Reserved/Respectful or Self-Absorbed?
After a few weeks of Red Room membership, I have noticed that blogs with even the most interesting and/or provocative ideas usually elicit little or no comment immediately below them. Given that Red Room members, as a group, must have both intellectual curiosity and active imaginations, it seems odd that there would be so few reactions to blog posts.
For example, even one hour in a typical faculty club or lounge in academia would result in more intellectual engagement among those present than an entire three- weeks of comments on Red Room blog posts. [I am NOT referencing or lamenting the absence of negative or disrespectful comments, since Red Room policies frown on and discourage them.]
I have "brainstormed" below some possible reasons and would appreciate any additions,deletions and amendments from other members:
1. Red Room's private communication and connection channels are the preferred mode for most comments on blogs, accounting for the small number of public comments. [Being new and not having connections or friends who joined with me, I am unfamiliar with the extent of this mode's use.]
2. Red Room has an etiquette and/or unwritten protocol of respecting the privacy of others' blogs, making the posting of uninvited comments an inappropriate intrusion except for members that are friends with each other. [ If, as a new member, I have violated this protocol, I sincerely apologize.]
3. Red Room blogs are viewed by its members as primarily (1) expressive outlets (safety values to release pent-up tensions) and (2) message boards rather than media for intellectual engagement and reactions.
4. Writers join Red Rooom primarily to give increased visibility to or promote their own writing, and typically keep their focus on that writing and their personal affairs rather than wasting time engaging others in public comments concerning their writing.
5. Many of the posted blogs are primarily informational tidbits and/or trivia and hence do not merit or require any comment.
Perhaps long-time members will post comments for the benefit of me and others if I have overlooked or mistated any reasons. [I will not consider their initiative as a privacy intrusion.]
Keywords:
"Downward toward darkness on extended wings"
”
—Wallace Stevens
About Brenden
After completing AFROTC and serving active and reserve military duty, I earned an M.A., with specialities in linguistics and creative writing. I have worked both at several major regional corporations (generating public relations...
Connections
Causes Brenden Allen Supports
Wounded Warriors
Salvation Army
Salesian Missions
Fairview Foundation
Brenden’s Favorite Books
CONFESSIONS (St. Augustine)
CANDIDE;
MADAME BOVARY;
THE AMBASSADORS;
TO THE LIGHTHOUSE;
ON CHESIL BEACH
Brenden is a fan of
Most Respectful...
and sorrowful; I don't leave as many comments as I probably should. Though I am grateful for the pleasure of engagement with all - But feel that my comments are not up to the right protocol with many.
#5. Has something to do with the comments, also.
Brenden, I certainly enjoy every one your thought provoking post. Keep posting to inform and amuse us!
Truly,
Catherine
In Appreciation
Catherine,
In contrast to the deafening silence of cyberspace, your comments reveal a real person with thoughtful and heart-felt reactions to your colleagues' ideas/postings.
As stated in my blog, especially among a group like Red Room of active and imaginative thinkers and writers, it just seems odd to me that most blogs are "met" (or is "brushed off" the right idiom) with complete silence, even allowing for a reasonable amount of communication through Red Room's "behind-the scenes" channels/connections. It's a certain "culture" or etiquette that I haven't quite figured out yet. Perhaps it's the "midwest" openness to, if not welcoming of, others in me ("Minnesota Nice") , even to those who seem quite different, that is my "undoing" or vulnerable Achilles heel.
One of my home page writings ("Confronting the 'Other' in Life") explains my attitude, first learned in my earliest years from the examples set by my simple but loving pioneer mother. She taught me values one cannot learn from books.To give you some idea of the type of "being" she was, my older sister told me that during the depression years, even though we ourselves were quite poor, she would give food to passing vagrants. She was the type to usually have a pot of something like stew or soup "brewing" on an old wood-burning kitchen stove or a hot-dish in the oven. I realize now she was a one-time "minting" from an earlier age now long gone. Can you picture the type of person I mean? Perhaps you can because, coming from a large family, you must have had a mother with a generous and understanding heart as well.
It's time to stop now, because I'm getting teary-eyed over the loss of people like our mothers, not just for the obvious impact on the immediate family but, more significantly, for what our entire culture has apparently lost forever. With all our so-called progress and sophisticaion, it's not a change for the better in human relations or neighborliness.
Again, thank you so much for being a real person!
