A long long long time ago when I was first getting started on HIVE, I wrote a post about "crafting the perfect comment". I remember at the time, it was one of the first posts I ever wrote that got a decent amount of of upvotes. I was still pretty new to the blockchain and I didn't understand how the bid bots worked yet.
While other people were posting photos of their lunch or their dog and making hundreds of dollars on them, the posts of my dog and my food were falling pretty flat. Flat at zero to be honest. I was earning virtually nothing. Certainly not enough to make it worth it. Especially living in the US where a dollar doesn't buy you much of anything anymore.
Eventually, the bid bots began to get phased out and I started to understand how the ecosystem actually worked. It became pretty apparent to me that engagement was key if you weren't lucky enough to have a whale in your pocket. I started focusing my efforts on commenting. Even back then comment spam was a thing and I also realized that crafting a quality comment was going to be key to my success on the blockchain.
Now, seven years and 58,612 comments later, I think I have a pretty good idea of what I am doing. I might not be the biggest account on HIVE, but I do okay for myself and I think a lot of that can be attributed to my commenting.
The number of low effort responses on HIVE actually amazes me a little bit. It's not that hard to write a thoughtful comment with a bit of "meat" to it. Sadly, now that we have AI to contend with, it has only gotten a bit worse. The thing is, your two word comment probably isn't even going to register with the original poster, so why even bother. There are a few exceptions, but I will get to those in a second.
Ask Questions
The biggest piece of advice I can give you is to write comments that ask questions. The original poster obviously considers themself a bit of an expert at the subject they posted on. At the very least it interests them, so it only stands to reason that they would love to talk about it more. Asking follow up questions gives them the ability to add stuff they may have left out of the original post due to forgetfulness or the fear of making their post too long.
It also opens the lines of communication between yourself and them so that hopefully you can have future conversations. The key point being that hopefully you establish an online friendship or at the very least a mutual respect that will perhaps one day be reflected in upvotes.
It doesn't always happen, and that's okay. If you like the content though, keep doing what you are doing. I don't feel everything on HIVE should be tied to upvotes. Sometimes we just appreciate what someone has to say and we don't need anything in return for it. The one thing you have to remember is that bigger accounts or accounts that have been on the platform for a long time probably have a lot on their plates. Although it's a small blockchain, HIVE is a big place and if users were to split their time evenly, it would be a full time job. Some of us already have one of those and this is just a hobby. If it gets to be too much like work, we might just up and leave!
Be Real
Believe it or not, people can tell when you are being fake. It doesn't take too much to be genuine and real. If you can't make a comment that you actually mean, it's best just to move along. Trust me, if someone writes a post and you don't comment on it, they aren't going to remember that at all. However, if they make a post and you make a comment that the know is obviously fake, that will likely stick with them for some time.
Trust me, I have been guilty of this myself, I'm not putting myself on a pedestal as some beacon of virtue. I'm just saying, be real. It will take you a lot further than being fake.
Keep It Simple
This one might be a bit controversial. There are likely some folks out there who don't mind really long comments on their posts. I'm not one of them though. It's definitely a fine line between writing a two word spam comment and writing a comment that is just as long or longer than the original post.
I get some people are just wordy. I also get that some people get excited about the particular topic. You have to remember though that your comment probably isn't the only one we have to read. Try to find a good balance of commenting without going overboard. You have to figure what's best for you on your own, good luck!
The Exceptions
If you have built up a relationship with the original poster or you are about five comments deep into an active comment "thread", then simple one or two word responses are acceptable. For example, after a lively exchange back and forth with someone, I think it is fully acceptable to just reply with an "lol". You have to earn it though!
Finally, and this one might be controversial as well... Try to avoid summarizing the original post in your comment. It's absolutely okay to ask for clarification or to quote a piece of the post in your comment, but if you are just re-writing the post, it's honestly a little annoying. I'm not sure why someone people do this, but I wonder if it might be one of a couple reasons.
Perhaps they are doing that to show that they actually read the post. I can appreciate that, but I also think you can do that by asking questions about specific aspects of the post. On the other hand, it's possible it might be some kind of language barrier thing. I'm not really sure on that one. If that is the case, I understand, but I still think there has to be a better way to accomplish the same thing.
Perhaps someone has some insight on that.
As I said in the opening, this isn't the first post I have written about commenting. It probably won't be the last either. Successful folks on the blockchain have really learned the art of crafting and leveraging comments to help grow their account.
With a little work, you can too!
Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports
