weeks.
2 June 2008, 3:27 pmmarkdykeman:
@Steven – cool, I’ll be watching for that.
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