Drive bys. Some folks here on Active Rain may not have heard the term yet. I have heard it a number of times and so have always done my best to avoid it.
What is a drive by? It is when someone looks to score a lot of points for commenting on other people’s blog posts but they don’t want to actually engage. They comment with as little thought as is possible. One member came back to AR this year and posted the exact same comment on at least 20 blogs a day for over a week. That is generic at it’s worst. Of course, people caught on quick and I haven’t seen him for months now.
So don’t use the same sentence in every single comment you make. Granted, it can be appropriate to say “Happy Father’s Day”, Happy Thanksgiving”, “Merry Christmas” and the like on those days, but those are special once a year days. If every single Saturday, you always say, “make sure to have a Spectacular Spaghetti Saturday” people will catch on that you are just going through the motions. People will realize that you aren’t truly connecting. You are only going through the motions.
The purpose of comments is to connect as a community. What I say to Roy is not what I say to Brian or to Debe or to Will or to Kathy. And by taking the time to connect with them, I learn more about them and I grow more than just a superficial acquaintance. I grow friendships where I would want to visit them if I was ever in their town and vice versa. I grow referral connections. After all, I don’t ever want to send a referral to someone who tries to get by with the bare minimum. I want to send a referral to someone who cares. Someone who goes the extra mile.
Comments(35)