The Virginia GOP Caucus has had a blog pop up recently that attempts to promote the Virginia House Republican Caucus and hold Democrats accountable in ways that Dems have been targeting the VA GOP for a while now: video, insider thoughts and the like.  Waldo Jaquith has taken them to task for it, branding it as rendering their previous stance as “bullshit”.  While I don’t agree with Waldo assessment, I do see problems with what the VA GOP Caucus is doing and offer the following advice:

1) Actually pay for a blog:  While “This blog is paid for and authorized by the Virginia House Republican Caucus” might sound neat, you’re using a Blogpress blog, for cripes sake.  Cheap hosting is available everywhere you look.  I recommend MJZHosting with plans starting under $19 a year.  This will give you a bit more flexibility in what you can do with your site like…

2) Use WordPress or another content management system that actually allows you to log who’s commenting on your site.  IPs are very important to keep yourself from being harassed and allowing you to…

3) Limit anonymous commenters:  If you’re the official blog of anything you need to provide yourself a bit of a shield.  By either banning or simply limiting anonymous commenters by tracking IPs, you grant yourself a greater level of control over your very own soapbox.  Because that’s what this blog is, YOUR soapbox.  Don’t let it get hijacked by others.

4) Fully utilize and understand blogging:  Just tossing up a blog and posting once in a while isn’t going to cut it.  If you’re not going to engage your commenters, why allow comments?  Also, you have to…

5) Use the site to inform or update people as to the happenings of the GOP Caucus:  Don’t make it a one note blog.  Hitting at the Dem Caucus is all well and good, but try and do a bit more cheerleading for the GOP side or a bit more informing the public as to what’s going on.

6) Transparency is key: Who’s blogging?  If it’s a legislative assistant, that’s fine, but if you’re going to have Delegates blog once in a while (which they should), you should have their name on it.  And have a means for people to e-mail you because folks might want to say something or ask a question or just reach you to say hello and spam ya.  And last but not least…

7) Use the Republican blogosphere: Announcing things once in a while is all well and good.  But if you’re not going to link to other blogs or let others know what’s happening, who really cares?  There’s a big ol’ Republican Virginia blogosphere out here waiting to be engaged and offering some great insights that you can push around.  There are also plenty of brains to pick as to how to really use that blog to its fullest.

Just a few thoughts from a guy who’s been doing this for a while.

Jason Guard (there are too many Jason’s in this world) has some thoughts on blog commenting:

When I first saw the debate sparked by Preston Yancy about certain bloggers refusing comments on their sites (overflowing with raw opinions to make you cry, unlike the caramelized variety), my reaction was that it’s a matter of prerogative or personal property. A person’s soapbox is his/her castle. Nuff said. Don’t like it. Don’t read it. However, after laboring over a few posts, receiving minimal feedback, and not feeling content in the act of creation alone, I’m wondering if there is any way to maximize feedback, debate, and discussion. I mean, there is no subscription fee for any of the RVABlogs that I’m aware of. So, how do any of us know if our blog is legitimately popular, an utter disappointment, or a service to the community? Disallowing comments, may be the ticket to an insider job under a likewise undemocratic despot, but what about those of us who prefer two-way (or multi-directional) communication? Or better yet, there’s something to be said for just standing back and letting better informed readers fill in the blanks. (JB, I know you can take that ribbing).

Comments are pretty hard to come by. There are some blogs that just seem to attract tons of comments from being brief or partisan or just plain rumor-mongering. Others get plenty of comments because they’ve developed a solid, conversational readership over time. Yet most blogs just don’t get comments. It’s not for lack of readership, though.

When a blog is well thought out, validly makes its points, and provides a non-confrontational or generally agreed upon thought, well, what’s to comment on? “I couldn’t agree more,” is a rarity. You usually only find yourself generating comments by being confrontational or only presenting half-truths. But if you routinely do that, you also usually find yourself lacking readership.

Beyond comments, one also has to look at whether their blog inspires others to blog.  Instead of comments, I’d prefer to see people blog their thoughts on things I post.  Not only does it take the conversation elsewhere and spread it, but it shows that the thoughts were truly effective in engaging the reader.  So much so that it inspired them to inform others about it, for good or bad.

Having more comments would be nice. It’s a good visual indicator of real readership and engagement with the audience. But if you find that your site is being read a lot (Google Analytics is a good measure of visits and how long folks stick around) but not commented on a ton, well, maybe that’s when you’re doing something right.