Is Anyone Listening?

By David Tonen • June 23rd, 2010

I’m Listening – the famous line of Fraser Crane…

Please indulge me for a moment.

I need to rant.

One of the core tenants of social media is that it is supposed to be social.  Social means that there is conversation.  Conversation is a two way or multi-player communication channel.  It started out that way at least.  In the past year, I have noticed a very glaring shift.

The Conversation is Starting to Wane

People may be reading, consuming, and filtering information from blogs, Twitter, and Facebook, but the interaction within these channels is not what it was even six months ago.

I subscribe to about 60 blogs in Google Reader.  I have begun to notice that there are fewer people commenting now than there used to be.  Many excellent posts garner few if any comments at all.  On this blog as well, fewer and fewer comments are left (hey maybe in this case, it’s my writing) – It was time for an experiment –  I decided to start leaving more comments across the blogs I read.  Some of the comments would reveal my identity, others would be anonymous.  In the past month, I have left upwards of twenty five comments on almost as many blogs,  The result – not one author or reader of any of these blogs has commented on or followed up on the comments I left.

I opened a conversation and the air is dead.  I am left to believe that no one is listening.

What surprises me the most is that the post authors are silent!  Tons of work goes into writing informative blog posts.  If the author is writing but not responding what does that say?  Maybe I am late to the game and people have already discovered long a go that there is no point commenting because there will be no response.  What is the problem?  Seriously, I am at a loss here!

On the blogs that I do see comments, forgive me, but they are so pithy.

“Great post“. “Thanks man“. “Cool“.  ”Word“.

What is that all about?  The channel has no substance.  No one adding to the thoughts, few disagree, and most say nothing at all.

Is The Conversation Dead?

So can it be that everyone is so busy talking that no one is listening?  Has social media just built up a cacophony of noise and no real substantial conversation.  The problem is not a lack of great content – ideas, teaching, and philosophies.  They abound!  Where is the conversation?

OK – now here’s a gutsy move …

What do YOU think? Come on, don’t just read – speak up (yes, you).

Share what you think!  Start a conversation.  I promise to respond.

Rant. Done.

Comments(24) Facebook, Google, Media, Social Media, Twitter
  • http://muddyrivermedia.org Mark Fogarty

    Word!

    ;-)

  • http://muddyrivermedia.org Mark Fogarty

    Word!

    ;-)

  • http://navigateyourmarketing.com/ David Tonen

    Thanks for making me smile, Mark. I can always count on you! Thanks for reading. :-)

  • http://www.brandonacox.com Brandon Cox

    David, I’ve seen it too. I used to ask a deep question on Twitter and see at least a dozen responses. Now, I just see more links. And yes, I’ve noticed it with blog comments too, even on posts that would normally generate a lot of discussion.

    I have a theory – that we’re in an age where it’s too easy to lead. Leading isn’t bad, obviously, but the tools at our disposal are free, easy, and quickly equip us to be the pusher of information. Combine this with a growing addiction to information and we see that everyone is aggregating, few are conversing.

    I’ve thought a long time about how to respond to this trend, and I don’t know that we can stop it. We simply need to figure out how to connect conversations that are happening in other ways. So instead of just viewing comments, we have to look across the web and see how often we’re being linked to, reblogged, and “liked” elsewhere. Connecting all of these together is the trick.

  • http://navigateyourmarketing.com/ David Tonen

    Thanks for making me smile, Mark. I can always count on you! Thanks for reading. :-)

  • http://www.brandonacox.com Brandon Cox

    David, I’ve seen it too. I used to ask a deep question on Twitter and see at least a dozen responses. Now, I just see more links. And yes, I’ve noticed it with blog comments too, even on posts that would normally generate a lot of discussion.

    I have a theory – that we’re in an age where it’s too easy to lead. Leading isn’t bad, obviously, but the tools at our disposal are free, easy, and quickly equip us to be the pusher of information. Combine this with a growing addiction to information and we see that everyone is aggregating, few are conversing.

    I’ve thought a long time about how to respond to this trend, and I don’t know that we can stop it. We simply need to figure out how to connect conversations that are happening in other ways. So instead of just viewing comments, we have to look across the web and see how often we’re being linked to, reblogged, and “liked” elsewhere. Connecting all of these together is the trick.

  • http://navigateyourmarketing.com/ David Tonen

    Thanks Brandon! Your “pusher” concept is true. It is interesting to watch people te-tweet articles off of the author’s original tweet within seconds when there is no way they could have even read the article in that timeframe!

    I guess we are in a new phase of social media information management. Maybe we should collate all those other channels to measure the spread of our content. For me personally though, that doesn’t constitute a real conversation…

  • http://navigateyourmarketing.com/ David Tonen

    Thanks Brandon! Your “pusher” concept is true. It is interesting to watch people te-tweet articles off of the author’s original tweet within seconds when there is no way they could have even read the article in that timeframe!

