Thing 12

Two points that hit home with me about commenting were the need to solicit comments and the need to comment with kindness. Asking a question straight out naturally brings responses, but even after a strong post, a blogger who ends with a humble, So what do you think? or Yes?, encourages comments. When responding to a comment, nothing can shut down someone faster than condescension or sarcasm. Expressing appreciation and finding something positive to say before gently disagreeing or offering an alternative view.

Having recently seen the new Harry Potter movie, I was interested in blogging about it. I ended up at Bermudaonion's Weblog. This must be an example of friends blogging with friends. The original post was a brief summary followed by a kid of disclaimer that the blogger read the book when it first came out and couldn't really remember the details to know if the movie was true to the storyline. The amazing thing was that almost every comment basically said the same thing - so long since I read it - guess it was accurate - emphasis on teen romance. Without offending the other commenters, I registered my dissatisfaction with the movie and left my comment "awaiting moderation."

My second visit was to Library Advocate (advocate4libraries. blogspot). The comment had to do with the importance to spread the Standards for the 21st Century Learner. Admittedly, my comment was a bit off-task, in that I pointed about the seeming disparity in building such a rigorous course for our responsibilities while, in Texas, although you now must earn a Masters to become a librarian, we are not considered essential personnel in a school.