Tell us like it is: What would you want our JJL Comment Culture to be?

We ended up building a campfire alongside that picnic table we stopped at on Jubilation Way, then broke out the marshmallows, and started roasting them. Swapping our stories got to be so much fun!

When evening came, finding us still there and trading the marbles, we looked for some kindling to build our campfire with, figuring that settling in for a night and resting would be a good idea:

Keep the conversation going more easily.
"You can now follow your comments like you do your feeds...."

Once a small fire got going, several people added more twigs.

The flames burned off some captcha bark that was still on the kindling, and the embers took pretty quickly after that. Before we knew it, there was enough light for Joanna to start journaling furiously,  and Steve helped her dot some i's and bold her P's. Then he shared an Irish Blessing with Dean, which got Ariane to come sit by the fire too, a book by Beverly E. Taylor called Clutter to Clarity tucked under her arm for sharing.

When Dave sat down (he had packed the marshmallows, smart man!) we started to talk about the value of effort over outcome, deciding that Dave did great with both.

Turns out it was good we stayed and got the fire started, for then David came with a whole bunch of people. They had stopped to pick up April after some game she didn't want to miss, and they were having so much fun on the way over, they missed the signpost the first time they drove by, and so boy, were they ever ready to get warmed up quickly as it got darker and the evening air turned brisk.

So now, there is a true, road warriors party just waiting to happen here.

For this evening though, the mood is a bit more calm and subdued as we get our energies back from the very eventful day. Marshmallows and eggplant make an interesting, and surprisingly good dinner, and the discussion is getting very thoughtful.

We're talking about Joyful Jubilant Learning, where we all had gotten our directions to make it this far, and about the comment culture there. The phrase "comment culture" is one a few of us had read about over at Skellie's place. She had written:

Create a comment-culture on your blog. We all want more comments. If you want something, sometimes the route which seems too obvious to work is actually the answer.

One of the reasons the Four-Hour Work Week blog consistently gets a lot of comments is because the author actively encourages them. Asking readers what they think, responding to their input, holding comment-competitions and using comments as case studies (or answering questions in posts) are all simple things you can do to create a comment-culture on your blog: where readers feel as if it’s not only OK to comment, but that it will be worth their time and that you’re interested in what they’ve got to say. Participating in comments at your own blog is another highly effective way to build a comment culture.

Comment Culture has a nice sound to it, don't you think? Most of us sitting around the campfire think so, and so for tonight, we're still talking about it. We probably will until the marshmallows are gone and people start yawning and break out their bedrolls.

It will be a while though... Do you want me to tell them what you think about it when I go back to the fire?

We want to get up pretty early, because Dean is excited about some sundials he says are nearby, and Tim remembers them too. A few of us have been thinking about helping Dwayne on his "elder honor" mission, for we understand so many of them are wonderfully wise gatekeepers, maybe even here along Jubilant Way.

Are you an early riser too? Steve is positive there will be geese honking in the morning overhead, waking us up anyway. He says they can make way more noise than roosters when you're out in the open like this.

Have a marshmallow and think about it, okay? No, not the geese (maybe later), think about our comment culture.

Oh good, there is still some grilled eggplant left for you too.
~ Rosa Say, for Joyful Jubilant Learning

Yella Mella Macra on Flickr by flattop341

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So what do you think?

Besides those things Skellie got us started with, what would you want our JJL Comment Culture to be?

If you have never commented here before, this would be a great time to jump in and start! We would really, truly love to hear from you.

 

Comments

[tim]

First of all...another great "community" post by Rosa...working hard to include all of us in her links. This post looks like it was fun to write for you Rosa!

As for the comment culture, comments can be just as informative as an actual post. Comments tend to add credibility to a blog because it shows that people are reading and a conversation is taking place.

Some people don't have the time, energy, or desire to write a post, but they can easily reply, respond, and add to a post already written. There's nothing second class about being a commenter alone.

Comment Commandos...keep it coming. Your investment is greatly appreciated.

[Rosa Say]

Thanks Tim, and yes, this was fun to write - all of you give me a lot to work with!

Now into my fourth year of BlogLand adventuring, your observation brought several bloggers into mind for me, people I have watched and read over these years who I knew for a good amount of time only as commenters. They were tremendous coaches, and the potential to be "citizen publishers" was clearly there, but because they chose to comment and not publish for a while, they developed the content strength that would eventually show up in their own blogs when they decided to go for it. During that period of time they *only* commented, they were very focused on either what they wanted to say, or on connecting with the conversation - whether with the author or other commenters. They built a community following long before they got distracted with blog design, widget collection, SEO and stats obsession.

These are the people who start a blog, and seemingly get quick success, with other bloggers trying to decipher their magic formula, when actually, they've been around for a while - and they've been LEARNING.

[Joanna Young]

Tim, I love the idea of being a comment commando!

Rosa, I appreciate your asking of this question too. For me JJL does have a strong comment culture, with lots of interesting discussion on nearly every post. In some places the reflections, the questions, the learning is profound and as I wrote the other day, for me it's often where the most significant learning takes place.

I sometimes wonder if this very comment culture gets in the way of readers (who are not contributors) jumping in, because it looks as if we all know each other (if only they knew it was just through these conversations!) But I'm not sure we can get round that - perhaps it's just a consequence of running a community written blog.

Joanna

[Rosa Say]

I would say you are probably right Joanna, that it can be a deterrent at first. Oddly, we can think of it as a good case for lurking! I'd encourage everyone to think of it is the same hesitation we all encounter in face-to-face conversations when we meet someone for the first time: If we are introduced to a stranger by a mutual acquaintance, we will normally smile and enter the conversation slowly and humbly, listening to their familiar banter first and letting them carry most of it, but eventually we do speak up and engage.

My hope is that readers keep returning to the comment conversations and look for their entry into whatever is being talked about - sometimes it gets to be very different from the original post that had been the catalyst! I think that's a big part of where the learning you refer to comes in, for I notice that within the comments we are learning to ask each other very good questions!