Stop #4 The Golden Rule

"Do unto others as you would have them do to you."  Everyone wants to be noticed, liked, and treated with respect.  The number one way to ensure those three behaviors happen on your blog is to do them "unto" the blog of someone else.
I have an extremely difficult time doing this and would be defined as a lurker by the blogosphere.  Commenting is scary! What if they don't like me? What if my comment is dumb?  What if I actually don't know what I'm talking about?  What if's are the key to lurking.  The more what if's you have, the easier it is to continue lurking.  But what if you're wrong?  When you comment on a blog, unless you personally insult the blogger's post or person, spam, or swear (in some cases), he or she will be glad you participated in the conversation.  After all, we don't write blogs for no one to care about.  The Blue Skunk said it best, if people didn't want their posts read or comment on, "they'd be writing in a spiral notebook - probably locked away in a garret."  Blogs are made to be responded to.
Now don't just carelessly throw words into the comment section and call it a day.  "With great power comes great responsibility" (RIP Uncle Ben).  To produce a worthwhile conversation, you must first produce a worthwhile comment; one that inspires the blogger and inspires a response.  It ought to be heartfelt and meaningful.
The blogs I chose to comment on for this section were chosen at random:

Christy Washington*
Davie Wallace*
Mrs. Foster-Johnson*
Laken Bowlin
MelissaMP*

* already commented.

The two outside blogs that I have chosen to comment on are learningismessy.com and thejosevilson.com.  The former is a blog about using technology in education whether it be blogs or social networking sites.  The latter is a blog by an inner city teacher name Jose Vilson.  This one is important to me because my goal after graduation is to work in inner-city Chicago.  It will be beneficial for me to follow a blogger who is already in the field I intend to enter.