Have you noticed that Blogger’s comment verification (to prove that you are not a robot) has reverted from a jumbled collection of letters and a photographed number to their previous format: a jumbled collection of letters and a recognisable word?
Well, I have stumbled upon a “secret”: no matter whether the jumbled letters occur first or last, type only them – ignore the “real” word (which is, of course, easy to read). In every case where I have tried this, the comment always publishes! I have tried typing only the “real word” and that doesn’t work; but type the non-real word (is that an “unword”?) and it works, every time (just as omitting the numbers always worked!).
When will Blogger make it easy for us and just have a simple maths problem to solve or, better yet, a little box under the comment which one ticks to prove that one is “not a robot”?
~~~~~~
And now a short dissertation about bloggers who don’t respond to the comments left on their blogs (please don’t stop reading now – you may agree with me, or you may not realise I’m talking to you!).
I don’t respond to every comment that’s left on my blog but I reply to the vast majority of them. I think it’s good manners to simply say “thank you” or to show the commenter that the time they have taken to leave a comment is worth my time in response. That’s how friendships are built, online and in the real world!
We all like receiving comments. it makes us feel good, like someone is reading and cares about what we have to say.
I concede that it’s good to keep the conversation going by replying to those comments in the comment section of your blogs but…
If you post with Wordpress, we who post with Blogger don’t get your responses! Did you know that? We don’t know that you have replied to our comments! (I only discovered it by accident when I went back to an old post to check something and found out that the blog owner had responded to my comment! Up until that point, I thought that my comments hadn’t been worth answering!)
From talking to other bloggers, rarely do any of us go back to posts that we have already read to see if a reply has been left on our comment. We just don’t have the time. We could, of course, tick the little box that invites us to receive (by email) the comments that are left on your blog posts after ours – but I, for one, don't want to sort through dozens of comments in my inbox which are largely irrelevant to me!
Those of you who have had me following your blog for a long time, know that I am a faithful commenter. It would be great if I got a response to even half the comments I leave on other people’s blogs!
Since the list of blogs I read is now over 150 and I comment on about 80% of all the blogs I read, I have begun sorting through them and eliminating some. Want to know which ones I’ve eliminated first? That’s right, the bloggers who don’t ever respond to comments I have left! Mostly because I feel like they don’t consider my comments important. There are some “never-reply” blogs still in my reading list; blogs I’ve been reading for a long time, blogs where I know the blogger personally, or blogs I really, really enjoy or whose work I really admire.
So, please, fellow bloggers, if people are kind enough to take the time to leave a comment on your blog and you can contact them, either by email or visiting their blog, please, please, please, do us the courtesy of responding! Don’t just leave your response on your own blog – chances are that we will never see it!
So, what do other bloggers think?
I agree completely. Great post- needs to be said! I can understand that some bloggers might get more comments in a day than I do and might not have the time, but I definitely try to respond with at least a "thank you!" I like when other people respond to my comment, and sometimes it even starts a whole conversation. Thanks for posting this.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your support. It's those conversations that build friendships -- how else would I, a middle-aged retired teacher in Australia make friends with a young woman, newly married (not even that when I met her! LOL), fresh out of college, who lives in the States?
DeleteI agree with you. I respond to almost all comments. It is rude not to, IMHO. I'll admit that I don't often leave comments. No reason, except that I'm usually reading on an iPad and typing is cumbersome. Trying to mend my ways.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I just wanted to let Wordpress bloggers know that if they thought I was getting their replies (which they post on their blogs) I wasn't -- I wasn't sure if they knew that!
DeleteAfter that, I think I was just frustrated with the number of blogs I read and the number of comments I get. After all, in person we wouldn't ignore people's kind comments so why do it on the 'Net?
I wouldn't be too concerned about not leaving many comments -- when I first started I left comments on every post and have had to ease back now! I always try to either answer a comment or visit the blog to acknowledge the writer.
I'm afraid I'm guilty of not replying to many comments. I must make more effort as I really do welcome the comments. Best wishes.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip about the annoying moderation thingy.
Don't feel guilty on my account. As long as you visit the blogs of the people who comment on your blog, they won't mind that you don't respond to every comment. It's the people who don't respond and who also don't leave comments on my blog I was frustrated with -- we don't ignore people's kind comments in real life so why do it on the Web?
DeleteYou're welcome as regards the tip!
