Some people have posited that the increased usage of Twitter and Facebook have diminished the number of comments that people leave on blogs. Rather than voicing their opinions on the blogs themselves, some people may choose to post their comments via one of the social networking channels instead. How can you encourage people to leave more comments on your blog again?

Developer Jon Bishop addresses this issue with his Commentwitter WordPress plug-in. The idea behind this plugin is that it can integrate the comments left on a blog with the tweets that people may post through their Twitter accounts, just as you may use some tools to publish your RSS feed through your Twitter account as well.

With Commentwitter, a simple link is placed at the bottom of the comment form in a blog post. By clicking on the “Post to Twitter” text link, readers have the opportunity to enter their Twitter username and password so that the comment left on the blog is also sent out as a tweet through their Twitter accounts. This can lead their Twitter followers back to your blog and, thus, you may have the opportunity go gain some new readers as a result.

However, Commentwitter may pose a security risk, since visitors need to supply their Twitter usernames and passwords to a third-party (your blog). Bishop says that this plugin is designed in such a way that WordPress will not save your Twitter username and password, so your information is only entered and used once. You are taking him at his word, of course, so exercise caution as usual. For more information, check out the plugin page on JonBishop.com.