I’m taking two online classes right now, and a large part of the required work for them is to participate in message board discussions. In one class, Decision Making, most of our discussion topics are about things discussed in the book, with fairly clear cut answers. The other class, Public Relations, offers more opinion-based topics for discussion. Guess which one has more involved, and spirited discussions!

I was aware of this difference for the last six weeks of class now, but it wasn’t until this weeks discussion that it really sunk in. I immediately saw a correlation to blogging.

So, you’re looking for more comments on your blog. The best way to do this is to give your readers something to talk about. Opinions and controversial topics are a great way to strike up a conversation on your blog. Go against the commonly accepted opinion and suggest your own. Or even question the status-quo directly. Get your readers to think.

In my Decision Making class, our discussion topics only require us to scan through the book and find the answers. My Public Relations class, on the other hand, asks us what we think should be done in different situations. This immediately gets our brains working, and our opinions voiced. Not everyone agrees with what you say, so there are much deeper discussions.

So in the end it boils down to this: If you want to inspire your readers to comment on your blog, give them something to talk about!

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