A Rose Is A Rose Is A Rose!

Things are as they are, not as they should be!

Flavors of Comments

I have been on the blogosphere for about more than a 100 days now. Not a veteran, but not a novice, either. And these 100+ days have been very enlightening and a great learning experience too.

I don’t think, there’s any blogger who does not look forward to the comments on his blogs. I am sure, every single fellow blogger out there, is truly elated and excited on seeing the comments on her/his post. Some reload their webpage every few seconds to see if any comment has made its presence on the blog, for some the comments act as their mood barometer – happy when comments pour and dejected when none come; some wake up even in the middle of the night to check them; and some crib about women bloggers getting more comments!!

In a nutshell, we all love comments!! (Though, listening to even a single comment from one’s spouse or parents or even friends can make us fume or shout or cringe or cry for hours!!)

I have realized that these comments have a character of their own. So based on some experience of reading and writing comments on so many blogs, I can identify some distinct flavors of comments in the recipe of our blogs:

  • Ego Boosting Comments: These comments really boost your ego especially when there is a draught. “Oh, this is a fantastic post…Amazing article…I am following you now…I agree with you completely….” sure make you swell with pride!
  • Present Mam /Sir Comments: These comments have nothing significant to say, but are there to make their presence felt on the blogs. So they say something like… “Nice post…interesting…keep blogging….”
  • Reflective Comments: These comments exhibit a careful thought on your thought (post). Some time they can add a profound meaning to your thought or can steer your thought into a new dimension. They are intellectual types, actually.
  • Protester Comments: These comments refuse to accept your thoughts (despite the appropriate disclaimers). The comment section gets lengthy and lengthier with their arguments and counter arguments. And sometimes, these comments are made to either represent the commentor as somebody superior or to project you as dim-wit!
  • Healthy Discussion Comments: These comments contribute to the conversation or to add a point which you missed and these comments are made coz they believe that a nice, friendly debate makes everybody come out smarter at the end!!
  • Hero-worshipping Comments: These comments are from secret admirers. They are in awe of everything you write on/about…so even a silly post from you will receive ‘Oscar award winning’ comments from them.
  • Abusive Comments: They are not very common, but one does come across such types too, which are out right rude, offensive and have coarse language.
  • Invisible Comments: These comments are not physically present on the blog, but you get them in your email!! From a simple ‘nice post’ to lengthy thoughts… these comments prefer to stay away from the public eye!
  • Spam Comments: These comments are to promote their own blogs/products/services etc or to increase their search engine rankings or to build links to their blogs.
  • I-Commented-On-Your-Blog=You-Comment-On-Mine Comments: Self explanatory!
  • No Comments: These are actually No Comments!! I mean, people read your blog, but would refrain from commenting. Reasons are many…some find commenting to be too much of a task and a stress on grey cells, …some would not comment ‘just like that’…

So, do you identify yourself with any of the above flavors of comments?? 🙂

BTW, let your comments flow!! 😀

P.S: miss_teerious’s last night post compelled me to give a concrete shape to these thoughts, which were doing the rounds in my muddled head for a while now!

Images Courtesy: http://www.blogohblog.com, http://www.dezeen.com & http://i.mynicespace.com

57 Responses

  1. Okay baby….let me say this one is a KILLER….
    some observation and some presentation of thought units….
    and don’t forget to read my COMMENT on ur last blog !!!

  2. Hey Shilpa

    ONE QUESTION:

    Tell me in which category do i fall into according to you as per my comments on ur blog??????

    i wanna know your answer….tell the truth!!!!

    Cheers and Check out my FIRST 55 WORD FICTION ATTEMPT!!!!!!!!

  3. Ma — no – no I have not to say madam,
    Looks you took a long time observing comments. Specify what kind of comment you like!!
    Categorize My comments and inform immediately, I am very eager to know about the quality of my comments.

  4. Well analyzed post. I coudnt find a missed point here. nice work.

    Now will you call this comment a Ego boosting comment or Present mam/sir comment 🙂

  5. Hey, a nice analysis once again..
    But yeah one thing i’ll like to point out..
    protestor comments and healthy comments are two sch criterias having vry thin line b/w thm..
    moreover reflective commnts also sumwhat stem out of thm..
    Sumtimes healthy discussion cmmnts made by A on b’s post cn b regardd as protester commnts by B.
    I think thts one scum of blogging comments. Sumtimes the contxt doesnt bcum clear as u r not face 2 face.

