WHEN YOU COMMENT ON LinkedIn POST OR COMMENT PLEASE 'mention' .........................................................................
Shyamsunder Panchavati
MEMBER ADVISORY COUNCIL HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW. HAD UNIQUE PRIVILEGE OF WORKING WITH AND FOR Dr. A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM.
Image credit : Shyam's Imagination Library
WHEN YOU COMMENT ON LinkedIn POST OR COMMENT PLEASE 'mention' .........................................................................
Actually I started this as an update, but found that, what I wanted to convey far exceeded the 600 characters allowed in an update, hence this post. Hope you will find this useful.
There are occasions when you feel, you can add value to the post or its quality or may be you correct some facts in the post. The usual method is to express yourself through the comment. When you express yourself, you naturally expect the author to at least read your comment. The author does read the comments most of the times. However there are occasions when there are large number of comments under the flag and the author is not able to read all of them. If your comment ends up in the not read comments lot, your efforts in lending value to the post gets wasted and the author is also deprived of value.
Adding '@' and mentioning his name gets his attention.
Please use 'mention' facility. You comment has better chances of being read. Please write '@' followed by name. This will make the author know that you are seeking his attention on the post or a part of the post, otherwise it just show as comment by a member.
Mention generates more interest from the concerned person and it also helps the author in either providing desired information or clarifying a misunderstanding.
While likes are generally appreciated they are very rarely responded to with thanks comment.
(I am among the rare species of primitive animals that respond with thanks comment for the likes).
A 'Like' increase the visibility of the post and takes it to your network. However there is no value addition for you as your network already knows you. There is no point in clicking a 'Like' unless you genuinely appreciate the content of the post. Too many Likes will make people to take your likes less seriously. If you genuinely want your network to see the post, please 'share' it. Be discreet, and honest with your likes.
LinkedIn also encourages use of 'mention. My personal experience shows that to be true in case of influencers. In case you are a subject expert or an intense student in the given domain, the author will take pains to either take your insights or tutor you to a better understanding of the topic. I am writing this out of my own experience as an intense student, I have found leading professors keen on tutoring me and I have happily used this opportunity to reduce my ignorance level.
A mention will make your name stand out among the people commenting and also mostly arouse curiosity in the author to read and respond to your comment. As of now, I don't see many using this facility. You can have a head start if you use this facility.
I know there are many other aspects to commenting which are as good as this if not better. For example '#' Hashtags are very good means to draw attention and earn a good search position for your content on Google, but LinkedIn doesn't recognise them on updates and comments. Unfortunate but true.
Though this post is mainly dedicated to 'mention', there are other important things that make your comment being noticed.
Start your comment from a point where the post ends. Do not repeat the points that are already mentioned in the post. Add, contradict or differ.
Please also do not use terms like "Great Post", "Just Awesome", or "I agree". Author would not like to spend his time reading these comments. He does not get any education out of these posts. He/She will stop reading your subsequent comments even if they have good content. Comment only if you have something constructive or creative to offer.
I am deliberately leaving this article open ended. There are many many aspects to creative commenting, I request my friends on LinkedIn and other social media to please add more, requisites and pre-requisites for commenting.
Believe me, I will immensely enjoy reading and getting educated.
Happy Commenting..........
Shyam
You can view all my articles on my blog Capacity Building & Development , You can follow on Twitter @shyam17 , Facebook , Google+
MEMBER ADVISORY COUNCIL HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW. HAD UNIQUE PRIVILEGE OF WORKING WITH AND FOR Dr. A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM.
7yAman Amanpour, thank you.
at Amanpour Consultant www.amanpourconsult.com
7yShyamsunder Panchavatigood tip;thanks !
MEMBER ADVISORY COUNCIL HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW. HAD UNIQUE PRIVILEGE OF WORKING WITH AND FOR Dr. A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM.
7yRomans Vitkovskis, I know and acknowledge the contribution from you towards educating people and creating awareness.
Chairman of the Board at EM - metodoloģijas (EM - methodologies)Ltd
7ywell I have done it in all amount why you have no real comment?
MEMBER ADVISORY COUNCIL HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW. HAD UNIQUE PRIVILEGE OF WORKING WITH AND FOR Dr. A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM.
7yThanks Vazhakodan Govindan for your valuable insights. I agree that there are many people who express themselves and leave it at that. Though reciprocation is appreciated, it is not an expectation. Here the author is the loser, if he doesn't read the comment. He looses on the great value the content, the expression may contain and is deprived of the learning. An author would ideally like to read all the comments and learn from the insights. However, if there are more number of comments, and if there are multiple posts by the same author. reading all the comments would be a huge strain on time, but still the authors try their best to read all the expressions, feelings. and try to learn from them. My request is just don't stop at saying that you like it or dislike it. explain your reason for agreement or disagreement. This will help the author to improve his knowledge or correct himself if he is wrong. He may even edit the post if he thinks it necessary. And in case, you have something very important, very critical, to convey, please use the '@' mention. You are not doing this for yourself, it is a service, you are doing for the author. A kind of CSR. In case you want to do it for yourself also, '@' mention helps you achieve your goal.