Commenters Or Commentators - What Do You Call Yours?
When referring to those wonderful folk who leave comments on your blog posts, what do you call them? I ask this, because I notice that on many sites, the author uses the term ‘commentators’, whereas I prefer ‘commenters’.
My understanding of a commentator is someone who commentates, whereas a commenter comments. On a blog, we refer to comments, not commentaries, therefore one must conclude that the person writing the comment is referred to as a commenter. Yep, that’s about the strength of it… QED.
For the sake of this post, I checked dictionary definitions for various forms of the words ‘commenters’ and ‘commentators’ and they all say pretty much the same thing. Here are definitions from Collins English Dictionary:
COMMENT
1. To remark or express an opinion.
2. One who comments is a commenter.
COMMENTATE
1. To make a commentary.
2. One who commentates is a commentator.
COMMENTARY
1. An explanatory series of notes;
2. A spoken accompaniment to a broadcast, film, etc;
3. An explanatory treatise on a text.
So, the two terms ‘commenters’ and ‘commentators’ do not mean the same thing, and are not interchangeable, but perhaps you can convince me otherwise!
I don’t really mind which word you use, but while you’re here, why not comment to let me know whether you regard yourself as a commenter or a commentator?
Layne | Reward Rebel
Recently, new content is posted on Reward Rebel a little erratically; to receive updates, simply Subscribe to my RSS feed.
Thanks for dropping by.
39 Responses to “Commenters Or Commentators - What Do You Call Yours?”
Leave a Reply
That’s a good question! Especially for me as a non-English that was a hard thing. I always thought it would be commenter, but my spell checker said that’s wrong so I called it Top Commentators. I looked at many blogs and found all variations, so I am still not sure
But your explanation is great! 
Reply
RewardRebel Reply:
October 27th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Incredibly, I didn’t think of bloggers for whom English isn’t their first language, so I’m extra super-duper delighted to have been of assistance, Ana.
Reply
I use commenter. I think of this as someone making a single comment about something. To me commentators, provide ongoing comments about something that lasts for a period of time. Just my opinion.
Reply
RewardRebel Reply:
October 27th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
I agree. It’s a series of ‘comments’ by ‘commenters’ that could be called a ‘commentary’, however, that would still have been made by ‘commenters’. Er, I think that’s it. Yup!
Reply
upon searching “commentator” in my own site, only two posts came out. And I interchangeably used it with commenter.
Reply
RewardRebel Reply:
October 27th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
When I started blogging, I got myself so confused about which to use, because there are circumstances in which ‘commentator’ could be argued to be correct, but those times are in the minority. You’re forgiven, my child.
Reply
I would call myself a commenter as in my mind a commentator is someone who is reporting on a football match or something similar.
Reply
RewardRebel Reply:
October 27th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
I agree that’s the most accepted definition in today’s world of modern televisual communications.
Reply
If this makes sense, I think of a commentator as more of an expert on the given subject…..sports casters for example, which differs from someone just leaving their “opinion” and moving on.
Reply
RewardRebel Reply:
October 27th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Although the dictionary definitions don’t mention this particular differentiation, I’m inclined to agree with you. After all, one would need to be knowledgeable about the subject in order to commentate on it.
Reply
Let me be the first to say, I believe I am a commenter, not a commentator.
While I’m at it, let me also say, I appreciate the effort you went through to explain the difference!
Reply
RewardRebel Reply:
October 27th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
It’s funny, but everyone who’s commented here so far has been in the ‘commenters’ camp… where are all the bloggers who use the term ‘commentators’?
Reply
never thought about it before, but I’ve just decided that I’m a commenter when I leave a comment and a commentator when I talk about someone else’s post on my site.
Healy
Reply
RewardRebel Reply:
October 28th, 2008 at 2:00 am
Now, that’s a great differentiation of definition!
Reply
I always thought commenters sounded better but I was okay with commentators when I read the term being used. But I should know better than to just base it on that, now that you did the research for all of us - there is no more gray definition. It’s either one is used correctly or not.
Reply
RewardRebel Reply:
October 28th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Now I’ve started to crack the whip, there’ll be no stopping me!
Reply
I use both. Hard question, I even looked it up a few months ago, don’t they both mean one who comments.
I just call mine blessings.
Reply
RewardRebel Reply:
October 28th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Heh heh, that’s precious.
