Cocomments - Keeping Track of Your Online Conversations
Having used to be very frustrated when I lost track of the conversations I was participating in via my blog comments I was delighted when I some time ago stumbled over a service called coComment. If I remember correctly was it Alister Cameron who featured it on his blog.
Following the comments on your own blog is easy. Just as easy is it when people offer a way to subscribe to comments. Not everyone does or can though. All those who are on a hosting service like WordPress.com are limited to what features they can offer and this is one of the limitations.
Since I have a poor recollection and also comment here, there and everywhere the result was that I kept forgetting to check back to see if someone commented on my comment, answered my question or otherwise added something valuable to the conversation.
With coComment that happens no more. At least I am hopeful that it won’t as it serves up all the my comments and what I commented on in one location. As long as I remember checking that (and remember turning the coComment extension on again after occasionally turning it off) then everything will be fine.
You can even make rss feeds of your comments, which I use to integrate them into my orbinaut website. You can also choose to include others comments in which case it can serve as a reminder of when to check back to see the new comments.
The way you make sure that your comments are tracked is through the extension or the bookmarklet. coComment works with these browsers: Firefox 1.0 and 1.5, Safari 2.0 and Internet Explorer 6.0 and 7.0. I find the extension most useful as you don’t have to remember bookmarking the conversation before commenting if using that option.
The reason that I sometimes have had to turn it off recently was that the extension slowed everything down. Having recognized the problems and apologized for them does it seem that coComment now have the issues in grip and that it can be left on without limiting my browsing.
You can choose to integrate it directly on your blog (as Alister Cameron have), but I have chosen not to do that. Most, if not everyone, using it will already be using the extension or bookmarklet, which renders integration superfluous and for those who don’t use it does it confuse more than anything else I think.
Since coComment is already compatible with most blogging and social networking sites and tools is it a great way to keep track of practically everything you are commenting on when surfing. You can see a complete list of the compatible platforms here.
The service is not yet perfect, but it is obvious that the people involved want it to be. They strive for constant improvements, are listening very carefully to their community and are not afraid of admitting mistakes or correcting errors. Hence am I sure the already great service will become even better.
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One Response to “Cocomments - Keeping Track of Your Online Conversations”
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Hi and thanks for the great post! You are absolutely right that we do want to listen to feedback and continue improving the service, so please keep it coming. Feel free to contact me at kristina@cocomment.com with any comments or questions. Thanks! Kristina