I usually try to make my comments a bit fuller than 'great finish' or the like and I do like it when I get a reply that is related to my comment. This usually happens with my regular blog friends and we sometimes swap two or three emails or messages now. I feel so bad about not answering comments that I have about 20 sitting there from a while back that I just couldn't keep up with and can't bring myself to delete them. I will reply to them when I have time to catch up. I have been causing a bit of a problem with some of my blog friends because I have changed over to integrate my blog with google plus. If they don't want a google plus account they can't comment and when I comment I show as a no reply blogger. Most people are nice enough to contact me through my google plus profile but they have to do that from their blog not their email so it is a bit of an effort.
ReplyDeleteYour post is a gentle reminder that quilt bloggers are a community. We should care, we should be polite, we should interact.
Thank you for calling it a gentle reminder -- I agree, we should be polite and interact. That's the basis of community and of friendships. I sat down to catch up on blogs this morning -- I hadn't read any since Friday and I had 85 to get through so I left fairly short comments much of the time -- some I left fuller comments; really it depends on the topic of the post, how much I know the person writing and I, have to admit, whether they're likely to respond to my effort! I've been on the computer for several hours now but I have caught up and am now making my way through the comments and responding to those, belatedly in some cases but truly better late than never as you must also feel otherwise you wouldn't be hanging on to those unanswered ones! ;-)
DeleteIt is lovely to have comments and I always try to reply. My problem is finding the time when it is comments from a blog hop. I eventually reply to everyone I can but it can take quite a while to work my way through.
ReplyDeleteI do get confused with comments that are totally unrelated to what you have posted about. Is the person trying to read several blogs at once and ends up posting the comment in the wrong place?
When I receive comments from people on Google+ I add them into my quilting circle (whether they add me back or not) as this makes it easier in the future.
Thank you for your support. I have only participated in one blog hop and I didn't get many comments but I could imagine it would be quite difficult to respond to everyone -- similarly with give-aways.
DeleteI had to laugh -- I have done that: had two many blog posts open and posted my reply to one Kate on the other Kate's blog! I try to be more careful now and it's better now that I have both a faster computer and a faster internet connection!
Google + has be stumped; I have signed up and switched my blog over last week but people sent emails saying they could no longer comment on my blog so I switched back again! At least I can comment on those who have switched over to Google +
You are absolutely right. And you covered it well. Did not know that about Wordpress, so I will pay more attention if I want a reply from them. I detest the verification and gave up allowing anon comments.
ReplyDeleteI do try to reply to all...but life does intervene sometimes. So this is a good reminder to play catch up from this week.
Thank you. It was a post that got a lot of response and all of it was positive, even from people who don't necessarily answer all their blog comments. Certainly no nastiness which is absolutely wonderful!
DeleteI started out because I wanted Wordpress bloggers to know that I don't receive their replies if they leave them on their blog comments page -- I wasn't sure if they knew that! Then it kind of took off and became my "mini-dissertation"! LOL
Don't pressurise yourself too much to go back and respond -- sometimes life has a way of interfering with our best laid plans!
This is something that bothers me too. I love knowing that you have stopped by, but if I respond by email, the "conversation" becomes private, which misses the point of a blog somewhat. I don't know the answer, I wish there was a way to notify commenters of responses. Maybe there is?
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about that since you were not the only one to comment about it -- I'm not sure what the answer is either. Some conversations turn away from the topic in hand so probably don't need to continue on the blog anyway but others -- hmm! It's tricky. I'm not bothered by a response to my comment on the blog; just that I didn't know that it was happening. If the blog owner is then waiting for me to respond again, they must think me very rude because I don't even know there is something to respond to!
DeleteI just wanted to let Wordpress bloggers (if they are even reading my blog) that I wasn't getting their comments -- I thought they might think they came to me automatically because I have a Wordpress account even though I don't blog there!
It has stimulated some very long comments and more than I usually get on one post (even though it's taking me ages to type a response to all of them LOL) so it has been worthwhile!
And I've just had a thought, I could copy and paste my email response to my blog as replies (if I can figure out how to do that)!
It works! I've been leaving comments on blogs today and only typing in the one non-word in the moderation box. That will save me some time. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteMuch easier but still more annoying than it needs to be! I'm glad you found it works for you too! ;-)
DeleteI also try to respond to many comments left on my blog. Some I can't - those who are set to no-reply for instance, if I don't have an email address for those people. Sometimes, because I usually don't have time to read through my comments and reply thoughtfully every day, I will respond to one out of two or three comments left by the same commenter (you probably know that, as you comment on my blog a lot). If someone actually asks a question, I always try to respond, even if I need to do it in a blog post because they are no-reply. But I like getting replies to my comments (though if I just say something is pretty, I don't expect it) I assume that those who comment on my blog like getting responses, and so on...
