Tuesday 13 August 2013

A Problem with Comments - A Trend?

Copyright © 2013 Mark Kelly
I thought I'd do a short posting about something I've found to be both frustrating and irritating at the same time: commenting on other bloggers' posts.

It's becoming a real pain in the arse! Why?

Namely Google+ and Disqus, and there are probably other formats too I've yet to encounter. If you are not joined to these sites and have an account, then when it comes to posting a comment it asks you to sign in.

Grrrr! I don't want either, nor any other, thank you.

Asides from that, I notice that blogs with these in place have very few, if any, comments. This makes me feel sad for the blogger concerned; not knowing if anyone is reading or even bothered with their blog. I could be very wrong. But not having the option to post via some other system is, to my mind, reducing comments and turning away readers who do actually enjoy posting feedback/comments, but whom do not wish to sign up to either Google+ or Disqus. I am of the latter.

Any thoughts on these methods of blogging? Do you use either, or both, or any other avenue? If so, what have you found to be beneficial in doing so, and have you noticed a decline in the number of comments on your blog posts since converting over?

Appreciate your input (if any) and thank you for stopping by :)

21 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

With Google+, you also have to uncheck the box or your comment will be posted on your Google+ wall. Not fond of that.
Still prefer Blogger's comment box. Obviously it doesn't hinder comments.

Heather M. Gardner said...

I don't know what you're referring to but just keep talking, I'm enjoying your accent.

HMG

Jeremy [Retro] said...

i stick with the old fashion blogger comments, the others i have been on them enough that i start to type and my info comes up... i too don't want it to be complicated. what i hate is people have the "CAPTCHA" on and tell me it's to prevent spam, yet they still have the author has to approve... okay i get it, but really do you need both... turn off the "CAPTCHA"... in my best darkness voice... not you others.

Maria Zannini said...

I had a friend who used Google+ (I don't use it.) I emailed her privately because I didn't want her to think I was ignoring her when I couldn't post a comment.

After she lost several of her regulars she decided to discontinue using Google+. I don't like being manipulated to join a group just to comment.

Pat Hatt said...

Blogger is the best one, pffft to the other crap they give a run. Google + just gets hate. And Disquis I ignore those ones at any rate. Blogger or wordpress I will do, the rest can of those can get flushed down the loo.

Mark K said...

I was on Google+ not so long ago when designing book covers (or at least, trying to) and briefly converted my blog over to G+. I hated it and soon dumped it for a return to what I know and love best.

Maybe it's a sign that I'm getting old, but if it ain't broke, why fix it :P

Anthony Simeone said...

Yeah I hate those fancy commenting things.

Mark K said...

Accent? Me? Nah. I'm very neutral, really. Funny, I was amused at how similar our tastes are: chocolate, cat owners, book collectors (hoarder is such a smutty term), blood donor and on the bone marrow list... but zombies?! Really.

Mark K said...

Exactly. And I think it's the way the social media scene is being manipulated, sometimes covertly I feel, into herding us into ways of using the various communication platforms that only really benefit those who run them.

If I have to be a sheep, I'll be a ram, thank you.

Mark K said...

Hey Pat, thanks for stopping by and sharing - nice to have you here.

I've tried Wordpress, but Bloggers simple set up keeps me firmly here, though WP does have some beautiful looking skins I will admit.

Same reason I left FaceBook, due to all the crap flying about and the constant changes the implement in order to raise numbers and revenue.

I understand some writers use these platforms in order to self promote otherwise they don't get a sniff, but if the devil was an internet presence, I'd liken it to social media... who else could (potentially) get you to sign over your life? ;)

Mark K said...

Basic, plain and simple - works for me every time.

Thanks for stopping by, Anthony, nice to see you here and have you add to the mix :)

Mark K said...

PS: love the Larry Elmore pic :)

Based on his work, I bought and started collecting all the American editions of the Dragonlance Saga paperbacks. Those covers were a pure joy to look at. I still have them now :)

Mark K said...

Urgh... Captcha drives me crazy. I quite often find myself wondering if my eyesight is failing me when trying to decipher those bloody things.

I turned mine off the first time I entered the A-Z Blogfest, and never went back to it. As for having the blog owner approval in place as well? Bizarre.

Did anyone ever tell you that with eyes closed that voice of yours could pass for a young Darth Vader doing his best Family Guy impression of Stewie? *shivers*

??? said...

Disqus has an option to let people post as guest, with just a name and an email address (that doesn't need to be valid). I like using Disqus because it allows this, because it gives me greater control of comments that Blogger and because it catches spam much better than Blogger which was a serious problem at my photoblog.

But the G+ comment system needs to be killed with fire. Yes, I have a G+ account, but I don't use it and I don't want to use it for comments. But once a blog migrated to G+, you have no choice.

Mark K said...

Ok, good news about the Disqus commentary option. But totally agree with you on the G+ thing. Horrible experience.

Charlie Warren said...

I turned on the G+ comments for a few days. I switched back to blogger to keep it simple and not to force people to sign up for yet another service. Besides, I participate quite frequently in OSR discussions and in addition to Old School Revival or Old School Renaissance I would like to think it stands for something like Openly Sharing Resources. In short, it makes it kinda hard to share if you put up another wall.

Anthony Simeone said...

Hey, glad to be here! I apologize if my post above was not necessarily the most profound or verbose! All I know is, the Disqus thing has caused me no end of trouble!!! And I'm glad to meet another Elmore aficionado!

Mark K said...

Forgot to mention, I also collected the Dragonlance Calendars - actually, when I can, I shall dig out both the books and calendars and do a visual homage to the great Larry Elmore :)

DEZMOND said...

I think that most of those options have a way for you to post as a guest, but you have to write in your name, site and other things each time which becomes tiresome quite quickly :) Meanwhile, Blogger has problems with spammers which is why my own site only allows you to comment if you put in some kind of your link or if you're at Blogger.

Mark K said...

I fully understand and appreciate why folks want to protect their blogs from spammers, and I've no problem with that, but as you point out, having to sign in over and over and over again is a real pain.

Easier if folks just do the 'cleared by the blog owner' thing. Nice and easy, plus you get a nice list of blog spammers to boot :)

Jeremy [Retro] said...

yes... my ominous voice, i cannot read captcha's and i had vowed not to visit or at least comment to places that have them.