A Crisis of Existential Proportions

Posted on | May 1, 2010 | No Comments

“To be, or not to be – that is the question.”

Hamlet might have been on to something. After all, at some point, we all question our own existence. What are we here for? What is our purpose in life? What am I meant to do?

Now, it seems, those same existential questions are infiltrating the blogging world. Earlier this week, I read a post by Beth Dunn that asked a deceptively simple question: Is a blog a blog if it doesn’t have any comments?

Dunn is thinking about it from a business perspective when she says that comments are what make a blog. And I can certainly understand that – for a business, comments are vital. They help move the business forward. And even for non-business-related blogs, I can see the inherent value in the community that springs up around regular comments on a particular subject. Comments provide feedback, stimulate the conversation and can introduce new ideas.

And yet…

I can’t help but feel that blogs are judged almost exclusively by the number of comments they get – or don’t get. Obviously, comments can correlate to the number of readers and, in the blogging world, the basic equation goes something like: more readers + more comments = better blog.

But there is also something that vaguely reminds me of middle school popularity contests when it comes to blog posts and comments. From my perspective, the emphasis on comments can make a blogger feel inadequate if he or she doesn’t receive as many comments as he or she is “supposed to.”

So then are we supposed to choose between writing a blog post from the heart, about a subject we care about or are interested in, or writing a blog post designed solely to obtain as many comments as possible?

Of course, the very best bloggers can write passionately about their chosen subjects and get the comments, but in the vast and seemingly endless world of the Internet, not every blog will have that level of attention.

I average one to two comments per week here on Ordinary Mer and for me, that’s fine. I’m not necessarily writing to elicit comments from other people (unless I ask a direct question), but it’s always nice when my readers do drop me a note to let me know they are reading. Likewise, I won’t comment on someone else’s blog unless I feel I can contribute to the conversation in a meaningful way. But, if I were to judge Ordinary Mer by Dunn’s standards, it would just barely qualify as a blog because my posts don’t always receive comments.

I understand that blog post comments are a part of what makes the World Wide Web go ‘round, that they add the “social” in social media and social web, but I’d hate to get so caught up in caring about the comments that I forgot to write truthfully and honestly. Comments are nice and always welcome, but I guess I believe it’s more important to write from the heart and let the comments come naturally, come what may.

Am I being naïve or completely missing the point? Perhaps. But if I wasn’t, then I wouldn’t be the Ordinary Mer you know and love.

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