    I guess we are in a new phase of social media information management. Maybe we should collate all those other channels to measure the spread of our content. For me personally though, that doesn’t constitute a real conversation…

  • http://muddyrivermedia.org Mark Fogarty

    Seriously though, I agree. I think the social tools the Internet now makes available to us deceives many into believing we are some modern day Churchill in terms of our communication skills. It’s like when Microsoft Publisher deceived a boatload of people into thinking they were graphic artists just because they suddenly had some tools.

    We are a generation which loves to hear the sound of our voice… or our own fingers tapping away at a blog-post which, no doubtedly will transform some poor wretches life.

    I did find your experiment interesting. Here’s my take on it:

    While I read a lot of stuff online, I don’t often comment on it. It either has to impact me quite profoundly, or be a topic I feel I can legitimately contribute something worthwhile to. Sometimes I happen upon something, make a comment, and never return to that site again. Other times I really want to follow the thread, perhaps to see what the response is to my comment, or to continue learning.

    When that is the case the thing I look for is that the blog/article allows me to subscribe to that post so I don’t miss anything. I have such a short attention span, and such a crappy memory, without that help I will most likely forget about it and move on.

    Which is ironic because I remember commenting a couple times on your VBS post, and being surprised that I couldn’t subscibe to the comments. I did check in once or twice to see any additional comments, but then I forgot about it until reading this very fine blog post of yours.

    Anyway, I will try my best to remember to check back tomorrow for any additional communication on this thread… no promises though.

    Mark Fogarty

    (This entire message was typed in over the space of what felt like one hour using two overly large thumbs on a miniscule iPod Touch screen. I’m exhausted just thinking about it.)

  • http://muddyrivermedia.org Mark Fogarty

    Seriously though, I agree. I think the social tools the Internet now makes available to us deceives many into believing we are some modern day Churchill in terms of our communication skills. It’s like when Microsoft Publisher deceived a boatload of people into thinking they were graphic artists just because they suddenly had some tools.

    We are a generation which loves to hear the sound of our voice… or our own fingers tapping away at a blog-post which, no doubtedly will transform some poor wretches life.

    I did find your experiment interesting. Here’s my take on it:

    While I read a lot of stuff online, I don’t often comment on it. It either has to impact me quite profoundly, or be a topic I feel I can legitimately contribute something worthwhile to. Sometimes I happen upon something, make a comment, and never return to that site again. Other times I really want to follow the thread, perhaps to see what the response is to my comment, or to continue learning.

    When that is the case the thing I look for is that the blog/article allows me to subscribe to that post so I don’t miss anything. I have such a short attention span, and such a crappy memory, without that help I will most likely forget about it and move on.

    Which is ironic because I remember commenting a couple times on your VBS post, and being surprised that I couldn’t subscibe to the comments. I did check in once or twice to see any additional comments, but then I forgot about it until reading this very fine blog post of yours.

    Anyway, I will try my best to remember to check back tomorrow for any additional communication on this thread… no promises though.

    Mark Fogarty

    (This entire message was typed in over the space of what felt like one hour using two overly large thumbs on a miniscule iPod Touch screen. I’m exhausted just thinking about it.)

  • http://muddyrivermedia.org Mark Fogarty

    In the time it took me to smash out my response on that damned iPod, the conversation fairy granted David’s wish.

    (Not that I’m calling you a fairy, Brandon)

  • http://muddyrivermedia.org Mark Fogarty

    In the time it took me to smash out my response on that damned iPod, the conversation fairy granted David’s wish.

    (Not that I’m calling you a fairy, Brandon)

  • http://navigateyourmarketing.com/ David Tonen

    @Mark – Appreciate your serious side too buddy.

    What’s funny (and true) is that you suggest the comments subscription service. I have been thinking aout that for months and frankly, my procrastination has gotten the best of me. Sorry.

    But, while you were writing that, I was muddling around with the Disqus plugin and when I activated it, it blanks out all the comments on this post! It might be just me or the fact that it is now past midnight here. So, I’ll defer (or procrastinate until the morning).

  • http://navigateyourmarketing.com/ David Tonen

    @Mark – Appreciate your serious side too buddy.

    What’s funny (and true) is that you suggest the comments subscription service. I have been thinking aout that for months and frankly, my procrastination has gotten the best of me. Sorry.

    But, while you were writing that, I was muddling around with the Disqus plugin and when I activated it, it blanks out all the comments on this post! It might be just me or the fact that it is now past midnight here. So, I’ll defer (or procrastinate until the morning).

  • http://navigateyourmarketing.com/blog/ David Tonen

    Look at me! I figured it out! Comments are now subscribable :-)

  • Danblackonleadership

    David,
    I agree with what your saying. I also have noticed that over the past few months the people that comment on my blog has gone down. Even though I have around 50 blogs I follow and closely keep my eye on about 20 of them. I leave comments and get the same response most of the time. NOTHING!

