The comments factor

[Jelena]

I often find myself leaving blogs/blog posts when there is too many comments or too little.

Let me explain little bit:
When I visit a blog which barely has few comments, I often leave. I guess this is because the number of comments represents how many visitors blog has, and if it has too little, I would assume that content is not very interesting to read.

On the other hand, when I see a blog post with 30+ comments, I lose my intention to leave a comment because I find it boring to read all the comments just to check if somebody already said what I wanted.

So, how do you react in those two situations?

[ses5909]

I don't leave based on the amount of comments. If they have little to no comments I am actually more inclined to comment. I know a lot of sites get a ton of traffic but no comments.

But like you, I dont want to read through 30 comments to see if what i want to say has been said. If i really want to comment though i will just say that i havent read through the comments but here are my thoughts.

[doorlight]

Small amount of comments doesn't mean the blog entry is not interesting, there are lots of reasons, one of them maybe the blogsite is not that popular.

I really don't care about the number of comments, if i find the entry interesting and easy to read and understand, i would proly comment.

[t(-.-t)]

If I see 100+ comments or whatever I'll usually read just the first 5-10 if any. Anything after that is filled with so much "I agree" that it's not usually worth reading. I'm there for the post/image/video anyway, not the comments so much.

Two exceptions to this rule for me: digg and youtube. Their comments are way worse than a typical popular blog so I don't read them at all :D

[pbradish]

I'll visit the blog regardless of the # of comments they have. There are too many variables to gauge why they might not be receiving comments. If I find it interesting, I'll subscribe :).

[Golgotha]

If I like the post I try to comment whether I'm the first or last makes no difference to me.

I also agree with Sara, the number of comments is not always indicative of the traffic volume. Search-This gets about 2,000 visitors a day, but only about 4 to 5 comments. This doesn't please me, but I think it has to do with the content. People come to learn stuff and not to participate. I'm trying to learn how to fix that... If you have any advice, please do share.

[rhyswynne]

I never look at commenting first or last to be an issue. Usually I'm one of the two as I comment first on UK based blogs (because I live there) and last on UK based blogs (because I'm asleep when they post).

[deronsizemore]

I've never looked at comments as an indicator of popularity or quality. Maybe the blog is just new and the owner hasn't done much to promote, but they have spectacular content?

I'm way more inclined to comment on an article with zero comments than an article with say, 100. Most of the big blog owners get so many comments that it's impossible for them to read them all anyway, so why comment? Unless you're looking for the backlink of course, :) I comment to get into the discussion. I like to comment and then hear the blog owner's response.

[rodaniel]

My traffic stats indicate a slooow - but nonetheless steady - increase in visitors, yet I'm still not getting very many comments on most posts. So, you really can't use that as a gauge of popularity - and I'd like to believe that the lack of comments isn't indicative of the quality of my blog entries.

From the blogger side of things tho, I'll certainly admit that when one of my posts does inspire a few comments, it sure is gratifying. I try not to read too much into it, but comments do kinda validate my efforts a little.

I don't judge another blogger's site based on a scarcity of comments, but I'd have to say that a post that's received several dozen or more than a hundred comments can be a bit overwhelming - there are a finite number of hours in the day, after all...

On a related note, I'd sure appreciate some input about what more I can do to encourage comments on my posts. I've been making something of an effort to pose questions or leave articles sorta open-ended. Do I just need to kick that up another notch or are my posts just not the sort to inspire much feedback?

[Megan]

I'll visit the blog regardless of the # of comments they have. There are too many variables to gauge why they might not be receiving comments. If I find it interesting, I'll subscribe :).

Ditto.

[Cedric]

Ark! That actually hurts those bloggers who are trying hard to impress. Sometimes it's not about they wanted their comments to be little, i bet a lot are praying that the next morning they wake up they'll get like a lot of comments (decent ones) in their blogs. Sometimes it's just because their blogs are not so popular. High 5 to door light. Pity.

And as for those that get like 100+ comments, duh who's gonna read all the comments? Basically you're gonna see comments like... "I agree with you!", "You're right, I agree with you!", "OMG U're so true". For me I would read the post but NOT the comments.

[Dan Schulz]

I can usually tell when a post's comments are a conversation in the making or a "me too" convention. If it's the former, I'll join in. If it's the latter, I'll leave.

[Jewel]

They way that you described yourself also kind of describes me as well, except that sometimes I do give a blog a chance if it doesn't have too many comments, and will be more inclined to leave a comment. I don't mind starting off the discussion in the comments, but I don't want to be the 130th comment.