You might have asked this question a thousand times that why would steemit count your comments as posts? It is annoying, right? Even some steemians made some contributions on @utopian-io that comments should not be made part of the total number of posts.
I tend to DISAGREE..
It is all about community
Steemit was designed to be a community site and engagement is of paramount importance when you are building a community.
It doesn’t matter what kind of brand you run on steemit, your level of engagement with other steemians reflects your will and dedication to be the part of this community.
So when we talk about engagement on steemit, leaving comments on posts is the best and the most profound way to engage with fellow steemians.
Before I answer the question as to why steemit considers comments as posts, I would like to bring to your attention 2 crucial points related to commenting.
Yes, you read that right. When you create a blog post, the curation on that post is only limited to the upvotes you get there and thats it. As far as curation rewards are concerned, it doesn’t matter if someone posts a comment there or not.
So when you write a comment on a post, where does it count?
Does it help promote author’s blog post?
Does it help author’s blog post earn more money?
Does it reward the author in any other way?
No...
No...
& No...
So what happens to the comments you leave on other posts?
Your comments become posts instead. Now people can upvote / flag your comment or even respond to it just like it was a post itself.
So for instance, you wrote a comment on someone’s blog post and it earned you 1$. By the end of the comment payout, you would have earned 0.75$ with 0.25$ going to curators, JUST LIKE YOUR OWN BLOG POST.
The second point I would like to highlight here is that...
Suppose if you leave a comment on someone’s post that is about to be paid out, will your comment also expire with it?
Absolutely Not...
The moment you post a comment on someone’s post, it initiates its own window of 7 days and the upvotes your receive on your comment will be paid out to you after 7 days.
If anyone is wondering, yes, you can also leave a comment on a post that has already paid out and it won’t affect your comment in anyway.
Now that I have established why comments are considered as posts on steemit, it is time to emphasize on why you should focus more on commenting than creating blog posts.
When I take 5 minute break from my daily job, I log on to steemit, go to my feed, read a post, comment on it and then I get back to work. It is easy, simple, efficient and not at all time consuming.
Normally, it takes about 2-3 days to properly research on a topic and then it takes another 4-5 hours to create a detailed, error free post about it. This is some time consuming task and most of us cannot allocate that much amount of time without taking massive breaks in between.
Generally, people are more inclined towards writing their blog posts instead of writing comments. I have practically witnessed people pushing out 7-8 articles in a day but they are reluctant to write even a single comment.
It is advisable to spend more time on commenting since comments are also posts. Though rewards per comment may seem a bit less but when you are thoughtfully commenting on at least 20 posts a day, those little rewards combine to give you a massive boost.
The success on steemit is directly proportional to visibility on platform. The more visible you are, more people will follow you, more people will visit your blog and more rewards shall come your way.
But it is easier said than done. People spend countless hours interacting with other steemians on Discord channels and through other means. One of the most efficient way to put yourself on steemverse map is to comment on other people's post. You will be surprised to see how quickly your following will increase.
For instance, if you have 300 followers and you are continuously writing blog posts, chances are that very little amount of people outside of your followers' circle will visit your posts. But placing an intelligent and wonderful comment on another steemian blog post who happens to have 3000 followers will benefit you more in terms of visibility since your "great comment" will be visible to so many people. This visibility will help you gain some following and your future blog posts will be even profitable.
If you are new to steemit, you will soon come to realise a harsh reality that the steemit community generally does not like to upvote or comment on other people's posts. Now, there are many factors involved in this phenomenon as to why this is so and probably I will cover it in my future posts. No matter how good your blog is, most of the people tend to see your wallet first to check if their comments or upvotes will earn them any returns or not, which sadly, excludes 98% of the active community.
I would like to highlight here that by leaving comments on other people's post, you are not doing authors any favour. If anything, you are doing yourself a favour by promoting your content, your brand and your profile. No matter how miser your approach towards giving upvote is, you should never stop commenting.
I have a rule here on steemit...
If you cannot create a great post, do not create a post altogether
As I have mentioned before, It usually takes 5-6 hours for someone to create a great post. It is not possible for anyone to come up with quality content after every few hours. If it takes you less than an hour to create a blog post then you might want to revisit your strategy here because that kind of post can never be a great post. Take some time to research on subject and then create a detailed post on it.
But what do you do when you are not creating a blog post?
Do commenting instead. There is no need to create unnecessary below average blog posts just to show the world that you are active here. Your activity on platform will always be measured by quality and not quantity. Writing comments do not involve a lot of time. They are quick to compose and keep you active on steemit.
I would advise everyone that when you are done posting a blog post, immediately turn your guns towards commenting. The more you comment on other people's blog, they are likely to visit your profile and read your latest post.
Based on my own experiences, I would like to share 11 advices related to commenting with my fellow steemians:-
Don’t post crappy comments like "Nice Post" or "Thanks for Sharing". Even if you believe that the post is so complete in every aspect that you possibly cannot add anything to it, you can simply write down your own experience on subject and then appreciate author's take on it.
Don’t hesitate to post a counter opinion in comments. You do not necessarily have to agree with everything author has to say.
Voice your differences with author or with other members in a polite and humble manner.
Don’t participate in flag wars. In a flag war, if you think that a whale will back your comment up with 20$ worth of upvote, then there will be another whale who will give you flag of worth 25$.
Do not post spam. No matter how creative or clever spam you come up with, a real steemian will be able to recognise it and it will get you flagged.
Try to post detailed comments. lengthy and well crafted comments often catch the eye of public and author. Make sure that you are able to convey your message properly.
Do not beg in the comments like "please upvote me" or "please follow my blog". Your comments are reflection of your personality. Keep it untainted.
Do not upvote your own comment unless you want it to be visible. Authors generally don't like when someone leaves a comment and then upvotes their own comment.
Do not waste time commenting on people's blog who do not appreciate or reply to your comments. Leave them be.
Do not hurry in posting a comment. You being the first one to comment has nothing to do with the amount of upvotes you can get.
Do not drop links of your own blog posts on other people's blogs unless the link is absolutely relevant to the subject.
In this guide, I have discussed in detail as to why steemit considers comments as posts. Also I have managed to highlight that why every steemian should focus more on commenting. In the end, I have shared some of the advices related to commenting with fellow steemians.
I would request you to consider upvoting and resteeming this post so that it could gain more visibility. And of course, comments are more than welcome :)
Thumbnail image is designed on free canva tool. Bruce lee picture is taken from his famous interview while the comment over it is written by me. All other images are taken from pixabay
