5 Reasons We Should Be Leaving Comments

(The value of commenting)

As an English professor, I’m used to writing comments on student essays. I was taught that comments are how students learn to improve.

Online article and blog writing is different though.

Comments we place on blogs are less a critique or suggestions for improvement (unless the original poster has specifically asked for that or we are editors of a publication) than they are in academic or professional writing.

Nevertheless, comments on online articles are important and, in my opinion, valuable to both the writer and the commenters.

Reasons We Should Leave a Comment

Number 1: Comments Create Engagement Between the Writer and the Readers

Comments allow writers and readers to communicate and let each other discuss the topic in more depths, with details which may not have been appropriate in the original article.

Number 2: Comments Allow for Readers to Engage with Each Other

Comments also allow readers to engage with each other. Like-minded people get to discuss ideas brought up in the article or in the comment.

Number 3: Comments Provide Social Proof

Comments gives readers the “social proof” that the article is providing the audience with valuable information. The greater the number of comments on an article, the more other readers become curious about what’s going on.

Number 4: Comments Help an Article’s Google Ranking

Comments, especially ones that may contain backlinks, can help an article gain traction in a Google search. I am not an expert on SEO, but I have seen that many of the articles ranking highly on Google searches also have large amounts of comments.

Number 5: Comments are Great Sources for New Ideas/Fresh Content

Comments, when well-developed, can spur ideas for new articles. The engagement between author, commenter, and the topic are perfect incubators for future fresh content.

Final Thoughts

I try to write at least 5–10 comments each day, usually many more. I believe they are important not only for the reasons I’ve mentioned above, but also because comments can be a sort of validation to our fellow writers.

Basically, if someone takes the time to comment, it “probably” means they’ve really enjoyed your article.

Several of the reasons I’ve mentioned above tie into the idea of creating a supportive community that engages with each other. Part of that support is validating each other’s work.

While most blogging platforms do not compensate for comments, they are important forms of encouragement.

I comment on student essays to help them improve their writing, but I feel comments people leave on my articles help me to improve my ideas!

So, I don’t take out my “digital” red pen when I leave comments on Medium, but I do like to further the conversation that began with the article’s content. I think we can all benefit with these types of ongoing conversations.

So, a big thank you to all of you who comment!

(P.S. As of today, I have commented or replied 651 times to people in the last 2 1/2 months. In a couple months, I’ll be happy to have commented 1000 times.)

I would love to get your feedback, as I love interacting with fellow readers and writers. If you’re interested in personal finance, please think about subscribing to “Everyday Finance.”

Also, please check out Jan Sebastian, Ben the Trader, and Mia Seleccion.

They are great people and commenters, who write great articles help make Medium the special place it is.