I very rarely do follow up posts. More often than not I forget that I have already written about a subject and write a second, different but substantially identical post a few months later. Does that count as a follow up? If it does then I’m an expert on these!
This is a follow up to Reading and Writing Blog Comments, in which I asked readers if they would like me to summarize the comments I got in order to give us all a general impression of what the thinking on the issue is. Fell free to go read the comments for yourself as they are all very well written and worth your time.
In the original post I was basically just talking about my own views and struggles (that is not the right term, what would a baby struggle be?) with keeping up with comments both on my blog and on other people’s. It’s a subject I hadn’t seen discussed that much yet and I was gauging general opinion mostly from Twitter which is something no one should ever do for any reason. So I asked for a bit of feedback from the readers and I’m happy to say they really delivered. It was wonderful!
It’s simple enough to sum up as just about everyone felt the exact same way. Bloggers are happy and grateful for any type of interaction be it likes comments or even just views but a thoughtful comment that is actually relevant to the post is something special that everyone gets very excited about! This said, any comment at all is more than welcomed and exciting in it’s own right as long as it isn’t spam.
As a side note, a lot of people noted a decrease in interaction compared to a few years ago (I do as well). It seems things are a bit quieter for everyone right now. Even professional sites are getting less comments. People are too busy watching anime to comment about it!
However, even though pretty much every blogger stated that a simple great post is more than welcomed and they love receiving it, they also all said that they don’t leave comments unless they have something meaningful to add. It can be difficult and even intimidating to comment on a great post and it’s not uncommon for people to just shy away even if they really loved it. I know exactly how that feels!
No one seemed to mind at all if they got repetitive or slightly shallow comments either. To the contrary, it’s a very nice sign that someone cares enough to read the post and show is even if they don’t have anything specific to add.
Like I said, these sentiments were almost unanimous! And I share them all as well. Both the enthusiasm about getting any sort of sign that someone is reading and the awkwardness at leaving comments myself.
I’m thinking you can see the little issue here. We all want comments but we’re all a bit too shy and busy to leave them. It’s sad since some bloggers do tend to measure their success by those comments. I get why. I have days when no one comments on my posts and it feels a little lonely. It’s normal to want to feel like your not just talking in a void.
It’s a bit of a pickle isn’t it. There’s no real solution. Fact is, most bloggers hardly have time to write their own posts so even with the best of intentions and ironclad confidence, no one is going to be able to comment on everything just on a purely practical basis. If you add in to that normal human nature and the perfectly reasonable desire to make our comments meaningful, and the number of posts one can comment on becomes even more limited.
Look at me trying to come up with a “solution” as if this was an actual problem. Please don’t look at me for solutions, you would be better off with Twitter. No wait, I take that back. Don’t go to Twitter with your problems. If you really don’t have anyone to talk to, tell me. I’m probably not qualified to help in any way but I want to believe I’m better than Twitter for that. I’m not sure why I’m being so mean to Twitter today. It’s a fine platform once you figure out what to take and what to leave.
Instead of trying to make the WordPress world a better place or whatever, I’m just going to see what I can do for my own issues.
For one, I’m going to accept that there are a lot of reasons a post doesn’t get any comments and it being bad or boring is just one of the possibilities. It’s attracting views from people who aren’t on WordPress and can’t just leave a comment without an account but they totally would! Maybe the reader app didn’t catch it. It happens from time to time that posts don’t feature in reader and you loose a lot of blogger audience and the comments that come with it. Posts that are very academic can be difficult to reply to without research and posts that are very emotional can feel too personal to intrude on. Or maybe I just wrote a great post about a popular subject everyone has been posting about and my readers have already commented on 4 other blogs before they got to mine and now they are out of comments to make. You can only say the same thing so many times.
And I’m sure I’m forgetting a whole bunch more. With all these reasons it’s getting really unlikely that my posts is just boring… yeah…
As for the other side of the issue, I’m going to try to train myself to leave more comments. Even non-consequential ones. Just don’t get mad at me if you get a series of “cool post” replies in the coming months. I’m not saying I will comment on every post I read because I know I won’t be able to and besides that sounds a bit silly and forced. But next time I think, huh, that was a great post in my head, I’ll take a few seconds to type it out as well.
