I would argue that the real reason that most of us leave comments is to promote our own blogs. I believe that we, as humans, are very self serving creatures. There’s nothing wrong with that though, and as long as we balance the equation and serve others in the process by leaving meaningful comments, then it’s okay to promote your blog. But when you unbalance the equation, and you only comment to promote your own blog and not add value to the discussion, then that’s when the selfishness comes into play. Thanks for commenting!

@ Sire

Thanks for the compliment. I know you don’t just hand out praise, so that means a lot. And yes, I definitely think that the proper way of educating the new bloggers who just don’t “get it” is to show them what they’re missing out by not participating.

@ Sheryl

Lol, well I disagree. I don’t think that most of the bloggers who leave dumb comments realize that it’s wrong. I think that they don’t quite get the concept that it’s a worthy investment to get to know the other bloggers on a personal level. And yes, it is my personal policy to always blame the Aussie when things go wrong.

@ Ian

Lol @ your first sentence. You don’t have anything to worry about, you always leave intelligent comments. As for why you don’t have junk comments, I think that it’s because your niche is so specific. When I first discovered your blog, it took me a little while to understand what you were writing about, but now I understand and think it’s great!

And thanks for the praise regarding my new theme. It’s been up for a few weeks now. It’s still a work in progress, but it’s 100X better than the old one.

Personally I’ve not had a problem with junk comments yet .. well apart from the masses of spam that my anti-spam deals with very well. Perhaps it depends on the nature of what my blog is about. Or maybe it’s because I never (well, rarely) leave comments just to get my name and url up.

I’ve also found the blogging world very close-knit and I find the different life stories and philosophies fascinating. We’re all different and, for me, blogging is a celebration of that.

btw .. I’ve been quiet in the blogoshpere for the last couple of months so I don’t know how new the ‘new look’ is on your site .. but I really like it.
Ian Peatey´s last blog ..How we die

I watch my stats & see when the ‘link searches’ come in & yep, I’ll end up with junk comments on 3 or 4 post. I moderate so they just get deleted.

Hmm, I wish I saw my blog visitors as $ signs. Maybe I just wish they would give me money, who cares if they visit my blog just send cash, I’m not picky.

Sheryl
ps. I am sure that it was Sire that did something bad (always blame the Aussie).
Sheryl Loch´s last blog ..Why You Should Care if Teens are Using Twitter

I understand that there are a lot of bloggers out there, especially new ones, who are unaware of commenting etiquette, but then I reckon there are also a lot who are and do not give a damn. Still, it’s posts such as this that may help those willing to learn to leave the Dark Side of commenting and enter the light.
Sire´s last blog ..Sometimes It just Doesn’t Pay Being Jack

Now to be fair… one of the reasons I comment so much is to get my name out there in the blogosphere, but I do my best to leave well though-out comments and I try and add some value to other readers.

I look forward to your post on building a better comment strategy.
Doug Dillard´s last blog ..MakingMoneyOnline.com August Recap – Also Only Two Days Left to Win Banner Package