About a week ago I noticed Nomadic Matt Tweeting about a drop in comments on for posts he had written while travelling that were about specific destinations. Articles about things like the Paris sewers or cities were getting fewer comments than the posts about more general travel topics and issues.
This is something I’ve noticed on this blog a bit too… the more specific the place I’m writing about, the fewer comments those posts seemed to get. This seemed a little odd to me at first because I would have thought that on-location first-hand ‘reporting’ and photos would have been something that to set my blog apart. It would be more personal than the usual online guides that are out there for each place, and it would seem logical that people who like to comment about your proposed travels would like to comment even more once you actually start.
But after thinking about it a bit more it sort of makes sense to have fewer commenters for destination type blog posts.I think people comment on blogs posts they can either relate to or have an opinion about. When you start posting about specific places and writing about what you did there, there’s not a lot to be opinionated about and the only people who can relate are the people who have been there too.
On the other hand, posts about general travel related topics or things like preparing for a trip are things that a lot of people can relate to. I would guess that most people who are into reading travel blogs are people who have travelled or who want to travel and are preparing and general travel topics are something people who have been can relate to and people who are going can offer up an opinion about, at least.
When I read a post about ‘this is where I am and this is what I’m doing’, unless the person is doing something truly amazing in that place, it doesn’t grab my imagination in quite the same way as a post about general travel topics like The Downside of Long Term Travel or 24 Travellers to Inspire You and I’m not as likely to leave a comment.
What do you think? I comment on posts I can either offer up advice for or have an opinion on or sometimes even if I just want to tell the person that I liked their posts and what they’re doing. What makes you comment on a person’s blog? Are destination guide type posts usually something you will offer up a comment about if you haven’t been there?
I’ve always been curious about what compels people to leave comments so… er, leave a comment? 🙂
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