No, there can’t be another 50 reasons why someone won’t leave a comment on your blog.

Heads-up! This is NOT 50 reasons I won’t comment on your blog. Actually, it’s more about the many reasons floating around about why a comment won’t be left on your latest article, opinion piece, or tutorial. Once a topic like that takes off, every Tommy, Dickie, and Janie jumps on it and writes about it. To make matters worse, every other Tom, Dick, and Harriet writes a comment, like … “Me, too!” “Yeah!” “I ain’t commenting, neither!”

Here are my comments on some of those comments about why they don’t wanna comment … Redundancy at it’s best, I daresay.

The State of the Union

Can you feel it? The general atmosphere. The un-ambience. The whispers in the dark.

It’s your fault …
You’re an idiot!
You don’t know how to play the game.
Fix it like I said, or else!
You’ll be ignored, deleted, or both.
Meet me at the guillotine!

You’ve entered the state of the union where “No comment!” is the order of the day.

The President Has A Comment

First, I’ll call your attention to the image above. It’s a snippet from a letter our esteemed U.S. President Lincoln wrote to his colleague James H. Hackett in 1863. He was being bombarded by comments in the newspapers of the time and had “endured much ridicule.” The President was thick-skinned but still human. While he was able to suck it up, tuck in his beard, and deal with media and meanies, I’m sure some of those comments had a less-than-pleasant effect on him.

Imagine if he had a blog?

Go a little further with me, and envision him reading the blogs of his contemporaries. Being the Statesman that he was, I can see him choosing the most prevalent comments about commenting and delivering a rebutting oratory.

{Insert your own favorite statesman here, hearing his sincere, booming voice}

I can hear him reminding us of the importance of communication, of give-and-take, and about taking the conversation to the people. He extols the virtues of being the bigger man (or woman), wearing the mantle of role model proudly, and extending a hand to help build, rather than erode, confidence.

To a crescendo of applause (or an avalanche of heckling), he drives home his point about leaving a blogging legacy worthy of a king. Ever the gentleman, he models the etiquette necessary to maintain order, goodwill, and customer relationships.

Lincoln: Pro Blogger!

Of course, I’m no Lincoln (no beard, no tophat, no statesman!). But, I thought I’d tackle this anyway. And off we go . . .

They Say They Won’t Leave A Comment Because …

I ain’t commenting because no one else has made a comment

Sing along with me (in a high-pitched child’s voice): “Nah, nah, na, nah, nah!”

“Nobody likes you!”

“Your stuff ain’t all that!”

“I AM NOT going to be the first one who leaves a comment!!!”

You’ve got to be kidding me, right? If you truly said this, you really don’t mind being a part of the herd, maybe even the rear end. *shakes head*

You, My Ex-Friend, Have Installed A Third-Party Commenting System!

And that means, you don’t want to be my friend, right? Or it means you are no longer interested in hearing what I have to say, right? Or …

Some folk are experimenting, maybe even to their detriment, but they do have that right. Yes, I do intensely dislike LiveFyre. So truthfully, nope, I don’t comment on blogs that have it. If it worked correctly, perhaps I would. I don’t really care for the Intense Debate or Disqus commenting systems, either, but encountering a blog that uses one of them WILL NOT prevent me from sharing my own comment, especially if I really have something to say.

Let’s not forget the newest variation on this one . . .

“What? You don’t have CommentLuv installed? I can’t comment here!”

Don’t get me wrong, I L-O-V-E CommentLuv. I’ve been a CL ambassador from way back, promoted the last launch of the free plugin with gusto, and can’t wait for the Premium Edition to be released. (Wow, I’ve been selected as a CommentLuv Premium Beta Tester!) Still, I will indeed leave a comment on a blog that doesn’t have it installed. It’s not the beginning — nor the end — of the world when it comes to meaningful conversation or thoughtful discourse.

Surely YOU have not allowed the absence of a WordPress plugin to dictate your engagement and participation online, have you?

You don’t have a high enough … Alexa Ranking, Klout Score, FaceBook Likes, Google+, IQ …

Is it only a numbers game? Every blog will not have 100, 90, 80, 60, 50, 40 comments! They will not be in the top

50,000 blogs on Alexa. Every blog owner’s Klout score or PeerIndex or {name your favorite social media metric} will not send the mercury through the top of thermometer. (And please tell me you’e not spending all day digging around in someone else’s stats?)

Seriously, why does any of that matter? Amongst these lowly ranks could be your next gig, your potential customer, and even some of your current clients! Leaving your comment in the places they visit can’t be a bad thing, even if the numbers don’t go as high as you’d like.

How many is that? Oh, just 3 so far, let’s keep going . . .

No, I’m not commenting because your RSS Feed doesn’t work.

Say that again? You’re not going to leave a comment because the RSS feed is not working on a blog?

Sometimes a website might experience a technical issue the owner is not aware of. Why not drop them a note to inform them? Why not ask if you can provide any assistance?

You know the funny thing about RSS feeds? It can be working, but depending on the browser you’re using, it will appear to be broken. This happened to me. In an exchange of emails with the blog owner, we determined that it was my browser that wasn’t showing the newsfeed.

That’s how I discovered the issues both Firefox and Chrome were having with RSS feeds.

Chrome: Who knows why Google has never included this function in its default settings? Instead, you can opt for the official Google Chrome RSS Subscription Extension or you can use one of the hacks provided by third parties.

When Firefox came out with version 4, they had removed the ability for the browser to automatically recognize RSS feeds. While the capability is still there, you have to dig for it and re-enable it … yourself. Webmonkey explains it nicely Firefox 4 Ditches the RSS Button, Here’s how to get it Back.

Just head to the customize option under the View menu and you’ll see a new toolbar button for RSS feed. Drag that button to the toolbar and you’ve restored the RSS button. – WebMonkey

You don’t really want to skip leaving an erudite or entertaining comment due to a technical issue, do you? Check your own browsers, and if necessary, alert the site owner to their RSS problem. Win-Win!

I’m not commenting because your post is too long!

“I took the time to read all the way through your novel-length post and now you want me to spend even more time to write a comment? Didn’t you already say everything that needs to be said?”

Some long articles actually . . .
    impart something pertinent to your life …
      share pitfalls that you just might avoid …
        move you closer to what you are attempting to accomplish …

IF you can make it through.

What you have to say might be just as important as what’s already been said. Your thoughts, viewpoint, or opinion might answer a question that hasn’t been asked.

(Of course, this should go without saying: You really don’t have to read it, thus whether or not to comment is a moot point.)

And finally …

I’m not commenting on anything you write because you haven’t commented on anything I wrote.

Well, they could be shy. Or they could be intimidated. No, really!

What if someone who greatly admires you wants to share their comment on your article, but they thought you were so far ahead of them in terms of knowledge and awesomeness that they never actually engaged you? Wow! Lurkers have valuable voices, but you might never hear them if you don’t take the first step, show that you’re approachable. It’s okay to comment on their blog before they comment on your’s.

Although this has been a somewhat tongue-in-cheek attempt to draw attention to the “why I won’t leave a comment” craze. Let’s all think about what we say, how we say it, before we write it.

Thanks for reading. You are not required to leave a comment.

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Image: (Public domain) From The Alfred Withal Stern Collection of Lincolniana, courtesy of U.S. Library of Congress. Letter to James H. Hackett, November 2, 1863 from Abraham Lincoln concerning newspaper comments about him.