I came across this long but important post on www.squarestate.net . The article focuses on a PR effort by a group that has been executed poorly – mostly because the comments are neither engaging, nor relevant to the existing conversation. And, lastly they are similar in form every time they comment. Ultimately sounding “spammy”:
3) It wasn’t very sophisticated blog-commenting. In fact, DC/AIP/DCl/J/OVD/VWB/AW does no discussion on any of the sites I checked out, other than the one responding comment here at SquareState. It makes for less credibility on a blog that has a fairly tight user community. Further, the similarity of comments across multiple sites has a vaguely spammy look to me, which decreases credibility further.
There is much more to this post, and you should all really read it, but it is this one central point that is so critical. After all, participating in the conversation, being an active participant and engaging the voices that exist is what makes the blogosphere such a strong medium. We need to nurture that and be part of the conversation, add to it in a way that reinforces that sense of common connection and open conversation. These are all central qualities to the blogosphere.
Just swooping in and doing, as the author says, “drive-by comments” is not of any value to anyone. It is annoying, like a pop-up ad. We have to be part of the experience. Blogs are “not just another medium” they are a community that survives and thrives on the participation of all members in a meaningful way. Yes, we can see this realm as an incredible marketing resource – and it is true, it provides all kinds of opportunities for all kinds of products and services. But, this in no way negates the true relevance of the participatory bloggers and engaging and relevant comments.
If people start spamming the comments on blogs, it will ultimately reduce the vibrancy and value of the blog realm, because individual blogs will have to start developing increasingly secure and sophisticated defenses against spammy comments. This will in turn result in the reduction of openness and participatory readers. A cycle that will force the blog realm to shift increasingly to a closed system rather then the open and powerful one that exists now.
I think this is a post that everyone should read. Here is the link just in case you missed it at the beginning. www.squarestate.net
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