Deciding whether to use a trackback or a comment

One of the many benefits that blogs offer is the ability to engage in a conversation. Using comments, trackbacks, and pingbacks, you can share your thoughts on someone else’s blog post. So, before I offer my recommendations on when to use these technological talking tools, let me share definitions of each term (All definitions below are loosely edited from the Glossary on the WordPress Codex).

Trackback
Allows you to notify another author that you wrote something related to one of her/his blog posts, even if you don’t have an explicit link her/his article. With pingback and trackback, blogs are interconnected. Think of them as the equivalents of acknowledgements and references at the end of an academic paper, or a chapter in a textbook.

Pingback
Notifies the author of an article if you link to his/her blog post. If the links you include in your blog post lead to a blog which is pingback-enabled, then the author of that blog gets a notification in the form of a pingback that you linked to his/her article.

Comment
Allow readers to respond to posts. Typically readers simply provide their own thoughts regarding the content of the post, but users may also provide links to other resources, generate discussion, or simply compliment the author for a well-written post. Comments can be controlled and regulated through the use of filters for language and content, and often times must await approval before they are visible on the blog.

Which tool should you use?

While I could give you an answer to that question, the truth is that only you are an authority on what practices are right for you and your blog. So, I’ll share what I do on my blog and you can use that in your decision-making process (or post a comment to ask me questions).

On posts: I allow comments and pings because I want you to be free to leave your comments and I want to know if you’ve linked to something I’ve written so I can potentially come visit your blog.
On pages: I don’t allow comments because I don’t see a static page as the appropriate place for your comments.
Comment moderation: I set up my blog so that I approve comments before they will be visible on my site. I also have Akismet enabled to block spam comments. I do this because I want only comments that are positive in nature (critiques can be positive if done in a civil way) and are about dialogue/conversation. Ranters, flamers, and anyone who is disrespectful to me, other readers, or just generally offensive can post their venom on their own blog.
Comment or trackback: I leave comments on other’s blogs when I have just a few words to say and/or my thoughts don’t need much elaboration. However, when someone has written something on which I have much to say (in agreement or disagreement), I will write my own post–often quoting from their piece–and then use a trackback so an excerpt of what I wrote appears in the comment/trackback section of their blog post.

So, just so you have more than my opinion, here are a few other bloggers who have thoughts on the subject of trackbacks, comments, and pingbacks.

Raj Dash asks and answers the question: What’s more valuable, a comment or a trackback?
Bill Sweetman shares his decision-making process at The business blogger’s dilemma: Trackback? Comments? Or both?
Tom Coates, a long-time ago (2005) made his thoughts clear in Trackback is dead. Are Comments dead too?

Of course, if you have a comment, feel free to leave it below. Or, if you have a lot to say on the subject and want to create content for your blog at the same time, use a trackback.

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By Shonnie Lavender in Blogging tips |

Deciding whether to use a trackback or a comment

Which tool should you use?

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