Commenting as a Social Networking Tool

Social networking can’t be boiled down into neat bullet points. It’s an ever-changing, growing beast that started as cocktail parties and business organizations and has now spread to pretty much take over the Internet. That’s not a bad thing, necessarily (though it can be from a privacy standpoint).

Regardless, there’s one part of social networking that I think many people overlook, and that’s commenting. Sometimes I feel like social networking sites are a bunch of people thrown into a room, all yelling information about themselves…but no one is actually talking to one another. For social networking to work, there has to be conversation, and online conversation starts with comments.

I previously wrote at another website focused specifically on blogging. There, I did an experiment where I commented on a large number of other blogs all in the span of a week just to see how much traffic would come from it an how many bloggers would comment back or start following my blog. I made sure that my blog was filled with interesting, timely posts and that my comments were interesting and relevant (not just link spam). The result was a bit disappointing, I have to admit. Few bloggers came to my site, and after a week, my traffic dropped back down to where it was, so I’m guessing that very few, if any, started following me.

Image: sxc.hu

When you move away from the blogging world, however, comments can actually be a lot more beneficial. On social networking sites like LinkedIn or Facebook, and even on social bookmarking sites like Digg, comments can spark new friendships and connections. In turn, more people will promote your work, visit your website, and think of you when they need projects completed. Commenting is social networking is much, much, much more beneficial than commenting on blogs.

That’s not to say that you shouldn’t comment on blogs. While I don’t think it should be the focus of your social networking, commenting on your peers’ blogs can help add really important information to the conversation. Over time, if you comment enough, you also become a part of the community on the website, and you could definitely make some new long-lasting friends.

The bottom line? Commenting is important as a social networking tool. If for no other reason, every time you leave a comment, your name is getting out there, and even if only one other person see it, that’s one more person who knows your name than yesterday.