    Whenever a person leaves a comment on my blog I make it a point to comment back. The key is the connecting with the people following your blog not just communicating with them. It should be a two way street!

    Thank you for sharing.

  • Ken Courrier

    My comment is a question. Is what we are experiencing WRT reduced responses simply a result of 'the Blog' no longer being 'trendy'?

  • http://navigateyourmarketing.com/blog/ David Tonen

    @Dan – Glad I am not the only one! I was starting to get paranoid that maybe people were ignoring me :-)

    @Ken – Your question is a good one with not a simple answer. Certainly, blogging is not as trendy as it was a few years ago. At one point it seemed everyone had a blog.

    I think what we have seen (and this is just my opinion), that the quality of blogging has increased. There are fewer blogs but more committed writers and more thoughtful, excellent posts. From that, I guess I would expect better discussion, interaction, and feedback being generated.

    I think the thing that puzzles me most in all this is the silence from the bloggers themselves. I hate to think that they feel they have done their job in writing the post and therefore don't need to comment amongst the comments!

  • Nsjacq

    I agree. There are fewer people commenting. I think that part of the problem is the volume of information we are reading.

  • http://navigateyourmarketing.com/blog/ David Tonen

    Thanks NSjacq! Great to have you leave a comment here. The volume has indeed increased substantially. With web enabled phones, iPads, and our laptops, the information is literally always at our fingertips. Maybe we (people) have really and truly taken on the role of “consumers”…

  • Ianjuby

    Word – there's a lot of comments here! heheh. I get so few comments on my blog, that I never remember to check it. And when I do check it, it's usually just spammers. Occassionally I've gotten a good comment, even if it was someone who disagreed, I always approved it.
    But alas, time is one major factor there.

    Where I do get feedback – and LOTS of it, is by direct email. People won't post to my blog, they'll email me, and that alone is almost overwhelming to try to keep up with the traffic there, frankly. I think there's a combination of things going on here: people are super busy, and/or want their comments and opinions private, not public.

    Take it a step farther, what I'm seeing mostly (and perhaps this is just because of the lightning-rod field I'm in) is the most common posts really aren't worth reading – they are venomous, irrational and just plain hateful. I leave the comments on my youtube channel open because then people see exactly the kind of irrational, “over the top” hateful responses I'm talking about. What I've learned is that nobody makes me look better, and nobody convinces others I'm correct more than my enemies. :)

    Anyway, random thoughts – but tell me this David, do you get a lot of emails from your posts?

  • http://navigateyourmarketing.com/blog/ David Tonen

    @Ianjuby – thanks for your post and your insights. You make some good points. Now that you mention it, I have probably personally received more comments by e-mail and on Facebook than on my blog. I think you are on to something there. People do comment, they just prefer in many cases to do it privately and not in the open forum. So often I have received comments in those other channels that I had really wished were open for the public to see – but, I certainly respect the privacy aspect as well. Nice thoughts!

  • Serena Whitty

    Hi David,

    I saw this on FB and thought I would check it out.

    I never Blog, I don't twitter, and I rarely leave comments unless I am trying to annoy Sheldon about last nights game. So I started to think about why I don't really like this medium of communication as much as face to face chat.

    I read the above comments which all seem valid but think maybe the people not answering don't feel it necessary because they aren't directly affected by the person leaving the response. It is not like they have to look you in the eye and shake your hand they don't know you. Do you really matter? Are you truly real to them?

    I work in customer service and if someone comes up to me and looks me in the eye and smiles I respond differently just to a smile than a non smile instinctively. This may seem wrong but on an emotional level I feel good. If you leave a response to a blog with no real connection what response to you truly expect. Aren't blogs for the most part self absorbed blurbs there to fulfill a need for the person writing them. Don't get me wrong they serve a purpose and can be entertaining. We can be informed by them. I can however find that information elsewhere. So for all you blogger's I am not trying to be cruel just trying to explain why you may not be getting the response you desire. Maybe they are not Blogging for the same reason you are. Maybe you are truly blogging to inform and are not self absorbed. So you see you have lost the physicality of good old conversation. That touch and smile. I only responded to Dave because I know he is sincere and I know his smile well.

    So to clarify I don't think all Blogging is self absorbed. :)

    Just my thoughts, but what do I know, this may be my second comment outside of FB.

  • http://navigateyourmarketing.com/blog/ David Tonen

    @Serena – you rock…and you don't need to apologize to “the bloggers”. I see your point. You see, those of us who do blog, read blogs, tweet, facebook, and all the other stuff – we do live in a little bit of a fishbowl – and it is good that you reminded us of that.

    I blog and read blogs about technology, social media, and marketing as it applies to churches and small business. This is my area of interest, education, and career. I happen to love it. Maybe I am a little too passionate sometimes and I expect others to be as well. As was mentioned before, when it comes to content, there is so much of it and we are all so busy, that maybe consumption is the most we can expect. Conversation therefore will be saved for our face-to-face relationships.

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