5 Benefits of Commenting on Steemit
I tend to comment more than I post on Steemit. It's not because I lack ideas for posts - I have a long list and not enough time in my day. But commenting has always been important to me, so to date, out of my 580 posts to Steemit, only 73 were posts to my profile. The rest were comments.
Why invest in comments?
In my experience, there's no lack of reasons to comment on posts by others. Having an opinion is nice, but contributing to the discussion is always nicer. And on Steemit, can turn very profitable. Here are my five top reasons to comment more than I post:
1. You get followers
No, I don't comment asking people to follow me, and I discourage (and downvote) such behavior. I do, however, tend to follow users who contribute to discussions and have something interesting to say about things I and others have published. So very often I find that my number of followers increases after I make a particularly insightful comment on a post by a popular author.
2. Comments get upvotes too
Comments make SBD and SP. Sometimes more than posts. It's easy to forget, but there's literally no difference between a comment and a post in terms of payout. This can be a wonderful oportunity for new users to gain some SP and SBD before they start posting content of their own. Just to demonstrate, here's a screenshot of my author payouts. It's not a lot, but it's money and SP nonetheless.
I also make sure to upvote useful comments same as I would posts.
3. You meet awesome people
Commenting in threads has gotten me talking on Discord with some amazing folks. Regardless of their voting power, some of them have been able to take advantage of my skills to develop some cool Steembased services like @utopian-io and @minnowbooster . On the Writer's Block Discord, I've made some really cool friends, and I hope to continue chatting and sharing ideas with them regardless of my activity on Steemit.
4. You learn stuff
Sometimes making a fool of oneself in comments is a good idea. People replying might have a solution you haven't thought about or insights you may have missed.
5. You contribute to the community
Steemit, as a platform, is not a very social one. Interaction between users is done mostly over Discord and at events (I am looking at you, Steemfest attendees, and I am green with jealousy). The only place users can interact and engage with one another on the platform are the comments. And it's sad that so few people make use of it.
Get commenting!
So let's start today. Go to your feed, and pick 3 posts to comment on that you might have something to say about. Don't just write "nice post" or "great photo". Try to give a bit more insight. In a week, check how this has contributed to your number of followers, upvotes and payouts.
And of course - tell me what you think in the comments! I might even upvote them. :)
Cover image via Pixabay, as always.
I recently found your blog and I like your work. You make some good points here and I would agree with them all. Incidentlly, I had a comment upvoted by blocktrades the other day and it was worth like $11. I compare that to the hours of work I put into posts...
I got a $10 SBD tip from someone who really liked my comment. Still trying to wrap my head around that. Yeah, it can be frustrating when comments make more than posts you invest hours in. But hey - moneys is never bad!
The usefulness of any committariat tends to zero with a falling STEEM course. Do you agree?
Nope. Which is why I invested some SBD in Steem yesterday and today.
Ditto this!
On the Writer's Block Discord, I've made some really cool friends, That's how I met you, @techslut
And countless other good people :-)
<3 <3 <3
Hi @techslut,
Gosh what a sexy name...still you're an impressive blogger. I like you stuff, please keep up the good work.
Honestly I'm at nought an what to comment here (still head scratching)....well maybe you can do a part 2 on how much you earn commenting, I know I would be interested as I'm relatively new to Steemit, and I only comment while I'm still researching the potential of investing major moolah into this crypto.
Some thoughts come to mind:
shoot...I did have some stuff to comment on after all. Let me know your thoughts @techslut. Cheers
Up-Voted for Encouraging Steemians to Connect, to Earn, to Learn, and to Enjoy oneself with a simply reply . I'm following you and hope to read more of your stuff soon.
I try to post every day. Yesterday I authored a short sci fi story I am rather proud of.
https://steemit.com/story/@techslut/a-part-for-the-community-short-science-fiction-story-steemit-exclusive
Thanks! I actually used to run an online tech and geek magazine on techslut.com . It's dead now due to lack of time.
This data would indeed be interesting to look at. But I am not here for the profits as much as I am here for the inspiration to write and community to engage with. I get paid way more to write elsewhere. But there I don't get to pick what I write.
I agree that commenting is the best way to engage on here. Just posting blog posts is like calling in the wilderness with no one to hear. But I disagree that commenting will necessarily gain you followers. From Day 1 I have been commenting more than I have posted. I haven't been on Steemit long, granted, but from the people whose posts I commented on I only gained 1 follower. Most people didn't even reply to my comment, so I guess it's really whose post you comment on, as not everyone is engaged. Steemit does feel like it has a HUGE learning curve.
Yup. Huge learning curve. But hey - you just got yourself a follower. Keep content good, and I shall upvote. And comment when I have something to add.
Commenting is so important! I'm glad you shared this. Definitely upvoting and re-steeming.
Commenting is the best way to meet people and grow your relationships on Steemit or any social media. It's awesome that you can make such great friends over the internet.
From a Steemit standpoint, when I hear people complain that their posts aren't doing well, no upvotes, no follows, etc., the first thing I ask them: Are you commenting and joining the discussion on posts that you upvtote? No? Well there's your answer.
Your posts are likely to get upvotes if they catch the communities attention. Your account is likely to be followed the more you comment and interact. When your account is followed, it shows up in more feeds, which usually leads to more frequent upvotes, comments and interaction, and an overall more enjoyable experience!
Not that it's all about followers or money. I comment on things because I enjoy it, but it really does organically improve your time spent on Steemit when you take the time to interact :)
I've made it a rule to make a new steemit friend every day - through commenting, Discord and sometimes even Facebook stalking (true story).
Yup yup yup! I love getting out there and commenting on things... having something to say that is relevant to the post, and having a proper interaction with someone. Likewise, I love getting proper comments on my own posts. If we all leave thoughtful/insightful comments, we deepen the sense of community, and build actual connections with people. I don't know why this is such a foreign concept to some... Yes, it's nice to praise someone, or to say you like their post, etc, but if everyone could just take the 2 minutes to leave something of substance, I'd be so much happier. lol
So glad I've found your blog!
Thanks you! And yeah, I love getting comments more than upvotes. They give me more.
Yes, exactly! We get so much more out of actual acknowledgement.
Thank you for the post @techslut. I always strive to read and comment more. Slowly getting better.
But honestly with all the diverse people opening up here and sharing, it can be down right therapeutic to comment. I've had some excellent conversations in the comment section and several have helped me personally in my life.
Thanks again! :)
Agreed. Commenting is therapeutic not only to the commenter, but also the post author. It means someone actually listened, you know?
I've been commenting on posts since I first joined here in June.
I was upvoting everything in sight, until learning Steemit's upvote is not the same as Twitter/Facebook "Like."
"Resteem" can never be un-resteemed.
An imbalance of resteems vs original posts will not look good.
(At Twitter, it doesn't seem to matter.)
I have spent waaaaay less time at Twitter since joining Steemit.
It seems I met more authors at Twitter, but here, the personal interaction (thanks to Discord chat channels) makes it deeper.
Thanks for the post, @techslut
I actually spend a lot less time on Facebook (twitter isn't very big in Israel). And upvoting everything in sight is fine at first while you learn and your vote is not very valuable. Same for resteems. I try to resteem on days I don't post, or between posts. I like how busy.org has a separation between posts and resteems.
Thank you for your comment!
welcome back ! :D
Yes I agree, i just love the engagement that happens with commenting, it drives you further into the community, and you get to meet awesome ppl, besides all the great stuff you already mentioned ;)