Tip your bloggers and bloggesses on your way out.

Gather around, kids. Mama’s got a story to tell over here by the fire.

It’s getting nipply out; a cool 72º this morning. We Floridians start our fires when we turn off our a/c. Our thin skin can’t take the cool breezes of winter.

I want to tell you a story about living a life online. Or rather, a small part of living your life on the internets.

It’s a nice, friendly place, these intertubes. You’ll find many things to entertain your wee brains while you’re avoiding other things like actual work or cleaning or screaming babies. You’ll find the people who live inside your lappytop are kind, generous, and generally supportive. (There are some mouth-breathers you need to keep up your guard around, but they can be easily cast off as losers or deginerates or republ… asshats. We’re avoiding those douchebags for the sake of today’s lesson.)

Some of those places around the onlines are sites called “blogs.” You’re actually viewing one RIGHT NOW. More specifically, this here is called a “blog post.”

Blog posts can be about anything from political rantings to happy endings to amazing photos to dancing cat videos to the story of when you lost your virginity then ended up on 16 & Pregnant.

Or if you’re a regular reader of this particular blog, you’ll know you’re likely to find pretty much anything and nothing all in the same day.

Tis the beauty of a blog.

We bloggers love what we do even if the outside world doesn’t really get the concept. And that’s OK. I’m here to help bloggers and non-bloggers alike. I’m a giver like that.

I’m not just talking to those of you who don’t know how to blog or know what a blog is. You are all here in this fire circle jerk to learn about the “Tip Jar” (for lack of a better term) of blogging.

The “Tip Jar” of blogs are usually comments left at the end of a blog post. Lately, more bloggers have added a Facebook “Like” button to their posts in addition to comments.

Comment forms and “Like” buttons are there for a reason. Just like the “Tip Jar” on the Starbucks counter or the open saxophone case on the sidewalk, the comment form and/or “Like” button is there to keep the worker (blogger) satisfied with his/her/shim’s job.

A pat on the back. A “Way to Go!” note. A couple extra coins for the piggy bank.

Encouragement to keep on keepin’ on.

We bloggers LOVE that you stopped into our home on the internet. We set out the WELCOME! mat for you to enter our domain.

And as you leave, please be kind to leave a crumb of recognition that You Were Here. A simple comment, a click of the “Like,” a sharing with your Twitter friends. It’s the right thing to do, and the tasty way to do it.

It’s how we earn our self respect.

So kids, as I pass around the marshmallows and eye-poking rusted straightened wire hangers, remember: your blog author loves you.

Please love them back.

•  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •

Thanks to my very good, very beautiful friend, Mishi, for the photo.
And that ^, my friends, is giving credit where credit is due.

Tagged as: Blogging, commenting, comments, writing