I met Casie Stewart just last week, at the Top Bloggers meeting.  I checked out her blog and there are lots of interesting posts worth commenting on.  I know how I would feel about it if someone commented all over my blog after discovering it, but I also know the kinds of things I have overheard in conversation about people who comment too much.  So since Casie and I both love new people discovering our blogs, we had a little convo over Facebook to discuss the issue of what is the etiquette when commenting to a blog when you are not yet a member of that blog’s community.

So Casie, you and I were both invited to take part in a recent conference of the Top Bloggers in Toronto. After the meeting I went and checked out your blog. I read pretty far back into it and left a few comments, as you recall. So that got me thinking about what is the proper etiquette about posting to a blog that’s new to you. I think sometimes people are a little afraid to jump into it and I’m wondering what your thoughts are on that.

Good question.

I say comment, share, get involved with blogs. There is nothing to hld back on. I use DISQUS which makes it easy for people to comment using Twitter or Facbook Connect. The more involved you get wth the writer/other commenters, the more fun the internet is.

Lets say you posted 10 comments on my blog after meeting me. I would love it and think it’s great, I would not think you’re crazy. I like it, I like to know people are reading stuff and going back and getting a feel for who me/my blog is.

Though, when I meet someone and/or go to their blog, no matter how long I first cyber-stalk it, I usually won’t leave more than two comments, no matter how much I want to. I feel like the person will think “OMG she totally spent the whole night reading. Creep.” When I first found Raymi’s blog I felt like commenting a whole bunch, but I didn’t, I just held out and jumped on for the ride and now I leave regular comments on new or old posts. Blogs are more fun when people leave comments.

Now, if someone were to discover my blog and comment all over the place, I would love it. You would love it. I think anyone would love it. But I think people are afraid of what you brought up, that the blog owner is going to think they’re weird or something. And I know that people use the term stalking to describe it when people go simply look at other people’s Facebook profiles. Is there in innate difference in one versus the other?

Really, there is no difference in FB stalking vs. blog stalking. They are both online, public for people to view and also courage commenting. However,I feel FB commenting is more estabished/accepted form of stalking. A blog is a direct extension of a person’s thoughts and feelings, for me it is. I take blog comments more personal than FB comments. When someone comments on blog, they’ve taken the time to read, obsorb and then regergitate their own feelings. On FB, I rarely care if so-and-so that I never talk to ‘likes this’ or thinks ‘i look cute’. I’m much more into the blog comments that spark discussion.

That’s the difference. Blog comments spark and encourage discussion.

How often do you update your blog? Do you have a specific operating rythm, ex. same time same day same format or do you do whatever your creative heart desires?

There are no hard and fast rules, but I kind of know my blog’s ‘Prime Time’, so I’ll try to make sure I’ve got new stuff at those times. Monday morning and Friday afternoon, easing into and out of the work week, I think. The weekends are kind of a write off. I put more thought into when I’ll Twitter or Facebook the link then I put into when I post because I want that link to be at the top of the list when they check their Twitter or Facebook page. I try to send out mailing list messages super late at night so it’s at the top of the inbox in the morning. Little things like that. But I’ll put stuff up whenever. I know Raymi posts whenever she feels like it, but she’s got a much larger built in audience that’s going to go no matter what.

What’s older, your Facebook page or your blog? One of my challengs, like I brought up at the Top Bloggers conference, is getting people to comment on the blog instead of commenting on the Facebook post about the blog.

I agree. Comenting on the blog and NOT on the imported Facebook page is important. How to encourage that? Not exactly sure. Would be great if using FB connect the reactions on the imported post were reflected on the blog. I’m sure they are working on it.

My Facebook page is older than my blog, not by much though. I was big into Myspace before FB really took off. I had a Myspace blog before I had a FB page. I just logged into it like a month ago. First tie since 2007 and there are about 100 poems etc I wrote an posted. Pretty cool to go back and read your own stuff. I started my current blog to keep more memories, it’s been great for me.

Do you go back and read old stuff? Do you edit/update old posts?

I never delete or edit old stuff. I think I have done it once or twice in the past, but that was when I had gone way over the top about something, shoot my mouth off, or if I had made a mistake about something and need people not to go off of my information. But I have been more conscious of what I’m putting in there than I’ve meant to be.

I kind of wish I was even more open but I can’t help thinking of who is likely to see it. And I was notorious in the past for just shooting my mouth off, thinking I was in a vacuum and then people would copy and paste stuff around the internet, that got me in a bit of hot water some times. But that’s for a whole other convo, maybe even a video!

For right now, let’s get back to the issue at hand. If you have one message out there for all the people reading this who have read a blog and never posted, what’s your message to them?

People are always telling me I have such an exciting life but, really, I made it that way. I find pleasure and joy in simple things and you can see that daily on my blog. Whether a trip, a charity gala or laying in the grass on my lunch break, they’re all the same in that I enjoy them and find beauty in it all. I write my blog to make sure I don’t lose those memories. No one read my blog for the first two years, it was there for me and I just kept on writing things down.

My message: Be happy and live; make memories and keep them.

I think people get scared about posting a blog but fail to realise you don’t have to share it with everyone, you control who reads it. It’s a modern diary… and for me, very affordable therapy.

Now I turn the table, for all the people reading this who have read a blog and never posted, what’s YOUR message to them?

My message to them is to go for broke and comment all over the place. The most likely thing is that the author of the blog is going to get a huge kick out of it and who doesn’t want to give a blogger some smiles! Comment a blog today!

Good interview, Casie. Let’s do this again real soon!

Agreed. Give a blogger some smiles

I’d fancy a 20 questions of random info about you. I’d like to know more about and I’m sure your readers would also!

Let’s hook it up.

Give a blogger some smiles!  Comment a blog today!

Check Casie out at www.casiestewart.com

Tags: blog, blogging, casie stewart, casiestewart, etiquette, fun, interview, people, sean, seanward, top bloggers, toronto