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Holtz Communications + Technology

Shel Holtz
Communicating at the Intersection of Business and Technology
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Hit-and-run commenting

If social media (yeah, I still use that term) is all about conversation, how come so many people jump in, offer their two cents, then vanish? I don’t know if anybody has called it “hit-and-run commenting” before, but that’s what it feels like.

In my long-winded post about the social media press release, there were two good examples of this. First, somebody named ZF called me on a word cock-up (can you tell Neville’s British-isms are having an influence on me?). I wrote that I had deep unabiding respect for Stowe Boyd and Robert Scoble. What I meant, of course, was abiding respect. Where’d I come up with the non-word? I was probably thinking “deep and abiding,” changed my mind, and out came “unabiding.” The point is, though, that I thanked ZF for pointing out the error, then asked him a follow-up question. No response.

Then there was Dominic Jones, who is a master of all things investor relations. He pointed out that I was wrong in my interpretation of Reg FD. So I noted that I would defer to his depth of knowledge and asked him to point out my inaccuracy. Again, no response.

Just because it’s a blog and you’re commenting doesn’t make it a conversation; the social aspect requires the intent to act in a social manner. Imagine you’re part of a conversation among a group of people at a party. You notice somebody standing nearby, listening. At some point, he bursts into the circle, shouts out a comment, then heads off to the chips and dip, never to return. Was that participation in the conversation?

C’mon guys. If you’re going to comment, check back to see if somebody has lobbed the ball back to your side of the court.

01/24/07 | 23 Comments | Hit-and-run commenting

Comments

  • 1.Hear, hear. The flipside to your post, though, is that bloggers need to respond to people who do post comments. It's no fun to comment and take the trouble to check back, only to find that the blogger didn't bother to respond.

    Karen | January 2007

  • 2.Shel:

    Excellent point, but I don't think it's always an issue of "hit and run."

    I think one of the difficulties of (yeah, I said it!) social media is that there is SO much. For example, I have probably slightly more than 75 feed in my Google Reader. You probably have far more.

    If I comment on a blog...other than yours (obviously) I may forget about the comment. Sure, things like coComment help, but I don't know that everyone is aware of them. I think this is the biggest short fall that there's just too damn much to keep track of.

    It leads to the other problem I have of actually USING the info I find in blogs. Sure, I clip and copy things into Google Notebook, but then it tends to just sit there because today's a new day and there's new info.

    Just my two cents...now you'll probably never hear from me again!

    Kevin Behringer | January 2007 | Whitewater, WI

  • 3.True, Karen...assuming the comment is one in which a response is appropriate. That's also true for checking back for replies to your comments, Kevin. Yours on this post, for example, articulates a thought that can be viewed as closed. The two I referenced above were definitely NOT closed. One asked a question -- you'd presume he was interested in the answer. The other made an incomplete point, and I asked for some further illumination.

    My point, ultimately, was that a blog is a social media tool only if it's used that way. If not, it's just a content management system.

    Shel Holtz | January 2007 | Concord, CA

  • 4.I think it comes down to the blog and the commenter. Karen makes a good point. I've often left a comment, and when checking back, found that the blogger never responds to anyone's comments. Some don't and that's okay. That's how they choose to run their thing. Others always respond to at least some of the commenters.

    I personally only try to comment if I can offer something to the conversation. With that in mind, I like to follow the conversation to see where it leads.

    Using tools like co.mments to keep track of your comments is a great way to follow the conversation. Honestly, I'd feel like a tool if I came back a few days later and saw that the blogger took the time to engage my comment and I never followed up. But, that's just me... :)

    Tony D. Clark | January 2007 | NC, USA

  • 5.Shel, I love the term "hit-and-run" in this context. I know that sometimes I comment and forget about it -- but only on blogs that don't allow me to subscribe to comments. On your blog, readers can of course receive the following comments easily, so there's no excuse for disappearing!

    donna papacosta | January 2007 | Toronto

  • 6.I have subscribed not only to IABC Cafe, but to the IABC Cafe Comments. So I get to see when a new posting has been made to the cafe, and again (several times, alas) when a comment is posted. That does help to pull me back to check on the conversation.

