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[cosmolinguist]

I am the only person who has commentless entries listed as an interest. But I do not think I am the only one interested in them. I'd like to think that others just chose different words to say the same thing.

To call it universal might be exaggerating a bit, but I think some LJers might recognize the frustration of posting something they're very proud of, something that might have taken much time or effort, only to find that no one has anything to say about it. It seems too silly to admit, but it can be disappointing.

Obviously comments of a certain quantity (or quality, for that matter) are not really a good way to judge the worth or success of a LiveJournal entry ... but they're appealing, perhaps because they're tangible. Quality is notoriously hard to judge, but comments are easily counted up and the resulting number is always right there for all to see.

It is not just entries that are counted this way; eventually entire journals and even the people who wrote them can be judged on the basis of the number of conversations started in their LiveJournal. The number of comments my LiveJournal gets is sometimes offered as proof of my virtues.

We can recognize this for the silliness it is, yet continue it anyway.

Yet "commentless entries" is really an interest of mine. I am interested in what you said when it, for whatever reason (the great entries sometimes preclude comment just as thoroughly as the ones that make your index finger twitch on your mouse's scrolly wheel), got no reply.

[Poll #608098]

Comments

[classytart.livejournal.com]

Most comments I ever got on an entry? One liner. It said "My nose hurts" and got pushing 300 comments, I think. Lots of that was conversation and we moved away from the sore nose, but still.

The key to lots of comments is to reply quickly to start a conversation, and to have written a short post which is probably lewd, or contains TMI, or is controversial.

I like comments.

I'm thinking about answers to your poll.

[bernmarx.livejournal.com]

In my experience:
-- Long posts are less likely to get comments than shorter ones. There has to be enough there for people to comment on, but not so much that people get daunted.
-- "Comprehensive" posts, that is, posts where it looks like you've got all the bases covered and there's not a lot to add, are less likely to get comments than posts with a lot of holes (this might be one reason why theferrett gets as many posts as he does -- his arguments are frequently only half thought out, and give plenty of traction for people to disagree). On teh Internets, some people can't seem to resist the opportunity to one-up the person they're replying to. *pauses* *suddenly feels awkward about this response* *sallies forth anyway:*
-- As you say, TMI posts are a fertile ground for sassy responses. I've had people add me as a friend (I always add back), and I'll go weeks watching their serious day-to-day posts without comment, only to respond my first time to some innuendo or other.
-- Posts which specifically ask for advice, especially in the first line, are more likely to get responses than passive-aggressive muse posts where it seems clear the person wants a response, but they don't ask for one.
-- And, of course, posts which specifically mention a user is significantly more likely to elicit a response from that user (even if it's a private C&D request :-O ) than one without one.

[cosmolinguist]

I am glad you didn't give up and sallied forth anyway.

Oh, also, I'm dumb: what does C&D mean?

[bernmarx.livejournal.com]

Cease and Desist. As in, "Stop it immediately or I'm going to sue you/have you arrested/ask Eddie Izzard to make rude jokes about your private parts!"

[cosmolinguist]

Ah, of course. I knew that! Thanks.

[ourescape.livejournal.com]

Same. Mine was a one-liner. I said, "I like oatmeal."

It really is sad how the posts which require little to no thought are the ones which get tons of comments, while posts which full of thought, substance, and content can get absolutely no comments.

[cosmolinguist]

I agree. It is sad. (Though in my experience, the post that got the most comments was actually about a huge potential life-change, and if I remember correctly all 200-some of them stayed on topic.)

But then I wonder, why do we think it's sad? What makes us think we're entitled to lots of comments when we write something deep and heavy, but not when we say "I hate Coldplay" (which I've also done, and gotten a lot of comments ... some of which were actually very thoughtful and interesting! but that's because I have cool friends. There are, as publiusfestus points out above, obvious reasons why the well-thought-out ones elicit fewer replies than the simple or stupid things, so I don't know why I should expect anything else ... but somehow I still do.

[miss-newham.livejournal.com]

I just picked two favourites from my memories there, I may love others but those are grand examples. I get miffed when I get no comments, but some posts are largely opportunities for everyone to have a converstatin, and some are such perfect stand-alone thought-pieces that nobody can think of anything to add to them. Plus, LJers are lazy. Fact!

[cosmolinguist]

You cheated though; the idea was sorta to choose your own entries. But I figured this might end up being a problem because I didn't make the question (or, well, demand) sufficiently clear on the subject, so I'll let you off. For now!

[miss-newham.livejournal.com]

Oh, I see, but I didn't cheat, I misunderstood! Don't tell my parents, please miss!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

My experience suggests that the surefire way of getting comments is to say something (anything) about Lord of the Rings.

[cosmolinguist]

An actual serious post of mine has, I think, gotten the most comments so far. But next in line may be the one that happened to mention a debate about which Linux distro to use, and role-playing games, in the same entry. I didn't need to be reassured that a lot of my friends (real-life and LJ) are geeks but if I ever do, I have proof.