Just yesterday I was going through the comments of an A-list blogger when I noticed a trend. Close to 70% of comments weren’t actually adding any value to his blog. They weren’t exactly the kind of comments I’d call spam, but just people saying yey or neh.

And it’s not just on his site. It seems this trend is slowly forming all around the blogosphere. So here are four simple steps that both readers and bloggers can take.

Keep it Flowing

What’s the goal of the first comment? To lead to the second comment. What’s the goal of the second comment? To lead to the third comment. What’s the goal… You get the idea. Great comments keep the conversation flowing. It encourages rich discussion and makes the blogosphere a much nicer place.

Make it Spectacular

How do you keep the conversation flowing? You make it spectacular. The best way to do this is to express your viewpoint. Talk about the post itself, or some of the other comments. If you think the blogger has missed something out, by all means, throw it into the mix. If you can’t make it spectacular, then:

Silence is Golden

A great piece of advice that I’ve always lived by is: ‘If you’ve nothing better to say, keep quiet’. Turns out it applies to the blogosphere as well. If all you’re going to say is:

Nice post.

Stop. You’re not adding any value to the conversation. I’m sure the blogger has received a ton of those comments. Readers (generally) prefer seeing comments like these:

Interesting, however I disagree with <blogger’s point of view>. I think that <reader’s point of view>…

Get my drift?

Encourage the Conversation

For bloggers. To encourage conversation, invite conversation. Throw a question or two in your posts; people are more likely to reply if your writing is a little open-ended. Being controversial also works well. Glenn Wolsey has written a great post that highlights the importance of interacting with your audience through comments, plus some other great tips.

Now that you’re slightly wiser, go out and make some noise in the blogosphere. The right kind of noise.