Ian M Rountree

Freelance Copywriting and Digital Marketing

What Happened to Blog Reactions?

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Rock Platform - Nigel Howe | Flickr

This week’s #blogchat focused on engagement – comments got all the cred.

I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised – comments are great. They exist on your platform, they’re relatively long-form compared to some other reactions (like tweets and Facebook comments), but it felt like the really big, high caliber blog engagement actions were missing.

What happened to blog reactions?

In the hey-days of LiveJournal, one of the biggest signs a conversation was – well, big – would be when someone on your friends list actually entered a post in direct reaction to something you wrote. Not just a comment-length “check this out” notice, but a full on essay-length journal entry eviscerating, deconstructing, or otherwise responding to what you wrote.

It was fairly commonplace, at one point, to follow chains of journal entries ten or fifteen layers deep before finding the initial instigator. Does that happen any more? Not so much.

We’re worried about spam. Not just comment spam – trackback spam.

The same way comments have become a great place for less-than-ethical linking, trackbacks to unwary bloggers have turned into the vogue Den of Thieves to be avoided at all costs. We want social reactions, comments, and shares more than we want other bloggers linking to our specific articles – we want them linking to our domains, which are evergreen, rather than individual articles which are timely and may grow stale over time as information changes.

But is this how we build community? It’s mechanistic, pragmatic, and unsustainable – it furthers no conversation, and encourages blind authority over the communion of conversation.

In our rush for personal authority, we seem to be losing some of our community.

We all want to be the instigator – to get the comments. Yet we all talk about contributing to community and furthering the conversation already in action at the same time – what better way to do that than to react to something in a thought-out, constructive way? We need to remember that adding to a conversation assumes that you don’t have to be the origin of that conversation. Starting new work all the time is like perpetually saying hi. And that gets video-game-esque really fast.

Give yourself some leeway to pick up where someone else left off now and again – and not in the way you pick up where an author left off for a book review. The instigators will probably want to converse with you a little more, if you’re really thorough in adding to their conversations – and your regular readers might find a new resource or two in the mix as well.

What say you? Bonus points if you continue this on your platform instead of mine.

Image by Nigel Howe.

#TEDxMB un-Wrap-Up

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I had the extreme honour of being part of the Modern Earth Tweet Team covering TEDx Manitoba yesterday – Susan Hurrell and I spent 12 hours yesterday with our duelling laptops doing the platform journalism on Twitter for the event.

Susan Hurrell and Ian M Rountree - Modern Earth Web Design Tweet Team - TEDxManitoba
Susan Hurrell and Ian M Rountree – Modern Earth Web Design Tweet Team – TEDxManitoba

But, I can’t talk about it. Not properly. Not yet. My head is still swimming a bit, from lack of sleep, 12 hours of extreme Twitter goodness, and a number of fantastic talks.

If you want to get a sense of how it went, though…

The Modern Earth Facebook page has some pictures from the event in a #TEDxMB Photo Album.

Check out the What The Hashtag stats and see the transcript. We owned the trends in Manitoba, were number 2 in Canada for the majority of the day, and got into the top 40 trends in Canada according to Trendsmap. More than 1200 tweets were sent with the tag #TEDxMB on the day, from more than 200 participants, from 5 countries on 4 continents. We’ve got tweets from Canada, the US, Hong Kong, Ghana, and Guatemala.

To put that in perspective, that’s fully one third of this week’s #blogchat activity, or two #tweetdiners, with a very niche audience, a closed attendance list, and a livestream. Very little non-new-media promotion before the event, and mostly guidance from the Tweet Team and those on the volunteer crew who were digging in as well. Not too shabby.

The Winnipeg Free Press’ Melissa Martin wrote up a pair of great recaps, as well as an article about “Fast Flying Ideas at Conference” relating the nature of the event’s speed.

UPDATE: I don’t know how I forgot to mention, but I also met Kevin Hnatiuk, Leanne Havelock, Lisa MacKenzie, Ryan Caligiuri, Matt Shepherd, Kevin Glasier and Erica Glasier at the event, and made a point of saying hi to David Pensato again – all of whom I follow and most of whom I’ve spoken to for some time on Twitter. I’ve met many people I’ve known online before, but never so many at a single event.

I’ll say more when I can. Promise.

Notes from #blogchat – Blogging 201

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15/52 blue - FlickrBack from the great beyond, it’s time for more Notes from #blogchat! Let’s go!

Tonight was a discussion of going beyond dipping your toes in the blogosphere, and moving from 101 hobby blogging, to Blog 201 and beyond.

Firstly, I asked if anyone was actively putting any of the advice they’ve had on #blogchat to good use on their blogs.

I think the question got lost in the rush of “This is how I blogchat” – ignore that part, and read Stan Smith’s rockstar-level #blogchat methodology.

To answer, however: we’ve had a lot of good advice. (sidebars, construction topicality, etc)

Mack asked how we decide the focus of our blogs – Margie Clayman, true to form, jumped in with a note about finding inspiration in tweets and other blog posts. I concur, however; when you’re working up to the 101 level (forget 201 for now), writing what you know can be a good start. Address your own concerns and interests, and those of like mind will jump in.

Of course, as @kateyoung28 mentioned, getting people to find you when you’re starting out can be hard unless you promote. My first step is always SEO – as I’ve written about before, that’s easier than most bloggers think.

Chase Adams mentioned getting inspiration from coffee shops and other public places – something we don’t do nearly often enough (paying attention when in public). Don’t ego map yourself; pull out the headphones once in a while.

As a sidenote, Chris Garrett mentioned editorial calendars to help keep yourself on track and not miss any opportunites to write. I agree. I’d also add that plugins such as Insights (for WordPress.org blogs) are essential to making sure you link your writing in an integrated fashion to your past thoughts.

@devacoach mentioned using her iPhone to take pictures as reminders – I agree! – I use Evernote when I’ve got my laptop or phone about.

@deswalsh mentioned using Google Analytics regularly to see which past posts are performing more persistently – a 201 trick if there ever was one – so he can write similar material in the future.

Halftime! There was a lot of tomfoolery about tools here, gratuitous mentions of Evernote and other organizational tools – see the transcript for more on this part.

I asked what else, other than higher quality content, clearly demarcates a 201-level blog from a 101-level blog. @be3d said “consistent content cadence” – a term you can bet I’ll be using in the future. Consistency definitely trumps frequency in blogs.

@Josepf mentioned developing series of posts – and that’s a great tip. Series may or may not get as many comments as single, heavy hitting pillar articles, but drawing out a concept into a few different articles is one of the marks of an accustomed writer, if not a professional one. Circling a topic for a few dozen posts is vastly different to writing a targeted series. No more of this ready fire aim business.

Now – back to that Ready, Fire, Aim thing.

It’s always been my thought that online business (and thus blogs) do better when they Beta extensively, and refine as they go, toward a moving, yet identified target. More on this later this week.

Power quote time:

@savvywordpress: always remember SEO get them there, good design gets their interest, great content keeps them there + makes conversion #blogchat

Awesome, yes? This encompasses a lot of what #blogchat has been saying for a while.Quality web-work has to cover all the bases.

And that’s when Mack started asking about subscribers. The first question? Who’s got a subscribe button on their blogs. I’d argue a subscribe button is minimum table stakes for blog design – anything less than at least a “Subscribe here” link, or an orange icon is doing it wrong.

A lot of people agreed that they’ve got subscribe buttons, and know what they’re for. This is a good thing.

@superdumb (who is most definitely NOT) dropped a note about starting conversations in comments on others’ blogs that you can take home to your own. 201-level tip, for sure.

And, mercy to the masses, Dan Perez and I actually agreed on something; there’s a massive gulf in skillsets between bloggers and writers (and, I added, authors). Not all writers can blog, and not every blogger should author a book or write a newspaper column. This is important, especially when considering the move from 101 blog (hobby, mandatory action, etc) to 201, full-on, professional blogging.

Above all else, making sure you’re not just covering the minimum bases, but filling out every field and making sure you have the commitment to find the right skills and get the right support is one of the key factors in moving into Blogging at the 201 Level. Anyone can write a blog. Not everyone needs, wants, or must become a highly skilled blogger.

What do you think? What else goes on the list of 201-level blogging tips that we missed?

Read the transcript for #blogchat, November 14th 2010 here. See the #blogchat stats on What the Hashtag.

A participants’ list will be up as soon as I can get one/generate one. If you’ve got one, please do share!

Photo by Scarleth White.

Notes From #blogchat – Co-Host @ShannonPaul

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Tonight’s #blogchat featured Shannon Paul, from the Very Official Blog, and Michigan Blue Cross Blue Shield. The topic was responding to comments on a company blog.

