25 Things About Me: The effect of relationships on commenting

A lot of Facebook users took their first steps into blogging this past month. The “25 Things survey” was loved and hated alike, but it helped Facebook surpass MySpace in traffic and new profiles.

It also had the bonus effect of getting more people to participating in online conversations by commenting.

If you have a personal relationship with the author (like in Facebook), does it influence the 1% rule?

The one percent rule is the rule is that all of the user-generated content is created by only 1 percent of people who read it or use it.

So I ran a few super-scientific numbers:

# Comments on “25 Things Survey” / Total Facebook Friends = 2.49%

Apparently, the fact you have a personal connection to the author of your Facebook survey does make you more likely to comment, but the numbers are still really low.

Or perhaps a different perspective:

The more friends you have, the more likely you are to have a “content creator” in the bunch.

Either way… if you have 2 comments on that 25 Things survey you slaved over, then you can assume that at least 100 people read your list even if all of them didn’t drop you a line.

A few thoughts for bloggers:

• Think of ways to build relationships with your readers – get to know them by participating on their blog regularly. Reading alone is not active participation.
• Try writing about yourself more often. If not on your professional blog, why not in Facebook notes?
• A comment does not have to always be the most well-thought-out and well written piece to be of value to the author.
• Spread some comment love today
• (You can view my own 25 Things About Me if you want.)