My name is Morgan!...And I want to rock your social media world! ;) I LOVE what I do and I want to instill that same passion into YOU and your BUSINESS! 
Social Sharing Buttons Are The New Comments
Ok, not in all cases, but let me explain.
I often talk to people who truly believe that if a blog doesn't have any comments, then they're not worth checking out.
But wait...check out Social Media Today, an extremely popular social media news website, and look at how many comments they get per post.
Usually, they get zero. Or just a few, depending on the popularity of the author and topic.
But most of the time, you'll see zero comments.
However, if you look at how many times a post has been shared, it's usually in the hundreds.
This happens to a lot of well-known individuals across the web. They'll have hundreds, if not thousands of shares, but zero or very little comments.
Comments don't necessarily dictate popularity anymore.
In fact, whenever I head to a website, I always look at how often their blog posts are shared, rather than how many comments they have.
In this digital age of social media, we're relying on our friends & followers & connections to share information with us that we may find interesting.
So what does this mean to you?
1. Make your social sharing buttons visible. I can't tell you how often I go to a website and see absolutely no way to share an article. Make your social sharing buttons visible on every post & on every page. I use the plugin for WordPress called DiggDigg, which floats next to my post.
2. Make sure that the sharing buttons are configured correctly. Configuring the tweet feature of your social sharing buttons so that it @mentions YOU and not @AddThis or nothing at all. By having your Twitter handle show up at the end of the post that they're sharing, it let's you know that your content has been shared AND it allows the sharer to follow you if they so choose. Every plugin or feature of a theme should have the option to input your Twitter handle.
3. Choose networks that you like. You don't have to have every single social media sharing platform known to man available on your website. If you look at my sharing buttons, I only have a select few, there are dozens more that I can choose from, but I personally use these networks which is why I chose them. I haven't had any complaints so far! So choose the networks that YOU like, instead of trying to please everyone (because you can't please everyone).
4. Don't disable comments. While sharing is becoming more of the 'norm', comments are still very much used and you should encourage that people comment and share. Sometimes I'll come across a site that has disabled comments, but they have clearly visible sharing buttons. However, I get discouraged because even if I didn't want to comment, seeing that I don't have the option, makes me shy away from the entire page, making me think they don't value my opinion as much.
5. If you don't see sharing buttons, tell the owner. Sometimes the owner of the website/blog may not even realize that you can't access their sharing buttons or that sharing buttons are so important or that they aren't configured correctly. A simple, friendly email informing them of your struggles is all that's needed. Some people will heed your advice, some won't. But at least you took the time to tell them a concern of yours.
That's about it! Comment, share & engage! 
With 11+ years of internet marketing experience, Morgan started Sociable Boost to help small businesses create social, engaging & actionable strategies! Morgan is passionate about what she does and hopes to instill that same passion into YOU!
It’s very true! Ive written guest posts for different blogs (one in particular comes to mind) that tend to get a lot of comments, and so when my post didn’t get, like any, I wrote to the blog host to ask how it did, thinking that it must not have been that well received. Well, to my amazement, the opposite was true! The blog host informed me that my post got an unusual amount of visits and that the viewers spent nearly twice as long on the page. He also told me that it didn’t get any comments simply because it appealed to his more corporate audience, and they tend to comment less frequently than the small biz portion of his audience. So it definitely matters both the number of shares and the different audiences that the blog writes to.
We definitely can’t judge a blog by it’s comments!
Awesome post and topic Morgan, as always!
Melissa Agnes recently posted..6 Ways to Help the Victims of Another Company’s Social Media Crisis
Hi Melissa!
Great story, Melissa! That’s a fantastic example of why people aren’t leaving comments. It may not have anything to do with the content or site, people are just shy or don’t know what to say.
It can be difficult to show how many visitors read a blog post and to show that as proof to the audience, but I suppose that info is more important to the author of the site.
As you said, we can’t judge a blog by its comments.
Thanks for the comment!
Hi Morgan,
I don’t usually comment, nor post links in comments, but I wrote exactly about this subject last week in a post entitled “I Blog for Content, Not Comments.”
http://windmillnetworking.com/2012/04/02/i-blog-for-content-not-for-comments-surprised/
In other words, I couldn’t agree more with you
- Neal
Neal Schaffer recently posted..Social Media for B2B Sales – The 16 Rules of Engagement
Hi Neal!
Hah! Great minds think alike.
