Being a prolific commenter is a key to social media success on any network, but especially on Digg. Aside from being able to expose your great prose to all humanity, there are many excellent reasons you should leave comments on as many stories as you can:

• Get Seen - Leaving comments gets your name out there. People start to recognize you. If they recognize you, they're more likely to Digg your submissions. It's human nature -- we tend to like to deal with people we already know.
• Get Friends - In addition to being seen, there are a certain number of people that will add you to their friends list if they appreciate your comments.
• Be a Participant - A high comment count will help to deflect charges that you're just a social media marketer and not giving to the community.

The Right Ways and Places to Comment

Make sure that your comments are relevant, insightful, and not likely to anger anyone. "Great Story" is not a comment and is likely to help you pick up a bury posse. Don't comment unless you know what you're talking about. It's just like going to a party -- don't be a blowhard, and don't be the guy handing out business cards to everyone he meets.

Leaving comments on any old post won't do. It doesn't do you any good if your comments aren't seen. The key is to be one of the first commenters on a story that makes it to the front page. Most people have left their settings to view comments in the default behavior, which is to order comments by oldest first. If you're one of the first to comment, your picture shows up right above the fold for the story which will be seen by thousands.

The best way to do that is to look for stories that:

• Are Submitted by a Top Digger - These are the people with the best chance of getting a story to the front page.
• Don't have more than just a few comments - And preferably don't have any comments. But if you can be one of the first three to comment, you're in good shape.
• Are on a story with enough votes - You want the stories you're commenting on to have enough votes already that they're likely to hit front page.
• Are on Diggable Content - After you've gotten some experience, you'll be able to easily spot stories that will make it to the front page. Concentrate on those stories.

Making it Easy

You could, of course, go wading through the Digg Top 100 list and check for submissions that don't have any comments yet. That's a lot of mouse clicks, and by the time you find a story it's likely that you won't be there in time to comment. Or you could use the Dashboard on the PMS Social Suite, which provides you with nice list of clickable links to stories that meet all these criteria. Watch this video for a quick tour of how easy it is to do this:

Just Do it Every Day

Just make a point of adding five good comments every day. Make it part of your daily routine. In time, you'll be a popular member that no one suspects of being out to dominate Digg!