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, I think it's most important to respond to the commenters who ask questions -- whether we do it by email or on their blog.
DeleteI agree that people who leave a lot of comments don't need to be answered every time! ;-)
Basically I was just trying to say that we should acknowledge those who leave comments on our blogs, whether we do that by email, by responding on our comments page or visiting their blog -- it just seems polite to me.
I don't, as a rule, reply to blog comments, unless it is a question. I never have, and most people whose blogs I comment on don't reply either. In a perfect world it would be a good thing to do, but for me, I don't have the time to do it (I find it hard to make the time to write my own posts these days). Instead, I usually comment on the blog of regular commenters on mine. That's my way of reciprocating their visit, and is, I think, a much better way if getting to know another blogger than by a "thank you" email.
ReplyDeleteYou raise a valid "argument"; it's great to get other points of view. I think you're right too; getting a comment on our own blogs is possibly nicer than an email that simply says "thank you", although I love getting those too -- and of course I write a fair amount of them myself!
DeleteI know we've had this conversation before, several years ago, but it's been interesting how it's generated more comments than I usually get! Thanks for contributing to this discussion.
Here here! I think part of the fun of blog commenting/replying is that you get to know the folks behind the blogs and (with time) build up a friendship. If the other person isn't responding to you, why put in more of your effort/time there? You move on. I'm with you.
ReplyDeleteYep, just what I was saying! Thanks for your support and friendship.
DeleteNow that being said, there are days/weeks when you can barely get yourself together to post on your blog let alone reply to comments left on your post. I think people understand that you need time off every now and then...but it should be (somewhat) rare.
ReplyDelete150 blogs you follow? Wow!
Yes, I agree -- there are days and weeks where it's hard to find time, physically or emotionally!
DeleteI may follow 150 blogs but on average I only get about 30 new posts a day to read!
Well said. I reply to all comments, unless they are no-reply bloggers. I try to respond within a week, but sometimes when life is hectic, it takes me longer. It's through the email exchanges that I've gotten to known people in the on line community and that's been a real joy.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I can relate to not always being able to respond in a week - this post alone is taking me ages and I still have other comments to respond too!
DeleteI appreciate that the commenting-response exchange has built our friendship. It's amazing that people of all ages and walk of life, not to mention living thousands of miles apart, can become friends in this way.
I do pretty well on replying to comments... but I'm trying to get into a routine of visiting the blogs of new commenters (I try to follow my "regulars") and haven't made that into a good habit yet.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy the back & forth discussion but I understand that not everyone has the time. I do tend to comment less when bloggers don't respond... but I still enjoy their blog.
Oh yes, I try to visit the blogs of people who are new commenters too. I also visit the blog of everyone who links up for 2013: The Year of the Finished Project. And I have plans of visiting the blogs of all my new followers too!
DeleteI enjoy the back and forth discussion too; after all, that's how we have become friends.
I understand that there are reasons why some people can't respond; one of the blogs I follow has a huge following so it would be impossible for the writer to respond to all their comments. Some people also write blogs in English but it's not their first language and it may be hard for them to respond in English. There are still quite a few blogs I read where I know I won't get any response to my comments but I still enjoy reading their blogs. Sometimes, if I have something I really need to ay, I even leave a comment!
I always respond and feel bad when a commenter does not leave enough info for me to respond to them-no blogger account or a faulty email link. I rarely go back to an old email for a response.
ReplyDeleteFortunately most email programs retain the email addresses of people who have sent emails in the past so I am able to go back through that list fairly quickly to respond to "no-reply" bloggers (assuming they have emailed me in the past)! People who have switched their Blogger blogs over to Google + seem to have gone "no-reply". I switched mine over then switched back because some people found they could no longer leave comments!
DeleteWell, haven't you opened up a great conversation with this one! I agree, it's the courteous, and downright neighbourly, thing to reply to comments left on one's blog. I have my incoming comments set to be moderated, so as I hit Publish I try to email a reply to the commenter at the same time. If I haven't the time to reply then I don't publish their comment until I do have time. This is my way of keeping track. Of course no-reply bloggers are always a problem because I never know if they are that way by choice, or by neglect, and I often feel they might think me very rude for not replying :-(
ReplyDeleteIt certainly seems like it! LOL
DeleteYou're very disciplined to reply as soon as you publish your comments. I publish mine as soon as I read them but sometimes it's a few days (as in this case) until I get a chance to write my response.
