There have been rumblings all over the blogger communities: Blog entries are producing fewer and fewer comments. Are blogs dying?

This blog, as an example, has never been heavily commented. Most posts go without comment, but as time has gone on, more and more people are reading this blog and listening to the podcast. Some podcast episodes have been downloaded 5,000 or more times. About 1,000 people read these posts each month. Sure, there are blogs that have many, many more readers, but I’m pretty pleased to share my thoughts with as many followers. And amazingly, my readership is increasing.

I think that people are using blogs differently than they were a short year ago. Instead of using blogs as a place to start conversations, most are following far too many blogs to comment on each one. They are using blogs to keep up with news in their industry or their areas of interest. The posts that generate the most comments are those that are highly controversial or lend themselves to comments (virtual polls for example).

What worries me about the future of blogging is not the lack of comments, but impact that the lack of comments will have on bloggers. Many blog for that feedback and community. Although the community still exists, it is not providing the feedback. Will some bloggers choose not to blog because they aren’t getting the feedback that they desire?