    B4 leaving,
    some crib about women bloggers getting more comments!!
    thts true true nd true nd i’ll crib on this for my lifetime.. And thn d fairer sex talks about equality.. evn men bloggers need equality in cmmnts 🙁

  6. @ aashi: Thanks girl!!
    I don’t miss a single comment on my blog!! 😀

    @ IP, Shruti, Shankar: Thanks for your comments guys!! 🙂

    Ok…let me clarify, I’d be starting an Agony Aunt section soon, so may be I’d answer your queries at that time.
    Till then, please do self-introspection, coz I am not answering that!!!! 😀

  7. @ Roshmi and Rani: Thank you gals!! I am glad, you liked the different flavors!! 🙂

    @ M Verma: Thank you Mr. Verma 🙂

    Answering your question…Well, I like ALL comments except the abusive ones!!

    And to your second question…I can just say that I feel honored that senior bloggers like you find time to read and then comment as well on blogs of new entrants like me, which is so very motivating!!

    Thank you for your support! 🙂

  8. Hi Shilpa

    SELF-INTROSPECTION RESULTS

    i belong to:

    1)Ego boosting
    2)Present mam/sir
    3)Reflective
    4)Healthy

    i wanna CORRECT MYSELF and be a better netizen.

    Plz POINT OUT ANY FLAWS in me if u found one.

    i wanna improve all the time…….

    Cheers.

  9. @ Bharathi: Thank you for your feedback Bharathi!!
    And No, I will not say any such thing!! 😀

    @ Vipul: I was expecting this!! 😀
    Ok, let me clarify…

    Yes, Reflective is a broader term, and encompasses both Protesters and Healthy Discussion Comments.
    I have differentiated them on the basis of following thoughts…

    Reflective comments share their new dimension without raising any debate…

    Healthy Discussion comments debate and raise questions and fresh arguments but in a nice healthy way…

    Protesters comments are basically demeaning you, are negative and arguing for the heck of it!

    And ‘women getting more comments’…well, have you observed who comments the most on women’s blogs?? And what were the findings of the exchange of comments on Indiblogger forum on this topic! 😉

  10. Shilpa..aaj aap karenge sach ka saamna! 🙂

    App kaun se category main fall karte hain? 😀

    Jokes apart…a very true and very thoughtful post Shilpa. Every word ou wrote here is true and applicable for every single blogger!

  11. There are loads of WONDERFUL blogs I read that dont get any comments. Similarly there are many trite ones that are loaded with comments. So I guess one should not judge one’s blogs by the number of comments.

    But this is a nice classification of the commenters, and most comments fall under one of these categories surely.

  12. @ avdi: I agree, and I am truly amazed at this. The other day, I saw a very silly blog and can you beat it, EACH post had over a 100 comments!! :O

    And a blog should be judged on the basis of content presentation and certainly, comments should not be a part of that!

  13. This is a very good post indeed.I think I fall in all of these types except abusive…(At least I hope so!) But now on I have to be very careful before commenting on your post! I don’t want to be catagorised in any one of these any way! 🙂
    what catagory do you suppose you fall in? (Am I allowed to ask or am I being….!?)

  14. I must admit that you are a thinker and a good analyst!!!! Never in my life would have I been and never will I be able to categorize comments or for that matter any other thing to this extent!!!!!

  15. No Commnets ! I know I fall into this category…still struggling with my grey cells to find some words….but hey I have a silent support to you blogs….and silence speaks more than “words”…Cheers !

  16. Waah! At least something constructive came out of all that nonsense! Real quick thinking on your part… good!

    And Vipul! 🙂
    Men write abt cars, politics and world economics mostly! Yucks! Or they write about how to earn money with blogging! Or they write reviews on new laptops, mobiles etc. Agreed they write more practically useful stuff, but, well… 😀 What exactly do we comment on such posts? :p

  17. Hey, this is a first-time visit! 🙂

    I was nodding my head in approval to your entire post. I’m new to bloging so earlier I used to fall into your last category – Read & Leave. Not after I started blogging though. I’m unsure what you would classify my comment as! 😉

    How about – ‘Shall we stay in touch via blogger comment’ 🙂

    cheers. have a nice day.

  18. @ Pra: Thank you Pra! 🙂 Am glad you could identify yourself with the post!

    Hey, please don’t do that…I mean these types of comments were always there…and these are just the different expressions we see on our blogs. These by no means are to categorize anybody!!

