Comments bring out the best and worst of us, they offer us insight into what the reader is thinking and more often than not, they are downright a waste of time. We all like it when people write thoughtful comments, we love it when they grant us social credit or admiration and we hate online bullies. Comment sections typically fit a narrative, they are regulated in various ways and are usually censored. Today I was thinking about the difference between various comment sections particularly of Steemit, Reddit and YouTube.

YouTube

Let's start by analyzing the best comment section first. If you have never had the chance to read the comment section of YouTube, consider yourself lucky. It is a black hole filled with jokes, trolls, bullies and yes sometimes the cold hard truth. There is very little at stake when commenting on YouTube, you can easily make an email address, hide behind a screen and write your true thoughts without fear of losing social credit, Steem or any other thing you must work for. You can tell people what you really think, show your true self and act a fool. Nobody cares because no one takes these comments very seriously. The author may take offense but they don't know you, once the video is trending there are thousands of mostly meaningless comments and the top ones are usually funny in a cruel sort of way. Because there is very little moderation the truth and peoples true nature often comes out. It seems as if the average age of a YouTube commenter is 12 and their IQ is about seven to eight times that number.

Reddit

Reddit is based solely on comments and the social credit of karma received from upvotes. Many users there have a strange obsession with karma which is essentially valueless. I could post a dozen pictures of a cat, say how much I hate an unpopular politician, be the first to comment or post something and gain thousands of karma. I could give my true opinion on a controversial subject or go against the grain and lose thousands of karma points. There is some connection between karma and the quality of comments but very little. People can easily open multiple accounts and unless you write something horrendous it is visible for all to see. Some people often circle-jerk (agree with each other) and first mover advantage is extreme. It is interesting watching Reddit attempt to monetarize and they are starting to show ads, however, the website is filled with trolls, spammers and the opinions seem to be heavily manipulated by powers unknown. The average age of a Reddit commenter seems to be 25 (category dependent) and they are of average intelligence.

Steemit

Comments on Steemit are the most interesting and insightful, often because the best comments are rewarded with valuable upvotes granting more Steem power. Unfortunately, because Steem is an open economy, whales or those with the most SP get the most comments as commenters are hoping for more valuable upvotes. Unless you write something insightful, you will typically get comments from bots or comments which can be described as circle-jerking (just agreeing without much insight) and compliments. The compliments may be genuine but they may just be beggars in disguise and are often of very little effort. Reputation also comes into play however many of us quickly learn reputation can be purchased through bid-bots and vote buying services. Trolling is not advisable on Steem because your account can be flagged and you can quickly lose the value of your upvotes and reputation. Because very few people use Steem in relation to Reddit, YouTube and other forms social media it is difficult to get a reading on things like average age and intelligence but I believe it's significantly higher here than on other sites. Writing skills come into play and so does money, this ensures a slightly more intelligent and wiser userbase.

Many of us read the comment section as part of our ritual consumption of social media and news websites. In conclusion, Steemit has the highest quality comments however they are manipulated by money and the threat of downvotes or igniting flag-war censors them. Reading many of the comments on Youtube and Reddit allows us to conclude that most comments are better left unsaid. If you want your commenting to be effective it should be insightful and somewhat agreeable, it should add valuable.

What do you think of comments? I would love to hear your opinion on the subject matter.

Thank you for reading

PS. If you are looking for a great App to use Steemit on and haven't tried Partiko yet, I suggest you try it. Partiko is perfect for Steeming while on the go. It helps you curate and write insightful comments.

https://partiko.app/referral/crypticat