Comments on: Why Comments Matter

By: The Mabelhood - Mabel’s Labels BlogHer ‘09 Contest

The Mabelhood - Mabel’s Labels BlogHer ‘09 Contest — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:43:54 +0000

[...] MeleeCeaseless PraisesIma on (and off) the BimaThe Sun Shines InCatching CaseySAHM Reviewsoh 21 22What About Mom BlogQueenies Little KingdomMIT MommyTippy Toes and TantrumsWhat’s That Smell?EstherKeepin’ [...]

By: Julia

Julia — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 06:52:38 +0000

My sister-in-law recommended this post to her readers yesterday. I just thought that you might like to know that your popularity is spreading even more. Here’s the blog entry where she says, “I read a great post on a blog today.”
http://mcgrawland.blogspot.com/2009/03/other-peoples-blogs.html

By: Monkey's Momma

Monkey's Momma — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 03:09:41 +0000

Hi There! Monkey’s Momma here. Found you through The Mom Nerd. There are times that I am at my job that pays my bills (I am a nurse), but all I can think about is something I want to post soon. I will hide somewhere and check my email on my phone to see if I have any comments. It only takes one silly comment from one of my bloggy buds to turn my night around and make me smile.

By: Erin

Erin — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:45:03 +0000

Hey, I’m actually doing a no comment week this week on my blog! And I have to admit that I have really been enjoying it. I think it’s because I am stressed out with an upcoming trip, and I felt like the comments would stress me out more. But I also realize after this week that I am blogging because I want to and I like it, and not just for comments. I will be posting about it tomorrow. Anyway, thanks for this post!

By: Julia

Julia — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:26:50 +0000

It was me. I did it. I stole your stuff. I have since added the link to your blog on my post as well. Just trying to give credit where credit is due. Thanks for all your great insights!

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 20:18:47 +0000

Your legacy quickly travels. My cousin posted this entry on her blog, based off the copy I personalized on my blog. Cool, huh. Kudos!

Here are someone’s comments on it:

“That’s a great post. I totally feel the same way, I like comments. But some of my blog readers only read blogs every couple weeks, so remember that. That is a great list that women wrote. I wonder if she knows it?”

You can see her copy of my copy of your original, here:
http://armywifemomof3.blogspot.com/

By: Rootatemirece

Rootatemirece — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 03:34:36 +0000

Interesting and educational, but would participate in something more on this topic?

By: Maggie

Maggie — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 18:02:10 +0000

What an awesome post…thanks for laying it out like that. Just makes me want to blog more…and mother more. Mother the kids I have more, I mean, not mother more children. But if anybody wants to drop a baby by for a few hours, that’s fine.

By: Beck

Beck — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 01:13:20 +0000

Good post! Thanks for commenting at my place.
Comments are why I blog, I think. Who wants to write into a soundless void?
(now check your email! And no, I didn’t block you.)

By: Jillian

Jillian — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 23:58:28 +0000

Jane,
Normally I don’t comment on posts (laziness I guess), but I’ve been following your blog a while. This post was great perspective for me, someone who wants to become a sahm shortly. Thanks for all the insight!

By: Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah

Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:23:41 +0000

Wow. That was amazingly accurate. I can completely relate. I don’t know if I should laugh or cry. I’ll do both.

By: Sharla

Sharla — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:38:53 +0000

I sure am glad that you are so much better at saying things that I’ve thought and felt. That way I can pop over here and sit nodding my head or laughing or feeling a bit more validated and not so alone. Reading your list it seems like #7 is the only real perk. Thanks for being real Jane.

By: GWP: Choosing Happiness Part I | MamaBlogga

GWP: Choosing Happiness Part I | MamaBlogga — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:14:50 +0000

[...] Why Comments Matter by Jane of What About Mom—parallels between blogging and motherhood, always good . Taking it to the next level, validation, even better . [...]

By: Nikki

Nikki — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:34:44 +0000

Wow, you nailed it on the head! I love to blog and read blogs and “spy” on other people’s lives/homes/faults. haha But of the blogs I read, you are one of the few that I consider very gifted in writing. I enjoy your writing and your sense of humor and your view on life. I’m glad you blog and hope you won’t be giving it up anytime soon.

By: Tiffany

Tiffany — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 13:41:49 +0000

There is nothing quite as exciting as getting the emails from your blog with comments! It always makes me feel a tad bit giddy.

By: Tom Johnson

Tom Johnson — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 05:34:31 +0000

Very insightful. I especially like the points about how you’re never finished, and how you do it because you love it. Personally, I also value comments. Without them, blogging isn’t nearly as fun.

In a way, my sometimes marginalized position as a tech writer in an IT dept. — where tech writers are at the bottom of the IT totem pole, far below developer gods — does propel me to seek validation and respect online through my blog, I guess. I have my own little following in the world I have created.

By: Kirsty

Kirsty — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 04:17:07 +0000

I think getting feedback and engaging with your readership is valuable, and perhaps important for you Jane because you seem to want to connect with your audience, rather than splat information at them. (I don’t know enough about/of Dooce and other super-bloggers to know if that’s really them, or how they’ve become due to uber-popularity). I think it probably also helps when you’re a Mum to get a sense of community (beyond what you already have with family, church, and so on). That validation of “Yeah, my kid did that thing where they shoved the Snobby Lobby beads up their noses” or “Gee, my kids don’t do that gross thing, but let me tell you about this other gross thing they do”.

I think your blog is your own room, in the Woolf sense. And if at heart you are a storyteller, writer, author, sharer, then you need that room.

By: Marianne

Marianne — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 02:52:47 +0000

Oh yes. comments DO matter. I know I emailed you during the blackout and told you that I’d blog no matter what, even if no one commented.

And I would.

But I still look at some of the posts I write, the ones I think are some of my better writing, and wonder, Why the silence?

Excuse me while I kick myself for whining in your comment section.

But here’s the thing: I don’t think I’m as thought-provoking or as willing to face controversy as a blogger as you are. I think if I laid it all out there a little more (and I am very aware of how much I do hold back on my blog), I’d get more of a response, both positive and negative.

By: tracey

tracey — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 01:07:14 +0000

Comments DO matter, otherwise we’d just be writing journals. I have journals for different reasons. I blog to connect and communicate.

By: Becky @ scripture mom

Becky @ scripture mom — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 23:38:43 +0000

Jane, Great post! One of the best I have read lately for sure. Last week I finally had a post the got more than 10 comments. That was a first for me, but now I want more. I feel like a drug addict sometimes.