To Comment or Not To Comment?

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The Blogging Goddess asked recently: why do some blog posts get a lot of comments where others get so few? Other than say... The Bloggess or Hyperbole and a Half, most of us are all screaming for attention as we all crave comments. Hey, it's the main reason why we blog.

I've been thinking quite a lot about this question.

The blogosphere is like a cyber society with it's own prom queens, jocks and bullies. A high level of popularity is not always a sign of a high quality persona behind the blog. If only it were that simple. I think blogs are a proof of the law of natural selection. Although we may not "smell" the writer, we can sense the writer. We can sense with who we'd want to be friends, share a few drinks,  laugh at or with and we can certainly sense who we'd rather avoid.

Many many years ago, when my ex-boyfriend's best friend suddenly passed away we all surrounded his widow anyway we could. The deceased was one of those whom many claimed as a best friend. (Yeah, his blog would have gotten a shitload of comments...) One of the jobs my then boyfriend and I took over was taking care of the chicken coop. Every morning we'd go out there, feed the chickens, gather the eggs, etc.

I became fascinated with the chickens. They really functioned like in a micro society. The chickens all festered in front of Romeo (the rooster) showing off their feathers and their song. Paulette was the queen. Psychose, with all her losing feathers was on the bottom of the chicken totem pole. They all attacked her. They'd cross the coop and just whack right into her. She was rarely left alone. Some other chickens occasionally got attacked, but Paulette the queen never ever got touched. Slowly Psychose began losing feathers. She was skinny since they never let her eat. And Romeo never got a chance to get close to her, the other chickens would rush out and attack poor old Psychose if he got anywhere near her. She ended up dying. And oddly enough, the chickens quickly replaced her with another poor sap.

The law of natural selection.

Catholic schools make students wear uniforms so the classes won't transpire via kids' clothing. But kids can smell it. We naturally size people up in a fraction of a second. Those above us, below us or our equals. We do this waiting in line at the grocery store, sitting in a restaurant and... through typed words on the internet. It's not necessarily a snobbery thing. It's just a natural thing. And don't tell me "oh I don't do that!" because you do, I do, we all do. Whether we look beyond the initial size up is another question...

And we express this via our comments. I was never the prom queen, actually sat home alone more often than I wanted to since I was far from the "it" girl in school. I was however appreciated by most and thankfully did not attract any hatred. Look at my blog. People like me (I think). But my popularity is not that high... I don't get that much comments. So far I got 1 rude comment, which really wasn't all that rude, just an anonymous person speaking up for the mentally challenged. I've even pretty much stopped using the word "retard" (unless I'm drinking with my racing friends, and well, so sue me).

Chances are wherever you stand in the popularity contest is where your blog is at.

I may be wrong. If so, let me know by inundating my comment field below!