Seasoned bloggers knows people are rarely moved to comment on a blog post. Especially, one hit wonders sent from Google, who were simply looking for ‘Train times between Clapham and Norbiton’ and instead see some commuter rant aimed at South West Trains.
However, microblogging has taught us that people are slightly more likely to grudgingly acknowledge an amusing one-liner with a ‘Like’ or a ‘Fave’. Clicking a button is quick and easy - even for lazy people.
The recently launched Google Plus also uses ‘+1’ both for posts and - probably the single feature I like most of all in Google Plus - the ability to add ‘+1’ on individual comments.
I always equate this with a knowing smile across a crowded room - just to say “I saw what you did there. It made me smile but it’s not worthy of a reply to say ‘Hey - that clever bit of word play made me smile’ but have a ‘Like’”.
As Drupal 7 has a Google +1 module available and Google Webmaster Tools includes reports to track this metric, I thought I’d add a ‘+1’ button to every single post on this blog.
Now - you know what you have to do. Even if you were just hunting for train times.