Brenden
"Confronting the 'Other' in Life"
Brenden,
Sorry that I missed "Confronting the 'Other' in Life but, I'm going there as soon as I finished writing this. If you hadn't already read this one; you might resonate with it, as well:
http://redroom.com/member/catherine-nagle/blog/the-dwelling-of-god-in-a-mothers-love
Truly,
Catherine
PS- "Imprinted Wisdom," is 'everything' that you have mentioned about 'our mothers ' in your comment above:-)
Well said.
Well said.
Thank you
Thank you Judith and best wishes to you.
Brenden
I agree 100 percent!
Dear Brenden,
Great, to-the-point post!
Although some ego is involved, I miss the huge amount of comments my articles on HubPages attracted. Feedback, negative or positive, always encourages me to keep on writing, especially when I'm writing a book.
To promote my books and find a publisher, I often serialize the novel as discrete (i.e., self-contained, not discreet, two of the most misused words in our language) chapters on various writers' web sites.
I discovered to my horror after HubPages banned me "permanently" for "obscene, profane or inappropriate content" per its robot censor, that although I continued to privately email my articles on other sites to my presumed fans on HubPages, they stopped responding/commenting.
One of my "fans" even asked to be removed from my email list.
It turns out, posting comments on HubPages' articles increases contributor's "Hub Score," which in turn increases the writers' fees.
That's a ridiculous trick since HubPages like all ezines literally pay pennies due to the Internet's fragmented audience.
When I was a reporter for UPI, I had a potential five million readers.
To date, my Red Room posts have received 600+ views and only a handful of comments, mostly from an old friend who still slaves for the crypto-Fascists at HubPages.
I suspect the real reason HubPages banned me is that I posted frank discussions of gay issues. The official reason for my banishment is that Google AdSense doesn't like articles about child abuse.
My articles that had nothing to do with child abuse, except for one were nevertheless flagged as "inappropriate."
Was it a coincidence that the only articles flagged dealt with gay and lesbian issue?
I think I'll turn this into a blog.
My exile from HubPages and my termination as an English instructor at the University of Phoenix because I'm gay have been my "Theodor Herzl moment" - events that have turned me from a complacent gay living in the safe cocoon of West Hollywood into a gay activist.
Aux barricades!
Frank Sanello, FSanello at AOL dot com
My Appreciation
Frank,
Thanks for your thoughtful response. As noted in my blog on examining my own life, I hope you are NOT approaching life too seriously or analytically. We all need to remind ourselves during our brief moment here to stop and smell the roses along the way. By chance, I once encountered this Ojibwe poem: "Our lives are as brief as the flash of the firefly in the night." It helps put all things in perspective.
Brenden
Comments
Hi Brenden,
What a great post! It's heartening to read that the Red Room editors aren't the only ones who think about these things (which we do, a lot).
With any item anywhere on the internet where commenting is allowed, the amount of comments is always the tip of the iceberg. Most readers read the item or part of it, and move on to the next thing without commenting. I hope you've checked your Dashboard to see the number of times your blog has been viewed. (Please let me know if you don't know how to do this.)
In addition, unlike some other sites, prospective commenters have to join as members before they can leave a comment. This was a conscious choice that has everything to do with our goal to create, along with all of you, the highest quality writers' community in the world. We don't think of comments as something to the side of the main goals of Red Room's authors and members; intelligent and entertaining conversations are something we really want to be known for, and we think all of you want the conversations their posts generate to be as thoughtful and just plain good as the posts themselves.
Keeping both of these considerations in mind, it isn't suprising that most posts on Red Room have far fewer comments than on some other websites. That doesn't mean people aren't reading the posts. It just means that the kind of one-off, casual commenting that often goes on elsewhere isn't the norm here.
However, you're doing it just right, Brenden: you post thoughtful blog entries, and comment frequently on other Red Roomers' blogs in a way that starts conversations. I think you should just keep on doing what you're doing and, when appropriate, spreading the word about your posts here via email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. You'll see that comments on your own posts will increase with time, and they'll all mean something.
Thank you so much for compiling your thoughts about this is in such a systematic way. I think it will be extremely useful to bloggers who wonder about comments!
Huntington
Huntington W. Sharp, Senior Editor, Red Room
I'm piggybacking on this....
thanks to Gina I was lucky last spring to get an essay to get published on MyDaily. I received 56 comments, which blew me away. Then I started reading the comments. Mostly there were thoughtful ones, but there were ones that said yoga was a cult and I should shut my piehole and not eat so much (the essay was about doing yoga and losing weight) The haters made me laugh hysterically. But it also made me glad that here instead of random comments done in a minute, we have thoughtful comments that people take time to write. And that means a lot.
