#42— The Art of Commenting — A collaborative series with James Bellerjeau, Debdutta Pal, and R C Hammond
The Golden Rule of Commenting
Commenting is about giving and receiving, but which comes first?
Young people are often more into receiving gifts than giving them, particularly nowadays. Sometimes it seems the young forget they live in a society. It’s not all about them. But I digress faster than Rachel A Fefer.
However, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s the circle of life.
Babies can’t survive without someone to feed them and therefore heavily focus on receiving. Parents would do anything for their children and concentrate on giving, but they still remember their receiving years, and it can be difficult for them to be selfless. That’s why grandparents are the best, particularly grandmas.
The older one gets, the more pleasure they take from gifting.
The golden rule is about giving first and receiving the fruits of your labor later.
‘Do as you would be done by.’ (Matt. 7:12).
The evident application to commenting is to comment on people’s stories if you want them to comment on yours, but it goes deeper than that.
James Bellerjeau is a young(er) fellow, and it shows in his recent choice to write about the silver rule of commenting¹ (link at the end).
Don’t do to others that which you would not want done to you.
Notice how the spirit of the silver rule is different. It’s not about commenting first. It’s about not leaving potentially offensive comments you would not like to read. Is this because James is a “snowflake?” Is it because he’s a former one-percenter² and is afraid the communist government will come and tax his capital gains? Maybe.
Or I might be purposely misinterpreting his words to stir controversy and increase my read ratio. Everything is possible online. You never truly know.
Still, the silver rule tells you what not to do, while the golden encourages you to act.
I prefer the golden rule because I’m a generous soul and live in my golden years. Also, I live in a gated community in a fiscal paradise and don’t have the potential problems that James could encounter in his neighborhood (I don’t know, I’m hypothesizing here).
That’s why I find a deeper meaning to the golden rule. It’s not only about leaving comments on other people’s stories. That’s the easy part.
If you’re a true adept of the Art of Commenting³, you should write stories that make people want to comment. This is the best gift you can make to Medium’s readers and, incidentally, to your bank account, as the new earnings rules give you additional engagement points when people comment on your stories.
As a believer in the golden rules, I leave you with two gifts.
- If you want people to comment, it’s always good to wedge some politics into your articles. Politics is the bristler of your reader’s metaphorical cat fur.
- And if you want to maximize your earnings, leave your readers with killer one-liners that they will want to highlight and comment on. That’s a win/win, as the new earnings rules also give you extra points for highlights.
Ponder my thoughts, dear readers, and, as always, do share your feedback in the comments. I’m always happy to learn from your wisdom.
¹ Silver Rule of commenting
² One-percenter
³ The Art of Commenting
Grandma Smillew loves her afternoon cup of cocoa, Scrabble, and her grandson, Smillew Rahcuef. She’s also a pink belt in social media and marketing strategies. If you want to make her happy, follow her on Medium and write for one of her publications: All About Medium and Grandma Power.