How To Write Good Comments On Blogs And Forums

Blogs and forums are the new water cooler.  Except they’re better because you get to talk to a mass of people, instead of just the same blokes at the office.   If you run your own website, commenting on other blogs can even be a very helpful way of driving traffic to it.

How do you write comments that add positive value to the ongoing conversations?

1. Stay on topic.  If you’re going to comment on a specific post, you’re expected to add value to the topic at hand.  Got something else on your mind?  Then best keep it to yourself (or write about it elsewhere).

2. Expand on information in the original post.  In real-life, picking up on keywords and following up on it is a very effective technique for extending conversations.  You can either ask for clarification, expand on the topic or offer up your two cents.

3. Expand on information in the comments.  Same principle as above, except you choose to focus on items from the comments section.  Be careful to keep your responses on topic, though.  Commenting on comments is a slippery road that have many online conversations astray.

4. Share personal experiences.  Your opinion is valuable, but your experience is even more so.  If you have successes, failures and other similar real-life stories that are relevant to the subject, be willing to share them.

5. Write clearly.  If you want to use commenting as a way to get people to your own website, make sure you write in a way that they will understand.  Poor writing skills are only likely to encourage people to stay away.  Use a grammar-checking software if you have doubts.

How To Convey An Objective Tone

When you peruse the web for writing advice, you’ll see people recommending that you try to write in a more personal tone.  It’s a good suggestion to heed, too, since it leads to a richer and deeper relationship with the reader.

Problem is, not all writing has to be that way.  Sometimes, especially when you’re writing for academe or official industry publications, you’ll need to write with a more detached tone.

Writing produced in this manner will need to be performed in an objective manner, for the most part.  How impersonal it has to be written will depend, in large part, to your particular field and the accepted norms for expressing ideas on paper.

That’s right, there’s a degree.  Most of the time, it will still make sense to assert your identity as the author.  However, knowing when to do so is often the point of confusion.  For instance, using first person pronouns throughout a paper is common in mathematics, but is generally shunned in many fields of engineering.

If you’re doing a thesis or preparing a paper, make sure to consult someone knowledgeable (e.g. your advisor) about this.  Most industries will also have style guides published by professional organizations that you can follow.  Lastly, there are some specialized writing software out there, designed specifically for specific professions.   You should exhaust all those avenues if you wish to produce a piece that adheres to all proper standards.

How To Write Objectively

To effectively convince many readers of the validity of your main thesis, you will need to demonstrate objectivity in your writing.  This is especially true of audiences who are averse to your position to begin with – any hint of subjectivity can give them the ammunition they need to immediately shoot it down.

Writing subjectively isn’t particularly bad.  If you’re writing a personal letter, in fact, it’s usually called for.  For many forms of writing, though, it gets progressively difficult to get your message across the less objective you get.

So how do you write in a more objective manner?

Watch for “I.” The easiest test of subjective bias is to watch out for the use of the first person pronoun, I.  If you find the word showing up one or more times in your work, then it’s likely you’ve erred on the side of subjective writing.

Be fair. Even though you’re looking to push a particular point of view in your writing, it’s only fair  to acknowledge the opposing ideas.  Make sure to give it, especially those that are valid, ample exposure, too.

Review your work. Apart from proofreading for grammar, fixing up your work with a writing software and editing for content, you will also need to review your work for objectivity.  Try to gauge how non-partisan your work sounds and revise accordingly.


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