Commenting on Blogs

Via Steve Rubel a great post from the folks at Lifehacker, offering a sound guide to weblog comments. While I’m not a regular commenter, I almost always read the comments of others, often finding as much insight in the comments as in the post. That being said, I think the best comments read like they were formed straight from this list.

• Stay on topic
• Contribute new information to the discussion
• Don’t comment for the sake of commenting
• Know when to comment and when to e-mail
• Remember that nobody likes a know-it-all
• Make the tone of your message clear
• Own your comment
• Be succinct
• Cite your sources with links or inline quoting
• Be courteous
• Don’t post when you’re angry, upset, drunk or emotional
• Do not feed or tease the trolls

Sound advice, particularly the bit about the trolls.