This is a pretty touchy subject – I know many new corporate bloggers feel as though the comments are the bane of their existence, or that it should be so heavily moderated it may as well not exist at all – but at the end of the day, if there’s not a discussion, there’s not a community.

Here’s what shaped up in the chat:

First of all, Shannon is a great person. Really down to earth – and it showed even in the pre-game show. Watching some of the back and forth was great, as always.

Of course, 8pm hits, and the chat was already accelerating. The mandatory introductions were mandatory, the obligatory jokes were obligatory. Pretty standard.

The first question was about scope – do you respond to every comment on your company blog? What about your personal blog? It’s an important question.

Next thing – a note from a number of people about there being no one-size-fits-all approach to comments. I have to say I agree – strategy for comments is as individual as content strategy for the blog itself.

@mattceni let me know the first SEO question came in at 8:10 – which is by no means a record, but amusing none the less.

An awesome quote from Shannon Paul – “A blog is typically a conversation, but how you define the conversation you want to have differs.”

As well, a great notice from Shannon regarding dealing with trolls and inappropriate comments – leave the emotion at home.

A couple of people mentioned that comment sections are a great way to catch things you’ve missed – aspects of a story not covered, concerns not addressed and so forth. This is fairly important, and how you as a corporate blogger react to these challenges/criticisms/revelations/bonus points is paramount to the success of the blog you’re running.

Of course, timely as always, there were some comments about back channels and more direct, discrete areas.

Halftime! No intermission!

Mack Collier made a good point that many customers who make negative comments on a company blog do so because they see it as a last resort for customer service. I tend to agree – negative may not be constructive, but usually stems from a real reason, no matter how overblown the comment is.

This said; don’t feed the trolls. Once you determine whether or not there can be a resolution to a stated issue, resolve or move on.

There were a few notes throughout the chat about setting expectations, for readers and commentators, in order to ensure that there is both appropriate respect, and appropriate relevance in comments.

Companies, unfortunately, seem to think that having comments open in the first place will draw negativity, and encourage disgruntled people to make bad comments.

Hear this: Permission given from Shannon and Mack, and just about everyone on the chat, to delete abusive comments without response. There. Now, let people comment.

Similarly – comments both positive and negative can be very power ways to gather data for use across the company. If someone speaks up – either to praise or not – use that. Interact with it, unless it’s abusive (see; do not feed trolls) and make the most of it.

All in all, company blogs need to better embrace the comment section, and let their customers – and prospects – interact in a less formal manner with them. This isn’t about diluting your brand or your message – this is about making sure you do right by people, in the arenas where it’s expected.

Participants’ List from TweepML

What The Hashtag transcript for #blogchat on October 17th

If I missed something let me know! That’s what the comments section is for!

Notes From #blogchat – Open Mic Night September

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Every month, three hundred of the world’s best twitterites gather on TweetChat, their favorite twitter clients and other places, for the regularly scheduled insanity we call #blogchat Open Mic Night!

Here we go!

As always, Open Mic night is one of the best nights for newbies to get into #blogchat, mostly because the first ten to fifteen minutes are reliably about nothing other than best participation practices. It diminishes the discussion a bit, but it’s very useful to brush up on tips, and find new faces who otherwise get subsumed in the mass of topical mayhem on other nights.

So what made tonight’s Open Mic stand out?

We saw some talk about post length – from Godin to Kaushik, there’s no use sticking with a formula. Don’t worry about a specified length – worry about a specified aim with your posts.

Also saw some mentions of Editorial Calendars – a good in for bringing up the Editorial Calendar WordPress plugin which has been saving my sanity lately.

Had a great time catching up with @tinkhanson and commiserating over how busy the summer has been. It’s good to catch up with people.

We, among many others, agreed it’s time we all rededicate ourselves to our blogs.

SO BE IT!

I’m declaring October to be round two of Ian Posts More Month – a redux of last year’s November IanPoMoMo, where I dropped a post a day for thirty days consecutively. How about you? Feel like blogging on a schedule (not necessarily daily) for an entire month? Whatever you’re doing, step up by one notch. If you’re doing two posts weekly, do three. three posts, do four or five.

Me? I’m doing three, minimum. For all of October. Yell at me if I miss a day. And tell me if you’re participating.

Here’s a transcript thanks to Mack Collier – WTHashtag Transcript for #blogchat

Here’s a participants list from TweepML for #blogchat