Jennifer Gibbons, Red Room
Hi Brenden, This is a very
Hi Brenden,
This is a very thought provoking blog. I have wondered the same when I’ve popped on someone’s blog and there weren’t any comments when it seems there should be. I personally also get nervous sometimes about leaving a comment—it’s my own issue because everyone here has been gracious and kind—but I have mostly gotten over that.
I joined Red Room primarily because of my passion for writing and expression, and being able to share that passion with others has been transforming. I’ve “connected” with others by taking the time—as they have also done with me—to read and respond to their work if it speaks to me. There are many doors to open that appeal to a variety of interests. And it’s always fun to see who comes “out of the woodwork” (sorry about the cliché) when a blog topic sparks someone’s creative juices.
It’s also nice having Huntington and the whole Red Room staff available to us. They are so responsive and helpful!
Happy exploring, Brenden. Look forward to more posts from you.
Rebb
My Appreciation to Frank, Huntington, Jennifer, Rebbecca,Judith
To all commentators above (Catherine, see my separate note):
My appreciation to everyone above for their responses. I'm feeling much more comfortable and welcome now that all of you have shared your thoughts with me about Red Room's culture.
I'll look forward to reading everyone's blogs. The range of subjects is certainly varied and broad.
Brenden
I am new and noticed the same
I am new and noticed the same thing. I've read a few blogs and posted comments on many. If I haven't posted a comment on a blog that I've read, it is generally because of reason #5.
My Appreciation to You
Dawn,
Thank you for taking the time to comment.
Brenden
I want to say I agree with
I want to say I agree with Rebbecca's comments. When I joined Red Room this past summer, I took the editor's suggestions to heart. I read a lot of different blogs and responded with comments when a blog evoked a similar emotion or moved me in some way.
Reading and responding to others was the best way to "get my feet wet" and make connections to some of the most wonderful writers.
Welcome to Red Room. I look forward to reading more of your posts.
Annette
Thank you
Annette,
I'm very appreciative of your welcoming comments.
Brenden
Welcome aboard Brendan! I try
Welcome aboard Brendan! I try to leave comments on posts as much as possible whether I have the person as a connection or not. I also love to receive comments - but if I don't well so be it, I just keep on writing my little life out for a sense of balance. Keep the faith-as Huntington said to me when I first started blogging,; 'if you write it they will come'' and he was right as I have almost 90,000 hit on this site! m
Hey Brendan = ground control
Hey Brendan = ground control to Major Tom. Checking in on your blog and no response from you as yet. One hint from an oldie of Red Room, always respond to comments made by fellow Red Roomers, call it etiquette, call it friendship or a thank you for taking the time to leave a comment in the first place! Hope something horrible has not happened, like the big satellite that was spinning around in space deciding on where to land happened to pay you a visit. If not, hellooooooooooooooo, greetings from the world and from the comment crew on Red Room! Look you just got another ''recently commented on'' space on the members page. Congrats. m
Thank You
Mary,
I've been overwhelmed with responses. Many apologies for being so tardy! I'm very appreciative of your taking the time to comment.
Brenden
new in Red Room
Reading your post, Brenden, and then the comments, there must be a lot of new members in Red Room. That includes me. Guess if we read and comment, we will create a communicating web after a bit. I will hope.
I enjoy seeing the names and faces on the comments. I feel I'm getting to know the folks I see most frequently. It's like being a wall flower but enjoying the conversations that go on around you.
Good thoughts to all
Thank you note
Delores,
My deepest thanks to one with your distinguished accomplishments in Chaucer scholarship for taking time to comment. You are "light years" from "wall flower" status. Your Red Room picture, alone, easily wins first prize for Most Charming Personality.
Brenden
Hi Brenden, I will confess
Hi Brenden,
I will confess that I don't read blogs much; hence, rare comments from me. I like my books. Reading books is my way of saying pshaww! to our fast paced, multi-tasking, overloaded world. But, since reading your post, I will try to do better with reading and comments.
Also, I'm afraid the posts I write lean toward #5 above - they're trivial. They're just my way of saying hello. I'd be pleased if anyone commented, but surprised. I'm working on a longer piece, so I write a blog when I need to relax my brain.
Thanks for writing.
Sherry
Thank you note
Sherry,
Thank you for your insights. Please see my longer response as a comment under your blog "Overlooking the Atlantic."
Brenden