How Can You be an Awesome Commenter?

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Some members of Ignite Seattle recently appeared at Gnomedex 8.0 to give their short and informative talks to our conference attendees. Monica is a news reporter, and spoke to us about the ways we can all become better news, blog and even forum commenters.

A product of her wired generation, Mónica obsesses over her Facebook profile and can’t remember what life was like before e-mail. She plays on the P-I’s flag football team and calls it a good afternoon when she can tinker with her piano and her Ibanez guitar — and a good evening when she can get out and enjoy the nightlife. A huge film fan, Mónica will often cry at movies people have no business crying in. She can’t cook, but she’s trying.

According to Monica, the Internet has some amazing things for news. One of the things it’s done that is awesome is to make news about the conversation. If people are smart about this, they know they need to take as much responsibility for the quality of the conversation as they do for the quality of news they provide. This means providing the right tools for community moderation, having enough resources to police that community, and that we need your help.

Face it, a lot of comments just suck. They’re angry, or abusive. It’s important to come together, and really integrate what the community has to say. What should you, as a commenter, think about before you comment?

• Think of the impact of what you’re going to say before you say it. If you jump into a conversation about a hot topic, be careful. Being an angry commenter will do you no good, and no one will listen to you. Ignore the trolls. Focus on something smart in the story or post, and comment about that.
• Tell us what you think. You’d be surprised how many people tell us what they think without thinking. Think about the issue. Read the story. Know what you really think and feel… and THEN comment.
• Tell us your story. Maybe the author didn’t get to your story… quote yourself. Tell your side or perspective of a story if you were somehow involved, and it will expand the story as a whole.
• Tell us what you know. Many journalists think they’re really smart. One thing you can do is to put up a study, share a link… whatever will help flesh the story out even more. Just do so with respect. What this does is to bring heads together, which is always better than one.
• The most important thing you can do when leaving a comment is to ask a question. It will keep the conversation going, and you may learn something new. Ask a good question. Explain yourself, and people will do their best to answer.
• Even if a site doesn’t ask you to identify yourself, you still should. Own up to your ideas. Be accountable for what you say.

Everything Monica had to say rings true to me, as a Blogger. I especially love this line: “Many people tell us what they think without actually thinking”. She hit the nail on the head there. Think about what you’re going to write, people. Know what you really think, and believe in it.

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