Some Google+ bloggers have gone "no reply". Fortunately I have already all the email addresses of those I follow!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the hint.
Great post! At the moment Im a bit time poor and my computer is playing up but I don't that many comments on my blog but I do reply on the other person blog.
WOW 150 blogs Im lucky to have the time to check the blogs on my blog roll ;)
Thank for stoping by my blog beacause some times I wounder if anyone ever reads my blog other than you and few other friends that usually leave a comment :)
Hopefully I'll get my sock finished this Saturday I haven't done much knitting this month my hands have been aching a bit.
3 months to go!!!!!
I think that it doesn't matter where we reply, as long as we acknowledge that the other person was kind enough to take time to leave a comment on our blog -- and that they are likely to see our response!
DeleteThe 150 blogs are in my Google Reader and Bloglovin accounts but I only get about 30 new posts a day on average so it's not to hard to keep up -- if I do it daily. If I fall behind it takes a while to catch up!
See you on Saturday (sock done or not).
I always respond to comments, unless they are no reply. And sometimes it's the Wordpress thing - they're no-reply, so I take the time to search out their blog and reply on it to get an email address to reply to their comment on my blog...and then they respond with another comment on their blog! Sigh. I do try to hunt down emails for the no-reply people because I have guilt issues. I don't know if they know they're no-reply and that's why they get "ignored!"
ReplyDeleteAh yes, the central theme of my post -- answering comments on one's blog and thinking that you have communicated with the commenter when, in most cases, no such communication has taken place! That's why I'm sending email response (as usual) but cutting and pasting them to my blog as well (hey, it also lifts the count of the number of comments -- something I hadn't realised when I started! LOL)
DeleteGoogle+ users on Blogger have also gone no-reply! Fortunately I still have email addresses for those I follow!
great post. I reply to all my comments. I do have them come to my email which I don't mind. Makes things easier for me.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why some bloggers even have a comment box if they are not ever going to respond to comments. Like you I have quit following those that never ever respond. And like you I still read some blogs but do not leave a comment just because I know they blogger will never respond but I do like what they have to share.
I, too, have my comments come to email -- it makes it much easier to respond to them there!
DeleteYes, there are blogs that are still worth reading even though there's no chance of building any kind of relationship to the blog owner!
I've generally made it a policy of mine to only reply to comments when something really thought provoking, meaningful or a query has been said. I do this because sometimes when bloggers I read reply to every single comment I leave on their posts, I feel the effort they've put into doing that and wish they didn't feel they needed to. i certainly don't expect it.
ReplyDeleteA bit of interaction is a good thing, you're right but I never expect it from the big bloggers, but then I rarely comment on the big bloggers. I'm sure it's years since I commented on the Yarn Harlot's blog!
Wow! This topic has had a very big response for my little blog and it's taken me ages to respond fully to all the comments. I can appreciate your different point of view and, now that I've had to respond to so many comments with long, thoughtful answers, I can see the sense of not answering every comment!
DeleteLike you, I don't expect every comment to get a response. But there are many blogs where I have faithfully left comments for months and got no response at all -- no emails, no comments on my blog. At first I didn't realise that some bloggers leave their response on their own blogs to further the conversation and to make their response public but I stumbled across that concept when I returned to someone's blog looking for something specifically. Generally I don't read the comments on other people's blogs and I rarely return to posts I've already read so I don't know if there's a response there or not! It would be good if the various platforms (Wordpress, Blogger, and others) allowed those response to be automatically forwarded to the commenter.
Perhaps one idea is for the blogger to write their response on their blog's comment section then send a quick email to tell the commenter that a response has been left. Another idea is the one I'm using now -- writing a personal email to respond to my commenter and then copying that response over to my blog post's comment section! It will be an interesting social experiment to see if that makes any difference at all!
Like you, I rarely leave a comment on the "big blogs"; it's very understandable that they don't reply to every comment. I also read quite a few blogs where I rarely leave a comment -- I like their content but know they won't respond.
Thanks for contributing to the discussion. If you have anything further to add, you can reply on my blog if you like -- you'd be the first to do so! Or send me an email! LOL
Hear, hear! I agree 100%! I always answer comments left on my blog, unless the commenter is listed as "no reply".
ReplyDeleteThank you for your encouragement and your contribution to the discussion. Thanks, too, for dropping by and commenting on my blog.
Delete