The Death of Comments: How the Like & +1 button killed comments
I’ve noticed a trend for quite some time on the different blogs I run, Facebook pages and Google+ account.
It seems that since the introduction of the “Like” button and concept no one adds a comment to anything anymore.
They simply click “Like” or now “+1″ without adding any real value to the conversation.
Isn’t the whole point of social media to be social? Clicking Like or +1 doesn’t say a damn thing in my opinion.
All it says is you are now too lazy to add a reply or you want to feel popular or important by clicking them.
This applies to posts on blogs, Facebook pages and my Google+ account.
You can ask a question like “Do you agree or disagree?” And instead of getting replies telling you if they agree or not you get a bunch of “Likes” and “+1s”.
This is even more evident on blogs. I recently posted a blog and it got around 320 Likes on it, but only about 8 comments! Really?
Before the Like button was introduced comments were king. People fought to get more people commenting on a blog post as that made your site active and more relevant.
Now everyone just clicks the damn Like button and moves on.
It’s kind of the same with how texting has replaced actual phone conversations and email has replaced written letters.
But I wonder what that means for us in the future? Does that mean no one will ever add a comment? Does that mean the “Like” or “+1″ will hold more power than written word soon?
And yes I understand that when you “Like” something on a website or even on a Facebook page that shows up on your profile and it is kind of a “mini” endorsement. But sometimes people hit Like just to hit Like I think.
What is your thought? And by thought I mean add a comment! If you just hit the “Like” I’m gonna reach out of my computer and squeeze your nose!! Seriously!
About The Author
Related posts
![Old Man (Jon) Stewart Burns the Internet [VIDEO]](http://hubze.com/blog/wp-content/themes/goodnews/framework/scripts/timthumb.php?src=http://hubze.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/jon-stewart.jpg&h=91&w=126&zc=1 "Old Man (Jon) Stewart Burns the Internet [VIDEO]")
I would not say it is "dead" but it sure has changed. We used to get many comments on the blog, now with the +1 and "Like" buttons I see less and less interaction on the actual page itself. I like the blog comments better personally as it keeps the conversation in perspective...come comment on our blog! ~David
Depends if I have the time, and if I can be bothered to be honest. I found myself reading a huge string of comments to a very biased post after the riots here in the UK, but then I thought "why waste my time on something that makes me so angry". However, if I comment I make a valid comment on something I am genuinely interested in and not comment just to get noticed - as so often many comments are full of drivel (present company excepted of course!!).
I still comment sometimes.
I agree with Sonja. I think that the fact that fb is a SOCIAL media vehicle which implies that people are urged to socialize, yes I think it kills the reasoning behind engaging in actual dialogue because instead of engaging in a healthy conversation, folks have now resorted to taking the easy way out by using the LIKE button. Many times I have posted a comment in the form of a question expecting to receive an answer from my facebook audience, only to end up with people hitting the LIKE button. How is that getting ones question answered? How is that being SOCIAL?
I like to leave comments. To me it is manners - an acknowledgement that someone has gone to the effort to write something. I tried to leave my comment on your blog but it would not let me because it asked for a password and I have no clue what that would be?? Good article though - provoked a bit of thought.
Yeah I don't get involved in long comment strings on bigger pages with my personal profile unless I want a lot of notifications.~Scott
Yeah, I think twice about it because I am getting too many notifications when everyone else comments.
Depends. I often comment on friends' posts and posts by some of the pages I like that are smaller and of a specific focus. I avoid commenting on posts by pages with tens of thousands of fans (like CNN, Oprah, BBC et such) as you expose yourself to spam and idiots.
Disagree. As easy as it is to hit "Like" or whatever one-click buttons are in the future, no matter how "futurized" we may get.. The life of the conversation will always stem from the core, the conversation itself.
sometimes people just have nothing to say
Interesting question... it's so easy to just respond by hitting the +1 or "Like" button and move on. But, I do still find myself compelled to make a lot comments. It depends primarily on the topic, friend or other compelling criteria. Case in point, I commented here!!!
No "Like" button is gonna shut ME up!!!!
Very true!
Awesome blog! I find all the best information within people's comments; they always give me a better understanding of an issue.
Yeah Likes don't say much do they?!
I think the only reason I turned them off in the first place was to try Facebook comments. I prefer Disqus anyway so we can just leave it on.
Yeah Disqus is more universal. The point system integrated with the WP comments is kinda cool, but I noticed our comments right now seem to be down. The FB Comments was getting comments, but unless FB gives you a notification of posts made it's a nightmare to moderate.
We can have both disqus and FB comments on here. The only upside from our standpoint for the FB Comments is there is a chance they post the comment to their profile. The upside for visitors is they don't have to login to anything else. Which makes commenting quicker and easier...
And as fate might have it for some reason no one could comment on our blog yesterday! Not sure why it kept asking for a password. So I turned Disqus back on for now...
I'm gonna add a comment just so I can take my own advice!!! haha
Conversation from Facebook
I would not say it is "dead" but it sure has changed. We used to get many comments on the blog, now with the +1 and "Like" buttons I see less and less interaction on the actual page itself. I like the blog comments better personally as it keeps the conversation in perspective...come comment on our blog! ~David
Depends if I have the time, and if I can be bothered to be honest. I found myself reading a huge string of comments to a very biased post after the riots here in the UK, but then I thought "why waste my time on something that makes me so angry". However, if I comment I make a valid comment on something I am genuinely interested in and not comment just to get noticed - as so often many comments are full of drivel (present company excepted of course!!).
I still comment sometimes.
I agree with Sonja. I think that the fact that fb is a SOCIAL media vehicle which implies that people are urged to socialize, yes I think it kills the reasoning behind engaging in actual dialogue because instead of engaging in a healthy conversation, folks have now resorted to taking the easy way out by using the LIKE button. Many times I have posted a comment in the form of a question expecting to receive an answer from my facebook audience, only to end up with people hitting the LIKE button. How is that getting ones question answered? How is that being SOCIAL?
I like to leave comments. To me it is manners - an acknowledgement that someone has gone to the effort to write something. I tried to leave my comment on your blog but it would not let me because it asked for a password and I have no clue what that would be?? Good article though - provoked a bit of thought.
Yeah I don't get involved in long comment strings on bigger pages with my personal profile unless I want a lot of notifications.~Scott
Yeah, I think twice about it because I am getting too many notifications when everyone else comments.
Depends. I often comment on friends' posts and posts by some of the pages I like that are smaller and of a specific focus. I avoid commenting on posts by pages with tens of thousands of fans (like CNN, Oprah, BBC et such) as you expose yourself to spam and idiots.
Disagree. As easy as it is to hit "Like" or whatever one-click buttons are in the future, no matter how "futurized" we may get.. The life of the conversation will always stem from the core, the conversation itself.
sometimes people just have nothing to say
Interesting question... it's so easy to just respond by hitting the +1 or "Like" button and move on. But, I do still find myself compelled to make a lot comments. It depends primarily on the topic, friend or other compelling criteria. Case in point, I commented here!!!
No "Like" button is gonna shut ME up!!!!
Very true!
Depends if I have the time, and if I can be bothered to be honest. I found myself reading a huge string of comments to a very biased post after the riots here in the UK, but then I thought "why waste my time on something that makes me so angry". However, if I comment I make a valid comment on something I am genuinely interested in and not comment just to get noticed - as so often many comments are full of drivel (present company excepted of course!!).
- spam
- offensive
- disagree
- off topic
Like