Comments on: Why comment on FriendFeed instead of the blog

By: Internet Marketing Links from Across the Net

Internet Marketing Links from Across the Net — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:20:36 +0000

[...] Brain shares thoughts on comment defragmenting and what FriendFeed (and other feed aggregators) are doing to the nature of bl…. Important information for every serious [...]

By: markdykeman

markdykeman — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:24:00 +0000

@Steven - cool, I’ll be watching for that.

By: Steven Hodson

Steven Hodson — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:27:46 +0000

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.

By: markdykeman

markdykeman — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:33:48 +0000

@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.

By: Robin Cannon

Robin Cannon — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:30:08 +0000

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

By: markdykeman

markdykeman — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:07:00 +0000

@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.

By: Robin Cannon

Robin Cannon — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:51:59 +0000

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

By: Andy Beard

Andy Beard — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:18:42 +0000

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

By: markdykeman

markdykeman — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:21:03 +0000

@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.

By: Steven Hodson

Steven Hodson — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 07:17:17 +0000

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