Love the points you make on your post. Glad we’ve got some agreement.
Thanks for the comment!
I like the social sharing frame (plugin? widget?) at the very end of your post very much. Can you tell how to make one like yours? Please?
Amy recently posted..A Closer Look To The Device Used In Dental Implants
Do you mean the sharing buttons in the author box?
This is so true Morgan. A blog might not have any comments because the owner has given up trying to tell what are SPAM comments and what are genuine. And once you get caught in some black hat software it is just a nightmare as a blog owner. So agree with you on this point. Social Buttons are gaining more traction and so I think you are spot on in this post.
Merideth recently posted..How to get backlinks for blog posts, the smart way
Hi Merideth,
There are a TON of plugins or other methods to prevent spam, but it is also a huge problem which is only getting worse.
Thank you for the comment!
I have a friend who recently closed the comment section because her site was attacked by comment spammers (most likely), sending thousands of spammy comments. Hopefully she is going to sort it out soon.
Laura recently posted..Beer and toothache through London
Hi Laura,
Yeesh! That sounds terrible! There are lots of ways to prevent spam, no matter where your site is hosted, so I do hope she can figure out a way.
Thanks for the comment.
You raise some excellent points Morgan. Google likes both shared content and content with a lot of comments, but when it comes down to it, it definitely values social signals a lot more. I would even go as far as saying that it values these social signals more than back links, particularly low quality back links.
People are getting lazier and lazier these days, and it is a lot quicker and easier to press the sharing buttons, than it is to write a meaningful comment. Obviously the ideal scenario is a large quantity of both.
Scott Dudley recently posted..The Seven Essential But Relatively Unknown Plugins For WordPress
Hi Scott!
You’re absolutely right about Google liking social signals a lot better. Now-a-days, it’s just too easy to place a crap load of (fake) comments on a website or get a lot of back links, so social signals are supposed to be genuine and a little harder to fake.
You are right again! It is a lot easier, but I don’t know if it’s because we’re lazy (at least, not for everyone). I do it because I like the content and I want to share the content to my audience because I know they’ll find it relevant or interesting. Plus, I like to give back by sharing posts from my favorite people or blogs.
Thanks for the comment!
Hey Morgan, I totally agree and I’ve been messing with DiggDigg as well on my blog. I found that the Pin It button doesn’t allow me to actually Pin stuff on Pinterest. I had to get a seperate Pinterest plugin until they fix it.
I tried to see if yours works as well and it seems like we’re both having the same problem. When I click your Pin It button it doesn’t show any image to pin.
Love your site and love this article! <3
Adrianna Huang recently posted..Enhance Your Bubble Bathing Experience!
Hi Adrianna!
Ah yes, the Pin It button has been giving me trouble lately. I have the Pin It button up in my bookmarks bar so I usually just click that, but I do wish DiggDigg would fix their button.
Thank you for the kind words and the comment! <3
Good feedback Morgan. I think you have a good point about choosing social media buttons. However, I just wanted to play devil’s advocate for a second with another perspective. I considered doing different buttons based on the niche I was in and the demographics on each site. For example, a tech site could do very well with a Digg button and a LinkedIn button could be perfect for a corporate or professional networking site.
However, if you aren’t actively engaging in the community itself, then you might have a harder time getting traffic from those communities. Alternatively it could be a great way to diversify. There are so many ways to look at it, but I still follow the approach you have myself. I prefer a Facebook, Twitter, Digg and Stumbleupon button on most of my blogs. I actually spend more of my time on Reddit, but I don’t keep that one on most of my sites.
Kalen recently posted..Why I Got Nothing Being On the Front Page
Hi Kalen,
Well, I don’t actually have to be that involved in the networks that I choose because if my peeps are involved in them, and THEY are the ones sharing to THEIR networks, then why would I need to be as involved? I am involved in all the networks that I have in my floating display there, but you don’t have to be super involved with them. As long as you have a presence and you show up at least one-two times a week to get involved with the community, you’re fine.
Thanks for the comment!
Morgan, I wish I could get as many social shares as I do comments. Guess I need to make more friends on Facebook!
Astro Gremlin recently posted..7 Odd Amazon Products
Hi Astro!
It’s not necessarily about making more friends on Facebook, it’s about getting really involved in your community.
It’s good that you’re getting a lot of comments, though!
Thanks for the comment!
