Nablopomo for June: Comment

This month's theme is COMMENT and the blubs for it are appropriately loquacious.  For example, here the one from the website:

Uh... I'm kinda sorta super into commenting as an art form. Let's face it; it gets short shrift. People delete comments or moderate comments or make you jump through hoops to leave a comment. Some people -- GASP! -- close their comment box.

But writing a good comment is akin to writing a good letter. It reaches out, it connects two people, it closes the circuit that flows between blog writer and blog reader. A blog is a conversation; not a one-way flow of communication. So this month, NaBloPoMo is celebrating the comment.

Okay, so did I mean by that title that you're going to increase the number of comments you leave or the number of comments you receive. Yes. I mean, both. Commenting on other people's blogs tends to increase the number of people who comment on your blog. Sort of in the same way that inviting people to do things with you increases the number of invitations you receive in return. Is it a perfect system: no. But in general, the best way to increase the number of comments you receive is to go leave them for other people. And be patient.

We're going to look at why we comment, or why we don't comment. We'll discuss who owns the comment section, setting a commenting policy, and what to do with hurtful comments. Best of all, we'll look back at old comments, celebrating the really good ones, and in turn, people will start thinking about what makes a good, lasting comment.

If you're looking for a challenge this month, consider joining IComLeavWe (International Comment Leaving Week). It's a monthly practice akin to NaBloPoMo except the focus is on honing your commenting skills. All you have to do is leave five comments per day during the week of June 21st to June 28th, and additionally, return the commenting favour for one of your commenters by clicking on their top post and leaving a comment. Six comments per day for seven days -- that's it. What you'll get is a brand new way of looking at the blogosphere. And yes, IComLeavWe is open to any and every blogger.

Follow over the jump for the comment that was sent out by email and more on IComLeavWe.

Here's what Melissa wrote in the email, where's she's just as chatty as she was on the website:

I love comments. I'm guessing you do too. The comment box is on our blog for a reason: we want people to use it. Comments are like getting a verbal hug (or... I guess... a verbal punch in the gut if the comment is hateful in nature). They let us know that people are reading; that our words are reaching real, live people.

So we're going to celebrate the almighty comment on NaBloPoMo this month. In turn, you may find that the number and type of comments on your blog changes this month as people join you in thinking about what makes a good comment or who owns the comment section.

Can I promise you that the comments you receive will increase if you join along for NaBloPoMo? Uh... no. BUT what I can promise you is that being mindful about comments, being clear with your readers how important comments are to you, and commenting elsewhere has the high likelihood of increasing your comments. So, consider this a twofer: you not only get a month of blog posts helping you hone your writing skills, but you also may tap into a renaissance of comment receiving and comment giving.

In fact, we're pairing with IComLeavWe (International Comment Leaving Week) this month, as we have in the past. Commenting leaving is practically its own art form, separate from blogging. The act of leaving a comment can change someone's world. It can be the difference from someone continuing to blog and someone fading away.

So... yeah... we're going to talk about commenting this month because comments are important. And we're going to vow to leave more comments because commenting is still writing. Who is with me?

IComLeavWe has its own icon and description.

Commenting kicks off every month on the 21st. Please mark it somewhere (calendar, post-it note taped to your computer…), though I will be sending out an email reminder on the 20th. Commenting week runs from the 21st to the 28th. Every day, leave 5 comments and return 1 comment for a total of 6 comments. You are highly encouraged to choose the blogs you comment on from the participants list below, but this is not required.

This looks like a very rich theme for this month.  I value comments enough that they form the basis for a lot of the entries here, as evidenced by the labels I recycle comments and I get comments.  Also, recycled comments form the core of my entire series of entries about The Archdruid.  In fact, I have about ten entries worth of material I've saved up from comments on Greer's blog that I've been sitting on all May.  With this theme, I now have a convenient reason to resume posting them.  I also have other comments that I left at Kunstler's blog, Michigan Liberal, Fabius Maximus, and elsewhere that are worthy of recycling.  There are also comments left here that I have responded to and deserve to be featured as entries of their own.  In addition, the prompts for this month look promising.  My readers may not be enthused about reading what I write, but I'm already enthused about writing this month's entries.

As for the directive to "Sign up for June's NaBloPoMo and get ready to comment," I already have and am looking forward to it.