twitter is not a tool for robust discussion - not in the way a forum or blog is. It's a tool for real time discussion, for sure, and therefore more analogous to capturing the buzz about a subject, event, idea.

Could you capture some of the twits related to your articles? Probably. But what's the point. If I email a link to your article to a friend, I don't post on here to tell everyone about it. I look at twitter the same way.

Awesome post, Mack.

Thanks Ed! I agree that if Twitter users are discussing a post there, it likely means fewer comments left for the post on the blog itself. But on the flipside, it likely means that the blogger is getting more exposure among Twitter users, and likely being exposed to a new audience on Twitter.

Honestly, I think much of this is to do with the blogger's ego. We like seeing 10 or 20 comments to a post because it's instant validation that we've written a post that's resonating with our readers. But I think it's far more important to let our readers view and interact with our content on terms that THEY are comfortable with.

I agree that the fragmentation is a good thing ... the more exposure, the better. But I would also venture to guess that our friends in the aggregation business are already hard at work finding a way to at least monitor it all seamlessly. Perhaps the next big thing in social media is a tool to bring all reactions to your blog. (My idea, for the record. CC license ... just credit. Heh.)

Mack:

Glad you brought this up- been wondering about it myself (along with everyone else, no doubt.)

My gut is that it's a matter of weeks before someone comes out with code that allows you to track Twitter comments and whatnot about your post. You know, sort of how you can track when other blog posts link to it?

As to the main question though,I'm thinking the split is close to 50/50- e.g. 50% of the people who tweet about your post weren't going to leave a comment anyway, and if even one of their tweet-ees reads your post and leaves a comment, then you're even.

But then again math was never my strong suit;)

Something that I think Louis Gray mentioned in his piece would be feed readers adding the ability to comment from the feed. Now THAT would be useful as many of us are simply too lazy to click over to a blog to comment, I frequently fall into this category.

And Toad, I already use Tweetscan to have any replies to my name or mentions of my name fed through Bloglines, so we can already fairly accurately track who is talking about our posts on Twitter.

Mack- I was thinking of something that would display Twitter comments right below the actual blog post along with the other comments- sort of the way certain blogs (Wordpress?) are able to display posts that reference them in the comments section.

Toad that might be coming. You can also comment on items displayed from people you subscribe to via FriendFeed as well, I believe.

I agree with you and Jason that it might only be a matter of time when a plugin will collect all feedback left to a post on any other site and collect it below the post. But really wouldn't that be a colossal mess? Or maybe not.

Mack – I think it all boils down to a bigger point:

The ability for a reader (customer) to consume, spread and digest content – or their experience – on their terms.

Prefer to comment? Your choice. Rather tweet, bookmark or share the item? No problem.

Not that you're suggesting it, but we can't control how people interact with our posts any more than a company can control how customers interact with their brand.

And that's a great thing. One we should encourage. I'm right there with you – it helps generate a wider audience from genuine, reliable recommendations. And there's no better way to build your brand that WOM from people who know/read you.

"...is it more important to have centralized conversations around our content, or to encourage our blog readers to leave feedback in whatever manner, and place, that they feel comfortable with? I vote for the latter."

I do, too, of course. But at the same time, I do sometimes miss the days of a passel of blog comments. The conversation was often more interesting than the post, and it's harder to corral a fragmented conversation easily, although I'm betting the tools are in the offing.

That said, I like Mark's analogy. None of us can control it, and I wouldn't change it. But still.

"Mack – I think it all boils down to a bigger point:

The ability for a reader (customer) to consume, spread and digest content – or their experience – on their terms."

Agree completely. If we start trying to dictate how our readers interact with our content, they might decide to stop altogether.

And I also think that the sum could be greater than the individual parts. Having all the feedback centralized on your blog might result in the best conversation, but having feedback on Twitter, via email, or Facebook, also helps spread your message, as you said.

"But at the same time, I do sometimes miss the days of a passel of blog comments. The conversation was often more interesting than the post, and it's harder to corral a fragmented conversation easily, although I'm betting the tools are in the offing.

That said, I like Mark's analogy. None of us can control it, and I wouldn't change it. But still."

Another consideration is that the conversations you have on Twitter lead to more blog readers. Same with Facebook. So the conversations might be fragmented, but at the same time there are more touchpoints available for others to come in contact with you.

It amazes me that anyone reads my posts at all, much less comments on them. Where they choose to do so is their business.

Someone will (and very soon I bet) create a plug-in or widget that aggregates comments from Twitter, Friendfeed or Alert Thingy into the comments section of blog posts. Obviously, there is a need.

Anyone want to lay odds as to how long it will take and which blog platform will be the first to benefit?

I'm betting inside of six months and WordPress.

Paul I disagree, it will obviously be Blogger, they always are ahead of the curve ;)

Actually, I meant inside of six weeks, not months. Six months is like an eternity in this space.

Blogger! Ha! Made me laugh so hard I blew snot out of my nose. (Yea, I know. TMI!)

Thanks Mack! Thats a great post, good enough to generate real comments on your blog ;)

Your attitude is so characteristic of new/social media thinking. It doesn't matter whether or not we control the conversation. It just matters that the conversation happens, and people have a way of sharing it.

"It doesn't matter whether or not we control the conversation. It just matters that the conversation happens, and people have a way of sharing it."

It has to be that way, doesn't it? Why is the music industry in such dire straits right now? Because the 'big labels' have gone out of their way to try to control how customers interact with their products. They should be doing the exact opposite and making it as easy as possible for any music fan to have as much control and access to their music as possible.

In a hyper-connected world, less control over how content is distributed is a GOOD thing. Thanks for your comment, CS!

The more people you can get to pay attention to your conversation, the better.

The only problem with Twitter is that the responses are limited to a small number of characters, so it's hard for them to chime in. HOWEVER, they can always go directly to the blog post, IF they want to say more.

Stanley F. Bronstein
Mr Achievement
Attorney, CPA, Author & Professional Motivational Speaker

It's not the blogging systems, but twitter, that has to solve the problem. Trackbacks already exist, why not send trackbacks from a twitter.