Hey Morgan,
This is my first visit to your blog and I definitely have my own opinion on this topic.
I personally think it has to do with what you want to accomplish for your own blog. Take my blog for example. I do get a good bit of comments and also shares but I’m really here to build relationships with people so I’m able to accomplish that through the comments.
Am I saying that all blogs aren’t successful because they don’t have a lot of comments? No, I think it depends on what they want to accomplish with their blog and their posts.
I will also share posts on social networking sites but take Twitter for instance, I will not tweet your post right now although I will tweet it. So the number isn’t going to show up for this post being shared because my twitter followers aren’t on in the mornings when I comment. I will wait and tweet your post when they are on, make sense?
But I appreciate your opinion on this and can see why people see this differently. Oh how I do love the web..
Thanks for sharing this Morgan and hope you have a fabulous day!
~Adrienne
Adrienne recently posted..Cool Facebook Timeline Ready Made Apps
Hi Adrienne!
Thanks for stopping by.
I hope this isn’t coming across as saying that social sharing will be more prominent on ALL blogs; it depends on the blog. However, it’s just a good idea to consider all aspects to the blog instead of simply looking to see if they have comments or not, as social sharing is becoming more of the norm, for SOME blogs, not all.
I’m with you, though, I’ll comment on a post and then I’ll share the post later, I’ll usually put it in my Buffer so that it can decide when to post it. So, while the number may not show now, it will show eventually. It’s more about the big picture instead of instant gratification.
Thanks for your insight!
Hi Morgan,
I also see a lot of blogs that don’t have share buttons on them and it drives me potty.
I’ve also come across blogs that have few comments but huge numbers of shares and have often wondered why people share the content without leaving a comment. Different folks different strokes I suppose
Like Adrienne said in the comment above: I like to build relationships with my readers and I do that via comments, however I also like people to share my content and have all the tools in place….. I even ask people to share my content at the end of each post
I also used Digg Digg until a short time ago when after one of its updates it just stopped working so I switched to Twitter Facebook Social share but it covered the content when viewed on small screens.
I’ve now started using Socialize as it places the share buttons beneath the posts or page content, but i have to admit that I do like Digg Digg and the way it scrolls.
Thanks Morgan,
Barry
Barry Wells recently posted..I Interviewed Adrienne Smith and Asked Her…
Hi Barry!
Drives me nuts, too! Even worse, that when you do find a share button and try to tweet, it goes to the @AddThis instead of the actual author/page.
I love to share and comment, too. There are just certain blogs in which I’ll share rather than comment. It could be because there aren’t many comments to begin with or it could be that I would just rather share it because I don’t have too much of value to share (probably because the article was already valuable enough).
There’s another scrolling share plugin called ‘GetSocial’ and I used to use that on all my sites until I found DiggDigg. GetSocial looks sloppy and doesn’t compare to DiggDigg, but it’s ok as an alternative if you’re having troubles with DiggDigg.
Thanks for the comment!
I agree with you on this one to an extent but also hear where Adrienna is coming from as well it all depends on what you want to get out of it. Our traffic number is alot higher than our blog comments, i have often worried about this. But i hear where you are coming from. Thank you for sharing this with us, a great article.
Sarah recently posted..Do you know what Software Tracing is?
Hi Sarah!
It definitely does depend on your goals. I’m not saying that comments still aren’t wanted or needed, I’m more saying that people shouldn’t judge a blog by its comments and should look at other aspects as well.
If you have great sharing of your content, but no comments, then there’s no need to worry about traffic. Your stuff is getting read AND shared. If you’re getting both sharing & commenting, then that’s even better! If you’re getting just commenting and hardly any sharing, that’s ok, too! There’s really no right or wrong.
Thanks for the comment.
hi Morgan, nice tips to make more social in own niche market. now a days social counter is main focus of any visitor’s trust.
thank you for this tips.
Gautam recently posted..bandwidth usage of Your internet Activity
Hi Gautam,
The social buttons can definitely have an effect, just like with comments, so it’s important to look at all aspects of a blog, instead of just one.
Thanks for the comment!
Sharing is a much easier way for people to show they appreciate a blog, it takes much longer to fill out a comment. But, yes – good content, comments, sharing all go hand in hand.
Hythe recently posted..Driving schools folkestone
Hi Hythe,
You’re right, sharing is a quick & easy way for people to show appreciation. I say, something is better than nothing!
Thanks for your thoughts!