Commenting Etiquette On Active Rain

I answer questions on the Quora.com Q&A website, which helps my SEO.  Quora members can upvote or downvote an answer based on relevance and quality.  It may be useful for AR to add a Dislike button for comments.  If you get more Dislikes than Likes, you lose points.

I have seen spammers join AR and post a spam message.  Then drive by commenters welcome them with a generic welcome aboard comment.  I report the spammers to AR for deletion.

Besides reading the Post, read the Comments as well. They may explain something in the post that you are addressing.

I don't like those types of comments either, Karen. Sometimes people make comments that don't make any sense, even when you can tell that they actually did read the post. I wonder if they are too distracted to process the information, or if they are just stupid. 

Perhaps an answer like "Really?" to those drive by's... Possibly a waste of time since they deal in "one comment fits all" category and probably wouldn't respond. Let's start a trend of "Really?"; those that gets them will know exactly what's thought of their comments. It's one word and innocuous.

I do try to say something specific about a post to let the person know I actually read it.  Sometimes there is not much to say and you just want them to know you were there.

Totally on board with that. It's amazing what some contributors will do to earn a couple of points. I actually think and have deleted inane comments. I've even seen some members post canned comments on multiple posts which is totally ridiculous and unacceptable in my book. I think we members should do a little bit of self policing and report this type of behavior.

LOL,  I seldom post but do READ and gain knowledge from all of you.  So maybe I make up for the drive by's!!!

Thanks for the information Karen Fiddler, Broker/Owner 

I like the "drive by comments" label, but it doesn't look like it's getting through to everyone!

Once I sent an email to one of those careless commenters.  The post was serious and about a family member who was ill.  The comment was "thanks for the information"  What a dumb a$$.  And that's pretty much what my email said.

I should add, it was not my post, that of a friend

No kidding!  That comment REALLY was uncalled for...and shows that the commenter did NOT real anything in that post. Why comment if they aren't going to read the post? 

Oh Karen, I have a GREAT one for you!  I just saw a spam post (amazon herbals) which was complete gibberish and TWO PEOPLE pasted in the "Welcome to Active Rain, it'll do wonders for your career" messages!  I thought of this post immediately. 

Karen, There is one of those 'drive by' comments on Bob Stewart's post today. 

Hi Karen.  Early on in my time in the Rain, I read a post stressing the importance of reading bot the post and the comments.  It has served me well, for honestly, there have been times that a comment proved more beneficial that the initial post.  From time to time, I run upon a post from days gone by, and find a gem.  Sometimes I re-blog such posts.

On occasion, I do not have time to read every comment, and less frequently, I come upon a post so rich with thought that I save a shortcut to it, and read it fully later.  Additionally, on occasion, A title catches me, but the post offers nothing of value.  BY FAR AND AWAY, MOST OF WHAT I READ HERE LEND FURTHER THOUGHT FOR MY DAY.  Any and all of these annoyances are mere pebbles along a well paved road of information, encouragement, ideas, and the occasional "dressing down" we need.

I do get frustrated when reviewing my comments or post to finf that my smartalec phone thought it knew better than I what I had wished to say.  I try to proof read my contributions; and do wish others would.  I may find a point hard to grassp when gibberish appears; but I do not pronounce judgment on the one who misses a missspelled word, or double types a word in a sentence.  When I have gramatical or spelling errors, and more particularly, an incorrect fact or choice of word, I WELCOME others to politely point it out.  Should I have occasion to point out such to another, I do hope it will be accepted in the spirit with which it was offered.  Thank you for caring, and my wish is always for you to find a better day than you anticipated.

Karen, I so understand your frustration.  I've received those too for serious posts.   The reverse is also true when someone writes a book for  a comment.  We are all busy enough that a comment that is so long should be written as a blog post! 

I find these drive by comments funny at times. It is so obviously they only read the last paragraph. I like how some writers start in one place, end in another and the commenter clearly only waved at the car as it went by.. LOL

I think it is pretty much the way of the world... some people listen and actually care about what is being said... and some are just moving from place A to place B and not paying attention... the best Realtors... the best salespeople all know how to listen before responding...  the drive by commentators... are not your top salespeople for sure!

My pet peeve is the "drive by" comments, such as "Great Post."  I think people just do this to get the 25 points.  If you can't take the time to read the blog, don't comment on it, as the comment is irrelevant to the blog and instead of getting 25 points, you should lose 50 points for wasting people's time.