Or, How I learned to stop worrying and press the "leave comment" button.

Welcome to "The Web 2.0" - this is not something I am making up, it refers to the new wave of websites that contain primarily user generated content. The Web 1.0 (retroactively named) was more like newspapers or TV - content generators would publish static information and viewers would view it. With Web 2.0, websites are designed to allow anyone to generate content and publish it. Canonical examples of this are YouTube and flickr. With the ability of users to give feedback, vote, and add their own voice, the Web has become a global conversation, not just a talking head.

Blogs (short for "Web Logs") are the original type of Web 2.0 website. Unlike a newspaper, a blog gives you the chance to give immediate feedback on what you have just read or add your own take on what has been posted. On many popular blogs the discussion page is typically far longer than the original blog post and can contain many additional links or stories.

Commenting 101 - Basic Comments
How to Comment
Anyone can leave a comment on a LiveJournal entry. At the bottom of each entry is a link marked either "Leave a Comment" or "n Comments" where n is the number of comments already posted for that entry. Clicking on this link will take you to a page with the full text of the entry and any existing comments. Comments are posted in a hierarchical format to show replies grouped with what is being replied to.

If you want to reply directly to the entry, you can just click on the "Leave a Comment" link which will bring you to an editor window. Enter a subject line and your comments. You can also reply to someone else's comment by clicking the "reply" link below their post. This will indent your reply so it is clear you are responding to that person's comment, not the original entry.

If you don't have a LiveJournal account, you will be posting as Anonymous. Be sure to sign your name if you know me, so I will know who has commented. More about getting a LiveJournal account below.

What to Comment
But, I hear you ask, what shall I say? Remember that the idea is to have a conversation. If I had just told you the story in person, what would your reaction be? Would you laugh? Do you have a story of your own to share? Did you have a comment or an idea on what you just read? Did you love it? Hate it? Maybe someone else has made a comment that triggered something for you, reply to it. In one case, someone asked a question about what I had written and I was able to give them information.

For me, the most important thing to get is feedback. I don't know how many of my family/friends are actually reading this. I would love to know what you thought about it. In some cases, I'll be looking for impressions on what I've written - I've got plenty of general child care questions and I'd like to get others ideas.

When to Comment
Why not right now? Was this a helpful Entry? Was there a prior entry you particularly liked? Go back and write a quick message. It's not rocket science, that's for sure.

Commenting 102 - Advanced Topics
Getting an LJ Account
If you intend to comment regularly, there are a number of advantages to signing up for a Live Journal account. These include:

• You get your own unique name
• You can choose a user picture
• You can activate reply notifications via e-mail and IM
• You don't need to sign your posts
• You can setup a profile

You can get a new account by clicking here.

Be topical
Do try and remain on topic. Comment on an entry in that entry's comment section. Comments are publicly viewable, so if you have a personal message, you may want to send an e-mail instead.

I do hope with was helpful and I look forward to your comments!