Thing 11 -- Leaving Comments

I found it frustrating to leave comments because I had to search through people's blogs to find something to comment on. While I enjoyed reading what others had to say, I wanted to make sure that when I left a comment that it followed the guidelines in the two articles. Simply agreeing with someone or telling them I liked the picture they chose or the image they created seemed a waste of time (theirs and mine). Several times when I found something I wanted to comment on, I saw that one or two people had already left comments, so I guess they beat me to the punch! Anyway, I did leave four comments and hope the readers appreciate (or at least don't mind) what I had to say. One note: the first time I left a comment, it said it needed approval, so I posted a second time only to get the same message. Then it dawned on me that this blogger must have his/her settings set to approve comments before having them posted. I hope this person doesn't mind getting my comment twice.
I haven't received a comment yet, probably because I just started working on 23 Things two days ago and it is a holiday weekend. I'm looking forward to my first.

If I were using blogs in the classroom, it would be easier to leave comments because I'd be an integral part of the process and involved in it from start to end, rather than sort of jumping in near the end and trying to look through people's blogs to find something to comment on.

I think that comments are important in an online community because that is really the only way to communicate. The comment process allows people to "talk" to each other, to offer feedback, ask questions, or just validate the other person's ideas. What would be the point, really, of having an online "community" where there were no ability to actually communicate?

I think that students might take more time and leave more careful, reasoned responses if they realize that others in their blogging community will be reading their blog and commenting on what they have to say. This ability would open up a way for students to share and interact with each other such as they are used to doing on a regular basis using texting, IM'ing, etc. It won't be as instantaneous and synchronous, but it will be as close as you can get through a classroom community that isn't communicating face-to-face.