    But I do agree, Shel. A conversation, especially a good one, takes active and ongoing participation by everyone, not just the host. Does this sound like work to some? Maybe the blogosphere is not the place for them. But they're missing valuable info and networking and will miss increasingly more.

    Michael Clendenin | January 2007

  • 7.Hi Shel:

    Interesting conversation going on here.
    A ongoing experience leads me to believe that hitting and running in social media is a two-way street. I was invited (both on the blog) and via email by the lead of a team blog at Microsoft. The only declared purpose of the blog is ?Let's talk about xxx. About your experience, about the value, about the content, about the good, bad and the ugly. XXX exist to provide you with the content and answers you need to do your job. Let's talk,? where xxx is text I redacted to protect the guilty.

    I have posted a new comment each day for the past eight days on what I think is good, bad, and ugly about xxx. To date there have been no other comments and no responses from any member of the team.

    Since the blog was only getting nine visitors a day before I showed up, it doesn?t surprise me that no other non-team member beyond me has posted. On the other hand, to not hear back on even a single comment such as pointing out that they had some broken links and providing them with the correct links is a little startling to me. Even after pointing out that Scoble moved his blog to Wordpress in 2005, the site still links to his old blog at http://scoble.weblogs.com/)

    I?ve pretty much come to the conclusion that the lights are on but nobody is home at that blog.

    I plan to keep posting my comments there in case someone on the team is actually reading them and may respond and/or take corrective actions. I am also going to continue because it helps me formalize my thoughts on the issues. The issues also apply to other Microsoft blogs, sites, etc, that I deal with on a daily basis and I have begun ?sharing? some of my thinking on those other blogs, etc.

    I figure that at some point someone will make one of more of my suggested changes to improve the situation and that is good enough - for now ? for me.

    In the meantime, I guess we?ll all have to watch out for hit and run types in the blogosphere and try to avoid joining them.

    Robert Banghart | January 2007

  • 8.Shel,

    Actually, in my first comment, which never appeared, I did take the time to provide additional context and resources, including links to source information.

    That never appeared. My second comment was to simply draw your and any new readers' attention to the inaccuracy in your post. I thought it important since their are serious legal consequences should anyone do the wrong thing. I also explained that I'd tried to comment earlier and that the first more detailed comment never appeared.

    So to call me a hit-and-run commenter is not fair. And really, the onus is not on me, but on you to correct your own work. It's your blog, you held yourself out as an expert on the topic, so shouldn't you make an effort to get things right?

    Dominic Jones | January 2007 | Toronto

  • 9.Dominic, I hold myself out as an expert in PR, not investor relations. that's you. I was hopeful you'd share your expertise. I invited you to elaborate on your comment. But, it took this post to get you back, and you spent your time attacking me instead of answering the question.

    Did you see my response to your comment? I specifically deferred to your expertise. I apologized that your first comment didn't appear, although I have no explanation for it. In any case, it happens to me on other blogs from time to time, and I always recreate my original comment rather than leave an incomplete message.

    Fine, I'll go do the research.

    Shel Holtz | January 2007 | Concord, CA

  • 10.Following comments on your blog is not easy. I couldn't find a comment RSS feed. There is a box to "Notify me of follow-up comments" below the comment form, but I use a free online email account for blog comments and only check that once per day.

    I had no idea you'd asked for more input. And from what I can tell, you made zero effort to contact me via email to tell me you wanted for more input.

    You also made no effort to tell me you were going to single me out in this blog post. Why didn't you do that before posting this?

    I found this post in the referrals log on my blog stats. Is there something you'd like to get off you chest, Shel? Or is that what this post is all about?

    Dominic Jones | January 2007 | Toronto

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