Reply
Layne,
I prefer to call mine “commenters” because those who comment on my site only express their opinions and I respect their opinions even if they’re not in line with mine. Well, that’s how blogging goes. We express our own opinions through our blogs but should not even expect that everybody agrees with our points of views. And that’s what makes “commenters” important to us
Reply
RewardRebel Reply:
October 28th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Hey, Jessie, nice to hear from you again, but I don’t understand, what you mean… I shouldn’t expect everyone to agree with my opinion? But, but, I’m always right!
Reply
jessie Reply:
October 29th, 2008 at 4:30 am
Layne,
Hahaha! What I meant was, others would still prefer to call those who post comments on their sites as “commentators” and based on the definitions of the two terms, a commenter’s point of view may not always be in line with yours. Hence, it could mean that the comments maybe negative or in total disagreement with our own (as publishers of course, me included. hehehe!)
I also had readers who were really rude. It’s ok if readers express their opposing points of view but as “commenters”, they should try to be as polite as possible. They are there to post comments (good or bad) but that doesn’t necessarily mean they should be rude. For “commentators”, they are almost always rude at some point. lol!
Reply
I’ve noticed this while dropping cards on blogs, and I personally prefer “commenter”. Thanks for researching this!
Reply
RewardRebel Reply:
October 28th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
It’s only taken me a year and a half to get round to it!!
Reply
HI Layne,
I’ve always used commenter, and I agree with one of those who made the distinction between an opinion writer as against a commentator. “Readers” could just as well be used although they may not necessarily post a “comment” or an “opinion” about the subject post. There are those who actually “commentate” on a post and it becomes a full explanation and dissertation on the subject.
As for me, I’d call myself a kibitzer. LOL!
–Durano, done!
Reply
RewardRebel Reply:
October 28th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
I just knew that if anyone could argue the use of ‘commentators’, it would be you, DD! As I’ve mentioned in earlier replies here, I agree that in particular circumstances, commentator is appropriate, however, not as a collective term for all comments.
Reply
Commenter, of course.
Reply
RewardRebel Reply:
October 28th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Very wise.
Reply
I’m going with commenter.
Reply
RewardRebel Reply:
October 28th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
You’re wonderful, all of you, glorious blessings that you are!
Reply
This is a question I wondered about too. I’ve used both, simply because I didn’t know for sure which one to use. I thought, as you have put it, that those who comment on blogs should be referred to as commenters. However, whenever I type “commenters” I get that red line under it that means it is not spelled correctly. Nor was it in the dictionary that I used when I looked it up. Therefore, I have changed to using “commentators” even though they may not be “experts.” I just don’t like misspellings in my posts–hmm, is that word spelled right?
Reply
RewardRebel Reply:
November 1st, 2008 at 10:23 pm
I’m curious what you used to spell check, as I’ve had MS Word make ridiculous claims about correct and incorrect spellings. For instance, it has highlighted ‘commenters’ as incorrect, only to offer ‘commenter’ as a possible correct version of the word being checked. Yeah, right, like plurals don’t come into it? (Exasperrated sigh.)
Reply
I also encountered the red-underlined ‘commenters’ when I first typed that word in MS Word. So from then on I only used commentators plus the fact that the WordPress plugin that I use to show my blog’s top commentators use ‘commentators’ instead of ‘commenters’.
Reply
I would call myself a commenter, because commentator is someone who keeps on commenting to every other comments.But i only do it once & that also keeping in mind the purpose to do so.
Reply
I was writing something today and used “commenter.” I remembered reading this post and stopped back by to see what your “commenters” were saying they used.
Reply
RewardRebel Reply:
December 3rd, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Aw, I’m so delighted to have been of help!
Reply
Hi there! I am confused whether it should be commenters or commentators, so I googled and found your blog! After reading your explanation, I think you are correct. But I’m so used to the word commentator I felt a little difficult to change it! LOL!
OK, I will seriously consider changing it before more readers start to point out my mistake! : )
foongpc´s last blog post..On CNY Cards, Nightmare Traffic And KL Tower
Reply
RewardRebel Reply:
February 4th, 2009 at 2:22 am
Happy to have helped.
Reply
I know for a fact that when I visit a site I want to be considered a commenter because I am just leaving a comment. Being a commentator gives me the impression that you are fixing to tear something apart. That is never my intent. Hopefully my comments will encourage the writer to do more with their writing skills.
Eddie Garcia´s last blog post..MLM Success Standing In High Cotton
Reply
RewardRebel Reply:
February 15th, 2009 at 6:34 am
Eddie, you’re welcome to come comment here any time!
Reply