This is a bit off-topic, but fits in well with some of the things I think about.
A while back I got all excited about coComment. To me, it was a way to track the conversations I contributed to.
Think about it, it’s really hard to track comments on posts that you have commented on. Only recently have I discovered that Flickr does this (don’t know since when), but it is a sure-fire way to rev up the interaction around a post or comment (sure has with me and Flickr).
I thought that coComment was going to be that glue that would allow me to track other comments made on posts I left comments on.
Nope. It was only tracking comments made by other coCommenters. Pretty lame, as, really, what are the chances or utility in that? It was a clear ‘let’s build a new community and ditch existing communities’ thought.
I stopped using it and kept looking for that comment glue.
Well, lo! I wasn’t the only one looking for the glue – coComment’s number 1 feature request was just that: help me track comments from others made on posts that I have commented on. See the link below for some more comments. Or go here, to read it on the coComment site.
Yipee!
But it gets better: you can track a conversation around a post without even leaving a comment. Cool. And better, yet: you can track an invisible conversation around a page that doesn’t take comments – they call it ‘meta-comments’ (reminds me of a Web page sticky-note service I once heard about).
Ok, so the upshot:
Posts are like micro-silos of conversations. The current way it is done, your comment, in your mind, is the last, unless you go back and read the post again later. Oh, sure you could track the comments via a feed, if the site has one.
We’re supposed to be having a conversation. How can we be having a conversation if folks are doing drive-by commenting, never having an easy way to follow up on any responses to what they said or any further commentary on what they were interested in?
CoComment is a right step in that direction. It let’s me keep an eye on the conversations I am interested in, either where I commented, or where I didn’t, or where there is a separate layer of commentary*.
That will keep the conversation flowing.
Link: BusinessBlogWire: coComment Now Tracks All Blog Comments.
The main coComment improvements are:
– The ability to track ALL comments left at a page, regardless of whether the commenters are coComment users. Killer feature.
– The ability to track comments at a page without making a comment yourself. Killer feature.
– The ability to converse with other coCommenters at any Web page that does not allow commenting.
*One idle thought: CoComment lets you leave invisible comments on pages, meta-comments. If those comments were restricted to a small group of people, then you would have something like a gossip area overlaid on the online world. Kinda reminds me of the IRC back-channels. Such meta-comments could be like permanent back-channel noise of conversation online. And only members of a certain ‘select’ group would ever find that meta-commentary, that invisible graffiti. Interesting to see if such behaviour evolves.
Charlie, the conversation (there’s that word again) has really taken off at my review post that you mentioned above. I’m thrilled to see you grasping the powerful potential tools like the new coComment offer in improving the way people converse.
Now, if you respond to this comment, I’ll know about it, just as well as if you sent me a personal email. Pure genius.
I’ve been using co.mments.com to track comments. Works perfectly.
easton,
i find that sometimes it’s easier to get to someone via their comments than via email. it might be partly due to a fatigue with email, that folks don’t respond or forget to respond. with comments, it still feels close (for most of us).
how long will that last?
also, email is still private to some extent, while comments are not. that’s why i think being able to have a layer of closed comments would be interesting.
nonetheless, things like cocomment and comments.com are closing the loop on the sharing. i think some of the larger posting services will start offering some sort of feature like this (like flickr does).
i think closing this loop might lead to some interesting new services popping up.
at least it does in my head. 🙂
tchau,
charlie
Janne, co.mments works perfectly for me too – but I only use it very rarely now, when coComment doesn’t work.
That’s a very interesting thought, Charlie, about layers of conversation. I’ve experimented with Vox(.com), Six Apart’s latest blogging community. That’s one example of a service that lets you designate who gets to see your posts – just you, your “friends,” the world, etc.
I think tools like these give people one more reason to use email less. Particularly young people who started using the Web after those halcyon days of yore when email emerged. These are the IM generation.
Hey Charlie,
I’ve been using CoComment and stoped because of exactly the functionallity missing that they added now. I’ll give them another try.
One warning though: As a Firefox user I installed the plugin and not the bookmarklet. However, the plugin sends each URL you visit immediately to CoComment no matter wheter you comment on the page or not. I guess this is required to let them show to you if there are private comments for that page.
Nice feature BUT IT IS A PRIVACY NIGHTMARE!!! The plugin basically tells CoComment everything about your browsing habits: Where you are going, what you are doing, when you are going there, how long you stay on the pages, etc. Sorry, not my piece of cake. I uninstalled the plugin again and instead the Bookmarklet instead. Not as much functionality but it only talks to the CoComment Server when I leave a post.
Martin
yeah, martin, good advice. i was a bit disturbed that i unchecked a conversation and it still showed up on my list. it was from an internal post, behind our firewall. i don’t really want that info accidentally out there.
my plug-in is gone, now. using the bookmarklet.
CoComments Big Brother Plugin
CoComment is a great tool to keep track of comments left by you and others on blogs. Lately, they have added a Firefox plugin which makes the service even more comfortable to use. Unfortunately, however, the plugin raises a serious privacy issue about …
CoComments Big Brother Plugin
CoComment is a great tool to keep track of comments left by you and others on blogs. Lately, they have added a Firefox plugin which makes the service even more comfortable to use. Unfortunately, however, the plugin raises a serious privacy issue about …