A Review Of coComments and co.mments

Written by Mark MeAndMyDrum | Fave MAMD | Subscribe to MAMD

Whatever your reason for leaving comments on other blogs is, no doubt you have found it a bit of a challenge to keep track of them all. “Did someone respond to my comment?” “Where did I comment?” “How’s the conversation coming along?”

Sure you can subscribe to all the places that offer that feature, but wouldn’t it be better to have them all in one place?

Worry no more. I’d like to compare two tools designed to help you keep track of your comments, saving you time and keeping your sanity. Walk this way, won’t you?

co.mments
As you surf the Web and find something to comment on, you click the bookmarklet from your browser’s toolbar to start recording the conversation. You can either return to your account to view how conversations have developed or you can receive emails as the conversation grows. Clicking this bookmarklet will provide you with a brief confirmation in the form of small window that will quickly fade away.

Not feeling sociable? That’s all right. Just click the bookmarklet anyway and watch the conversation without participating.

What I like about this tool is it doesn’t get in my way. And as can be seen above, the interface used to view the comments I track is very clean. I’ve configured it also to email me when a new comment has been made. It’s rival below doesn’t do that at this time, but they’re working on it.

Rating ****

coComment
I really want to love this tool — I really do. But I do find it a bit irritating at times. Okay, I do find it that way a lot of the time. It’s integration is clever and automatic, but it’s also slow to the point of not allowing you to make a comment at all.

It adds a little toolbar beneath comment boxes on blogs you visit (and even some sites and forums). Choosing to track a comment is easy: just check the box. When you do, the blog you’re on is documented in your account where you can return to see how the conversation has developed.

The trouble I’ve been having with it is that it just takes forever to connect, if at all, to the coComment server. Unchecking the option to track the comment doesn’t seem to help either, so I’m left with just disabling it. 👿

One strong feature is that it does offer a nifty sidebar in your browser allowing you to click on blogs you’ve visited and view the conversations in the right side of the window.

It also offers a widget to display on your blog to show your readers what you’re commenting on. It may sound cool, but, IMHO, if you have time to live vicariously by watching someone comment elsewhere, then methinks you have too much time on your hands. 😉

Another characteristic of this service is that it is definitely a community just like MyBlogLog in that you can keep track or your friend’s comments, and start or join groups. Nothing wrong with that.

If it weren’t for the disappointing “get-in-the-way” behavior it gives me, I’d give it a 5-star rating. Alas, I can only muster a 3-star.

Rating ***

So if you’re looking for an easy way to keep track of your comments or want to monitor other people’s conversations, then I recommend using co.mments. But if you’re more into tracking your comments, joining groups, adding friends, and what not, then perhaps the coComment service is more to your liking.

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