Blog Commenting Evolution: People would rather Twitter about your posts!

by Jack Humphrey on Sep 21

I thought it was just me, but I am noticing a big trend around the web with regard to blog commenting. Many blogs seems to be noticing a sharp increase in Tweets about their posts, and sharp declines in on-site commenting.

Case in point: This post will have more tweets about it than comments made physically on it, most likely. The way I know this is I use the BackType WordPress plugin to post tweets about my posts in the comments area. And my data shows this trend is not temporary. It’s growing even among the people who used to be my best on-post commentators.

And I just noticed this affects much larger blogs too. Check out this Mashable post. At the time of writing this it has exactly 1 on-blog comment made the traditional way and no less than 124 re-tweets. Mashable logs all tweets about its posts in the same fashion that I do, so it is easy to see what the preferred method of sharing among Mashable readers is too.

I don’t really know what to make of this shift, but it kind of feels less engaging to me. O.K – it feels a lot less engaging and personal to me. While I very much appreciate any and all buzz and certainly know the value of a tweet in my direction, I find myself missing some of the talks you and I used to have here too.

What are you seeing on your blog(s) and what do you think of this shift to “commenting” via Twitter?

Tagged as: backtype, blog comments, getting blog comments, mashable, tweets, twitter

  • http://athomewithheather.com Heather Masson

    How about a real comment, Jack!

    I am just starting to use twitter. But I totally agree with you. Although it’s great to see the articles that my friends/followers find of interest, nothing beats a good old fashion comment (especially since I’m rebuilding mine, and don’t have many yet) in addition to all of the tweets!

    Cheers!

    • http://www.jackhumphrey.com/ Jack Humphrey

      @Heather: thanks for the real comment! I think this stuff will level out, but Twitter use is on such a roll that I think we have some extra work to do to get direct blog commenting back up and not take it for granted when people stop what they’re doing to comment.

  • http://www.compellingmarketingblog.com Tracy Needham

    Jack,

    That is SO true! I just discovered BackTweet this weekend and was shocked at how many tweets were circulating about my blog posts that I didn’t even know about. So, I just added the BackType WordPress plug-in today.

    It does feel less engaging, but I guess if you don’t have anything to say in the comment box it’s still a good way to participate!

    Tracy

    • http://www.jackhumphrey.com/ Jack Humphrey

      @Tracy: Yeah it’s hard to knock getting traffic from Twitter, lol.

  • http://www.databaseguy.com Chris Leonard

    But … retweets are not the same as actual comments. They are more like post-backs. If retweeting wins, does this mean there will be less actual discussion about blog posts?

    • http://www.jackhumphrey.com/ Jack Humphrey

      @Chris – IF things aren’t done to encourage commenting on your blog, yes. Just adding a question to this post generated more direct comments, but Twitter is still winning. Which is pushing more people to the blog, but I still want to seek a balance.

  • http://greatestreviews.net/ Agent 001

    Thats not my case. My blog comments are increasing rapidly and rarely anyone is tweeting.

  • http://ThePublicistsAssistant.com Anissa Wardell

    I have noticed this a whole lot more the past few weeks. I love seeing the tweets and retweets, but, commenting still rules in my mind.

  • http://ryanwegman.com/blog Ryan Wegman

    Hey Jack,

    We should really buckle down and have a one to one conversation. I see twitter as a very popular method of sending traffic, I also have noticed it takes quite a bit of effort to get people to break out of their 140 character mode to write some intelligent feed back and comments.

    There sure has been a lot of talk about twiter and the decrease in attention span. Do you believe that to be true? Possibly J. Hart and I could make our way to you rblog to start some interaction on this type of topic. What do you think?

    BTW love the BTE plugin it’s been four weeks and I am starting to see some traction and traffic increases. Now all we need to to have one that submits comments on other blogs in and outside of the BTE program.

    I see from your posts that people ould rather tweet. It’s a simplified nonthreatening environment and how much do you have to think if you just retweet all day long?

    Ry

  • http://deneilmerritt.com Deneil Merritt

    I agree with you. It’s a lot less engaging. I am use to getting comments I can reply to but lately it has been a lot more tweets than comments.

  • http://www.yinkaolaito.com yinka olaito

    This trend may continue for a while, building strong relationship with community member is becoming a hard job. I think it is high time we began to look for ways to encourage physical comments on blogs

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  • http://www.mangosteenjuicetestimonials.com/ James Mangosteen Dean

    It’s an understandable evolution – especially when a TWEET can get the same SEO boost on a blog such as this for a comment.
    Me?
    I’d prefer a comment any day.

  • http://NorthWoodsReviews.com/wowblog Terry

    I think it may be just a matter of convenience for a lot of us. It is a lot easier to click a button that says “Retweet This” than it is to take the time and write a thoughtful comment. We still feel like we are supporting the author of the post.

    • http://www.jackhumphrey.com/ Jack Humphrey

      @Terry – and you are and I appreciate it! :)

  • http://www.marketlikeachick.com Coree Silvera

    I’m so glad to hear it’s not just me! I went from having good conversation and even a little debate on my blog to empty tweets that say nothing about their opinions or feelings on the post.

    I appreciate the RTs and the boost in getting the name out there, but seriously…is anyone even reading the blogs anymore or are they just RTing to have something to RT and look like they’re staying in the know? I, personally, miss the comment love. :(

    I was thinking a comment contest would stir things up. Need a sponsor to give a product away on my blog & send traffic their way…interested??? :)

  • http://www.NarekGabrielyan.com Narek Gabrielyan

    Yes Jack, that’s very true. I’ve noticed that on your blog as well. I think this is because people can do it faster easier by just clicking one button and then putting it instead of submitting a comment. or, your content is so good that they are excited about sharing your content with their twitter friends :-)

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