    So, as I said earlier, let your comments flow!! 🙂

    @ Sumeet : Hey Sumeet, thanks a lot for such nice words!
    Am sure, you’d be able to do it too, once you sit and tried to do so!! All the very best!! 🙂

  19. Shilpa,I mean what I am saying here now.You have analysed the subject very well and truly so.Frankly,it would have been easier for you to categorise your reader’s comments as you must have analysed them in general before writing this post.As far as I am concerned,I think I fall into mixed category depending upon what subject I am reading,who the author is and if I am within the first ten odd commentators and various considerations including-how much do I know of the subject and how much can I learn from the blog.May be I have been too descriptive here,but this is a factual statement.Now,Now,You must comment if you agree with this comment????

  20. @ Lok: Wow! So good to see you on this blog!! And thank you so much for your support!! But your ‘Articulate’ support is what would make this blog smile wide!! 😀

    @ Kaddu: Thank you for the inspiration!! 🙂

    And Vipul, are you listening??
    Thank you girl, for your support!! 🙂

  21. @ lostworld: Hi!! Welcome on ‘A rose is a rose is a rose!’ And welcome on the blogosphere too! Hope you have a great fun time here!! 🙂

    I am glad, you could relate to the post!! And hey, this post is not to classify or label anybody! So feel free to comment!! 🙂

    And YES, let’s stay in touch via the comment box!!

    You too have a great time! See you soon!! 🙂

  22. @ BK Chowla: Thank you Mr. Chowla for your feedback. 🙂

    Well, the idea of this post was to share the different expressions we see on our blogs. These by no means are to categorize anybody!!

    And as you rightly pointed out the various factors which lead to commenting on a blog, I guess, we all fall in more than 1 category.

    And I’d like to take this as an opportunity to thank you, coz it’s really heartening to see veteran bloggers like you finding time to read and ADD VALUE on blogs of newbies like me. So Thanks a lot! and look forward to your encouragement always!! 🙂

  23. Nice one….
    Well but I believe a person commentting can belong to multiple categories depending on the post and the association with the blogger.

    Happy Independence day and congratulation for Blogadda Saturday pic

  24. This is the first time i am visiting your blog happen to bump in from blogadda.

    Really an analytical post and spot on . I was planning a similiar post u beat me to it, exactly what i wanted to tell. I liked that hanging pic.

    now which category do i fall in 😉

  25. @ Venky: Thanks Venky and welcome on “A rose is a rose is a rose!”.

    Oh! But you must share your thoughts on this topic too on your blog, coz, you’ll surely cook a different recipe!! 🙂

  26. Once I was through I thought – No one could ever write it in a better way.

    Kudos to your thought process, you seem to be very comfortable with words.

    And I think just now I jumped from the last set to the first one…wot say?? 😉

    Take care

  27. @ garima82: Thanks a lot Garima, for nice, kind, feel great, motivating words!! 😀

    Nah, it’s not like that!! 🙂

    Good to see you here and hope to see you around!!

    You take care too! 🙂

  28. Hi Shilpa,

    Even I am new to the world of blogging. I have taken note of these categories though ! I think “reflective comments” and “healthy discussion comments” are the once bloggers with a purpose desire 🙂

    This might not be my best comment. 🙂

    Must say, you seem to be a very analytical person !

  29. good one… well classified.
    but i would like to add one more to the flavor..
    “u comment on mine.. so heres one for u”
    name says it all. 🙂

    have been off the blog world for long.. i have a huge backlog on ur blog ! 🙁

  30. @ Niharika: Ok, first things first…
    1. Welcome to our blogosphere!!
    2. Welcome on “A rose is a rose is a rose!” Hope you have good fun time here! 🙂
    3. Yeah, you are right, those 2 categories, one aspire to be into!! 🙂
    3. And, I don’t think, you should be thinking like that!!
    4. And thank you!! 🙂 🙂

    @ Mou: Thanks 🙂
    Yeah, you can say so, but it’s a relative of I -Commented-On-Your-Blog=You-Comment-On-Mine Comments!!
    What say? 🙂

    Oh! But glad that you are making it up to the lost time!! Happy to see you! 🙂

  31. Now when i’ve read this post i am confused which category of comments should be used here….

    Well… yes it was wonderful task.. great observation skills.. (category1 and 2)

    Nothing to protest here… but yes i hate spam comments…. its easy to make out why a person writes “Nice blog”, “good work”, “Beautiful template” and then leave their blog link below 😛 😛

    Anyways your blog is thought provoking 🙂

  32. @ Deepika Gupta: Hey! You can post whatever you want, in this section!!
    As I said earlier…let your comments FLOW!! And this post is not to categorize anybody!!

    Yeah, I know, what you mean! It’s kind of weird, but I guess, they want traffic to come on to their site, hence use such tactics!! 😀

    And Thanks for your feedback! 🙂

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