Tue 17 Feb 2009
Is Twitter Killing Real Blog Comments?
Blurb by Shaun Anderson (Hobo)I’m just toying about with Twitter at the moment in terms of actually contributing to the converations but since the rise of Twitter I am seeing less comments accross the board on a lot of my sites.
A recent blog post asked the question was Twitter killing blogging while a poll asked How Has Twitter Impacted the Frequency of Your Blogging? and I wonder if it is having an impact on blog commenting too.
Perhaps people just feel more comfortable commenting in their own ’space’ on Twitter. Maybe it’s the nature of my posts, or because I don’t have Dofollow or Linky Love (installed) splattered all over my page titles (I de-optimised that stuff right away!)
Of course, it’s not stopped the army of crappy comment linkers with no value to add who find my site using Dofollow lists and search engines.
How about you? Do you prefer to comment on Twitter or On The Actual Blog?
Is Twitter Killing Real Blog Comments?
PS – I have Tweetbacks installed so you can either Twitter or comment if you are so inclined 
Did you know when you link to a Hobo SEO post we have search engine friendly links back to your site if approved? Our comments are also search engine friendly you know (once you've commented on a few posts)! Do you need any more encouragement to get involved in the conversation ;)
http://tinyurl.com/b4dfr6 – Is Twitter Killing Your Blog Comments?
RT @Hobo_Web : Is Twitter Killing Your Blog Comments? … http://tinyurl.com/b4dfr6
RT @Hobo_Web http://tinyurl.com/b4dfr6 – Is Twitter Killing Your Blog Comments?
RT: @Hobo_Web: http://tinyurl.com/b4dfr6 – Is Twitter Killing Your Blog Comments? ~ Brings up some good points.
I like to comment on the post, but only if it is easy. Sites that demand a profile to be made, or some sort of sign up don’t get my thoughts typically.
I would say that since my activity has increased on Twitter, my blogging has almost all but stopped.
Time management is really the only blame in my case. So much to do, and blogging was more of a vent than a need if you get my drift.
Thanks for the considered comment Zak
I don’t think I would ever force people to sign up to comment on something, but that’s just me.
Twitter is not killing comments on my blog, but it is moving them to a different site. So are FriendFeed, Disqus, Seesmic and a thousand other services – but I don’t care.
As Oscar Wilde said: “The only thing worse than being talked about, is not being talked about”.
I don’t own other peoples’ comments about my blog so I shouldn’t complain if they find it preferable to comment on other sites,
I think, I end up commenting on more blogs, than I did before I got Twitterpated.
This is because I pick up from tweets of people I follow, and usually if their tweet was engaging enough for me to go to the post, I’ll want to put in my 2 cents. Prior to twitter I was more a creature of habit, and had my feeds to troll. Now I’ve got a much wider sampling of articles thanks to the Twitterverse.
Good points Andy. But, I think we could be losing out on our blogs looking well read with an active ‘community’ of sorts, and think of the keyword rich content Google isn’t finding on your site as a result.
Thanks Jeremy
Is Twitter Killing real blog comments? http://tinyurl.com/b4dfr6
I find Twitter comments very difficult to follow, I far prefer to comment on blog posts.
Same here
I agree with Jeremy and use twitter in a similar way. If there’s a reaction and I have something interesting to say which may add value to the conversation I prefer to comment on the post, if not I may twitter (or not). Well, that of the added value thing doesn’t apply to this comment
I think the Twitter culture could be having a much broader effect than just to blogging. I visit a lot of photography related forums to read, comment, assist others, drop a link etc but they seem to be getting less and less busy. Admittedly it makes it easier to keep a link on page one for a longer period of time, but the activity that once was is now gone.
Maybe folks are just twittering between themselves.
I don’t think that Twitter is killing blogging at all, I use Twitter every dya and love interacting with people there, however, 140 characters is not enough for me to blog so I still continue to run 2 blogs so I can do my 500 word essays (when I really get going LOL)
I think Twitter is a great tool for connecting and sharing people’s lives, even great for customer services for companies but I don’t think it can ever replace a real blog, who knows maybe I will be wrong and I guess we will have to wait and see the what trends start, whatever happens I will still blog so I can stay in touch with the followers and friends and have there that are not on Twitter.
Twitter is not for everyone and I have met some people who hate but still read blogs
Shaun, you touch on one of the main issues I have with it in comment #9.
While I agree Andy that the only thing worse than being talked about is not, having comments on the post does mean the comments are “yours” so to speak. Who else can edit or delete them after they have been left but the poster of the article? Not to mention the credit for content given from the SE’s.
When its all said and done, Andy still brings the best point to the table, a conversation/comment about your content is a good thing, be happy to get it where you can.
Thanks again Zak – Andy does have an excellent point. Being talked about is the most important thing.
Thanks Simone
I don’t think Twitter will kill blogging – in fact, it might improve the quality of blogs out there. People with nothing to say can twit al day to their hearts content instead of filling up pointless blogs with pointless banal content.
Yeah I think Twitter is a connecting tool. A signpost to content, a place to get ideas out there without having the pain of beefing out a full post of content explaining it to folks.
Is the Internet killing newspapers? No one’s killing anything, it’s just that when a good tool comes along, many tasks change to use the tool that works best.
Twitter has cut down a little on my affirming but relatively content-less “me too” blog comments. Now, I show the love by tweeting a link to things I agree with. I suppose it might come across as receiving less positive comments to the blog author, but I’m hoping that they actually end up with more visitors and better discussion.
I usually prefer to comment on the blog itself. I think it helps to keep the conversation centralized in one place. One can still Tweet a link to the blog entry in question, but if the conversation began on the blog it seems the best place for it to continue…not to mention that here we’re not restricted to 140 characters!