Comment Challenge Day 23: What Makes a Great Comment?

Today's task was suggested by Carolyn Foote and builds on yesterday's analysis of your favorite comment(s). You're going to write a post that describes the feature and characteristics of a great comment. If you were teaching someone to be a fabulous commenter, what tips would you give them? Remember to tag your post with "comment08."

Comments

[Rob O.]

Well, there are many different ways to be a good commenter, but I'd say a great comment is most often a constructive comment - y'know, something that furthers the conversation either by way of probing questions or bringing additional info or perspectives into play.

But that's not to say that a dissenting point of view can't also be a great comment, provided it's still in the spirit of keeping the conversation going.

[Michele Martin]

Hi Rob--I like your definition of a constructive comment and the fact that you include dissenting comments in that.

One thing I've found interesting in the Comment Challenge has been the idea of dissent and how uncomfortable we can be with having a differing opinion. Many people blew off the challenge task to disagree in a comment, saying either that they couldn't find anything with which to disagree or that they didn't like to do that in comments. But healthy disagreements are often the best fodder for learning. Although I can learn a lot from people who share my worldview, I can also learn from those who see things differently, although depending on how they express themselves, that can be more challenging.

I say we need more dissent--not for the sake of disagreeing, but so that we're all challenging our own ideas and beliefs for better learning! :-)

[Bonnie K]

Hi Michele,
Honestly, I remember the dissenting challenge and I did select a few political blogs from the other side. I read the comments and there were a few dissenters. But I didn't join the conversation.
I think it is easier to offer something positive, something constructive, something for someone you've built a relationship up with.
So far, I try not to be too argumentative here, maybe because I don't want to be misunderstood, maybe because commenting on the web in general is something new.
I am very excited by the challenge of offering a great even good, thoughtful question to push the conversation.
Bonnie

[Kevin]

Hi Michelle
What is up with the comment above me (ie, Forexbooks)? That's an advertisement, right? So, as I think more about moderation of comments at my blog, this is one of the things that keeps me with my finger on the moderation button.
I don't suspect you wanted that comment here, right? (I hope I am right).
The last thing I want is for my blog to become another platform for selling more crap.
:)

Kevin

PS -- And, to top it off, there are proofreading errors in that comment.

[Michele Martin]

Hi Bonnie--I understand your concerns about dissent. It can be easy to be misunderstood in this environment and that concern is even greater when you first start commenting. My main point is that I want to encourage people to feel comfortable with the idea and to learn how to engage in some level of disagreement (when appropriate) as a way to continue to grow and to learn in this environment.

And Kevin, you're right that the comment you saw (since deleted) was comment spam. Sometimes some of it slips through and I'm not quick enough to clean it up. For me, a little comment spam once in awhile is OK. Most of the time it tends to show up on older posts where no one sees it, so I delete it before anyone knows it's there. In this case I was able to get rid of it within 24 hours. My theory is that I'd rather turn off moderation and make it easier for people to comment because I can usually get rid of the spam before it's really a problem.