Beware these popular but misguided blogging behaviors when commenting on posts others have written. Failure to heed some basic rules of etiquette may result in your comments being flagged.
1. "Great post," "Nice information," etc.
This is spam. Your upvote is your indication that you like a post. If you want to compliment the author, be specific and describe what aspects of the post you thought were great. What did you learn from the essay? What aspects of the photo appealed to you? How did the drawing impress you? This is what you need to express. Otherwise, your comment is indistinguishable from the bots spamming the same generic comments.
Bad: "Nice photo!"
Good: "I like your photo, and here is my explanation of what I liked, or some questions about the subject!"
2. "Upvoted and followed!"
This is spam. Like the "nice post" comments, it's just clutter in the comment section that doesn't create a conversation, and like the "nice posts" comments, you should explain why you decided to upvote and follow.
3. "Read my post!"
This is spam. Unlike the "nice post" or "upvoted and followed," it doesn't even pretend to care about the content of the post upon which it comments. It is pure, shameless self-promotion. Don't do it.
If you have created a post that is actually relevant to the topic of someone else's post, it may be possible to mention it in the context of an actual comment conversation without being obnoxious, but when in doubt, don't.
4. Tagging people in posts
This is a late additional edit after the original post, and a comment below reminded me of this rather obnoxious behavior. Any commenters who commit the sins listed above also tag the author of the post, as seen in the quote below:
Replies to an author's post already appear in the account feed conveniently labeled "Replies." As such, the tag in a direct reply appears to be begging for extra attention in a vain attempt to be more sincere. What's more, the basic Steemit interface doesn't alert people to such tags. It's just another hallmark of a spammy reply trying to get upvotes for minimal effort. Don't do it.
Spread the Good Word
Please upvote, leave a substantive comment, and resteem this post if you believe it contains helpful information. You are also welcome to link to it in response to spammy comments on your own posts.
If you like this post, please comment, follow, and resteem!
