p e n g u i n d e v i l

I was checking out some blogs (being the only person awake in the house compells me to stay that way) when I came across Wineplz, a new blog and another of the “31 for 21” gang. She mentioned that the October 3rd was “the Great Mofo Delurk day”, where you are supposed to actually comments on the blogs you read. I had to comment on that, as I thought it was a good idea. I am one of those who likes to comment (though, admittedly my comments tend to be: not entertaining, a little too opinionated and maybe overly long… Suprise, suprise). Commenting is an interesting idea and I have wondered about how the “average” blog’s “comment dynamics” work. I once decided that a blog gets one comment for every 70 visitors, that blogs tend to have a core group of regular commenters, some bloggers respond to the coments, some bloggers don’t, they tend to (for me at least) come in waves… And then there are the different styles: the brief “yeah, alright” comments, the short “thoughtful response” comments, the long-winded “here’s my take” comments… All are good (though I don’t normally do the first and I’m not too good at the second), not just for the sake of reading but because I think that everyone who writes a blog likes to think that someone out there is reading it and agrees or disagrees with something you’ve said.

That said, I do understand why someone might think, “what’s really the point of commenting? Of making a response to some random things that a stranger out on the internet said.” I suppose that you could say the same thing about blogging in the first place. Though I am by nature a lurker in all aspects of life, blogs get a bit more out of me. I imagine that people who tend to blog, tend to comment and probably find it fun to comment, plus it is another way of being an active participant in this funny little community of those who do this typing for all the world to see.

So as you can see, lord know who kind of stuff this 31 for 21 will get out of me, away from my movies and all…