An Entire Generation Of Commenters Are Gone
October 20, 2006 – 10:04 amby Darren
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I started blogging here in March, and in that time I’ve seen several generations of commenters come and go. I have no idea if this is natural or not. I think some of it could be related to the subject of this blog (professional blogging). Maybe some of them give up, and quit blogging. Out of curiosity I followed through some of the links of the comments from months back, and see just that occured.
I have no idea how many people have started and stopped blogging since March 2006. I assume the number is very high. Some of them probably came through, read a few tips, and failed. Does that mean the tips sucked? NOPE 
That just means they weren’t followed.
I assume other reasons for commenters dropping off would be the quality of the blog. How can you judge it, though? It’s unlikely most people will actually send you a “farewell” email stating the reasons they’re not visiting anymore. It would be nice, but I can’t see it happening.
So to all the fallen commenters, who used to be here: I salute you. Hopefully, you’ve gone on to bigger and better than things than hanging around and talking to me.
What do you think happens to blog commenters who fall off?
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8 Responses to “An Entire Generation Of Commenters Are Gone”
I’m still around mate :), I read your blog everyday but only comment now and then, im lazy like that lol, I do enough typing on my own blogs.
tbh, I think it’s because your tips suck!, they all failed and can’t face to see your site again. Just kidding, great tips and great site, and thanks for it.
I have been blogging about 5 years now, and see comments go up and down all the time, the biggest factor apart from visitor numbers is the subject of the article. If the commenter has something interesting to say, they will probably say it, if not they won’t say a word.
I often find it annoying when you spent time writing a big article and get no feed back or thanks on it, or even worse if someone complains about it, as if they deserve to be on your site and you a running a service for them!
I’m sure most people read and appreciate the posts but just don’t say much about it in return, unless they have an input.
Also I agree with you about the death of commentors / bloggers, I think they Ive it a shot, all full of “what could become” wait a few months, the enthusiasm wears off and ….. and then thats it. Most don’t realize they need to be in it for the long run.
Two of my longest running sites are number 4 and #15 in google for 64,500,000 results, I put a lot of this down to the time the blogs have existed. This is the way I look at my new blogs, they can only grow and rank higher over time
By Matt on Oct 20, 2006
Reasons I stop reading/commenting on a blog:
1) The blogger never replies to comments or e-mail (if you bother to e-mail) as if the reader is not important enough to receive a response, or the blogger is just much too popular to care if they lose one reader.
2) The blogger has become boring, negative, or otherwise uninteresting to me.
3) I go through phases and just randomly decide a different blog interest (for awhile I read a ton of food blogs, for awhile I read a lot of artsy blogs, and so forth).
The biggest though is the first reason.
I am reading yours every few days, for what it is worth…
By Gina on Oct 20, 2006
I know what you mean about the personal contact.
I’ve sent interview requests to tons of people who completely ignored them. I’m probably less likely to give a shit about what they write, once they ignore me.
By Darren on Oct 20, 2006
Damn right about being ignored, nothing more turns you off of a blogger / blog than that, if they can’t even be bothered to email you back, even if it was a short polite “no” that would be better.
I never received a reply from you Daren via email on two occasions, I put it down to email problems though… I hope lol.
By Matt on Oct 20, 2006
I’ve had a few intermittent email problems (due to Qmail), but I think they’re resolved.
By Darren on Oct 20, 2006
I get bored easily and often load up too much on myself to cope. It’s why I bookmark stuff and read it when I have time.
By TechZ on Oct 20, 2006
I don’t think that the generation of commenters are gone .. they’ve just evolved. The individuals reading blogs on “how to blog” have moved on and started their own blog. The individuals reading blogs on “how to make money while blogging” have also moved on and perfecting their blogs trying to succeed and probably have their own little niches and mini-network of blogs and are too busy to comment. The individuals that have just been around here long enough tend to realize that most of the stuff in blogs is NOT new, is NOT news and isn’t all that special or unique. However, you just never know and I’ll bet that most of the previous generation continue to read and hope there is ways to contribute .. and instead of commenting with actual comments, you start seeing more trackbacks.
I remember reading Problogger when he just hit 400 readers in his feedburner account and (I thought) felt like I was contributing to his discussions. Now - there is always something new, but not always new stuff that I don’t know. (Granted, its probably more eloquent than I would be). But I keep reading every post and if I can contribute to the betterment of the conversation - I try! Also, if the post just makes me want to comment (a good thing) I will offer my two cents or interpretation if I’m in the mood.
I think now - for myself - my generation is still reading comments but expanding our links or base of blogs and surfing other commenter’s sites. For instance - I just discovered Matt and his two network of blogs here (Musiqman/TodyasTechBlog) and added a few more good blogs to my Bloglines.
(my 2cents)
By HART (1-800-HART) on Oct 23, 2006