Replying to Blog Comments

When you get a great quality comment in response to a blog post that you've shared, it's a pretty exciting feeling - someone has taken time and made an effort to write to you, they've shown an interest in your work, and they've made a connection. Comments will be made by teachers, peers, friends and family / whānau initially, then in time, you'll get an audience of people you may not know, but who make a positive contribution to your learning.

Conversation via Commenting

Aim to reply to every comment in a way that keeps the learning conversation going:

  • Thank the person for taking the time to comment.
  • Make a connection with them, by saying that you are taking their ideas and suggestions for next learning steps into consideration.
  • Ask them a question to better understand their suggestions and their knowledge and experience.
  • Tell them how you've integrated their ideas, or why you might have decided not to integrate their ideas.


Unhelpful Comments

Remember that the biggest barrier to blog posting can be our fear of negative, thoughtless, unhelpful comments. People that troll and flame with their comments online do this to entertain themselves with no thought to the negativity they are creating and spreading, and the impact that they have on the person receiving the dumb and useless comments.

Please screenshot and save, then report these type of comments to a teacher immediately. Talk with someone at school and/or home to debrief about how you are feeling. Remember, it's not you, its the troll that has problem!

Most importantly, don't respond to a troll. Stay focused on sharing positively, and creating a great digital footprint for yourself.