Henriette Weber

Today I want to take upon two subjects that I think is highly underestimated in communities; commenting and control.

Commenting in my point of view is the most useful thing that has come out of web 2.0, basically because it is  the main reason that online conversations and communities can carry on and on an on..  Also it’s the most simple and the best way to actually engage in a community and give your say either as a normal user of the community or as a company.

How so ?

Before web 2.0 commenting and also socializing on the internet happened in closed forums and discussionboards.

Along came blogs and it really  made the web more social – because of the commenting functions. Still I would argue that blogs really are broadcasting tools made public, because it is still completely in the eye of the “publisher” or “blogger” what content will be posted. I love blogs because the have made me have a voice to the people that wants to hear what I have to say.

But – blogs are still within the complete control of the company. You publish. You Strategize. You decide. Communities however – these days are not build on blogs – but they are build on the community feeling, that you get from links, and by links I mean – comments, comments on everything.

It seems like the level of control is one step further away from the companies in communities. One control step further away from the company than blogging. Why is that ? well because the communities, comments and control cannot be managed or integrated in a structure.

the structure of comments is like outbursts and you never know what you’re gonna get.