And there you go. Thank you to every single person who took the time to comment on the original post and that gave me their feedback. I really appreciated it. I hope you enjoyed this post as well. Is it what you expected?
It’s oddly reassuring to know we’re all just awkward and busy and other stuff to comment.
It’s also reassuring to know most of us are like “YES ANY COMMENT WILL DO!”, so now I will be doing my best to comment no matter how trivial I might feel it is.
It’s difficult to break old habits but I figure it’s the thought that counts. At least we all know people want to comment so that’s a start…
Very true. Identifying the problem is the first step! Hopefully know that it’s out in the open, we’ll all feel more comfortable commenting!
Ginray from the Giant Robo series, it was the first anime I ever watched and I was in love from the first moment i saw it all… Was pretty profound series too as the series was dedicated to all dads out there and I had a very cool father. Great post🌹
Hmmm maybe I should watch Giant Robo. I like a good Mecha.
Its quite old, was a six episode series i think.
One thing that has actually thrown me off commenting on peoples posts is that you don’t get a response to your comment. And I don’t mean that you have to write a response but you can at least give a like to show that you have read it. It happens more often than you think that the poster just don’t bother (or maybe I just read the wrong blogs) and that has made me not comment much anymore. It’s a shame really because comments are always fun, even if the comment is just a simple “Damn, you are awesome Lina!!!”
You ARE awesome Lina!!!
I try very hard to respond to the comments I get but not everyone has the time. I understand what you mean though. Especially if for once you actually have a really pertinent comment and you’re super proud and you really want to see what the author thinks then…silence. Depressing!
We are all awesome!! 😎
I think I was mostly thinking of those people I know who don’t get that many comments, who asks for them but then doesn’t take notice of them. If that makes sense. Idk, I might just read the wrong posts/blogs or something. (it’s always the same people) But I totally get that people don’t have how much time to devote to comments too. I admire people like you who take your time and answer and interact when I know you have work, not only blog and watch anime.
Thanks for sharing this! Okay, then the next time I think “great post” I will go ahead and type it out and hit the post comment button. Because the blogger will get a little warm fuzzy, like a stranger smiling at you. That’s a good enough reason for me 😀 And yes, anyone who follows me, I will totally get warm fuzzies if you do it back.
Hey. Great post.
Thanks Foovay!!!!
I enjoyed reading this!
I am going to try a new trend. Once a day one any random blog I read I will leave a comment regardless if I have anything to say about the topic! Just be social and fun!
Of course it still being feedback.. since we talked so much about this topic yet I am just going to say:
That is one big ass pickle that girl has! You always find the funniest pictures I suck at that part! Pink respect!
This is such a good idea! I might do something similar myself…
I’m unreasonable proud of my pic game…
I’m also going to try to comment once a day at least!
One of the issues I see with commenting is that I follow so many other posts. it becomes impractical to read them all, let alone comment on them.
I am deliberately cutting back on all my reading. If I read every post of every person I follow, I would have no time for anything else. (There have been days where that happened. Literally.) Cutting back on reading causes me to cut back on commenting.
If I happen to just cut back on blogging in general, that also cuts back on commenting.
It’s important to find balance. You can burn out on blog reading believe it or not!
It’s not really my thing to comment but seeing both of your posts did make me rethink how I interact. One reason is I have a short attention span even though I have a lot of time in the world to say my thoughts in a post. Having a like is just enough as I don’t see comment stats as important anyway. I would try to comment if the post I’ve read interests me enough.
In that case I’m very flattered you took the time to comment today!
I feel bad, because I don’t comment much either. I just like posts most the time and then move on because maybe I am 10 minutes away from going back to work or starting my work day and want to read what other people wrote because I type slowly on my phone. Most of the time, I just don’t know what to say.
It’s hard. The comment life is hard. Anyway, exquisite post.
I feel you and heck likes are already awesome! Baby steps though – thank you for taking the time to comment today!
cool post
Oh jeez, I want to do that…
Still can!
Doesn’t it sting when that happens!
I was wondering who would be first! 🙂
Right?!?
Thank you. Appreciate it!
I think that a reason for lesser comments is also that most of the times I feel like I have nothing to add and “Great job” just sounds… well condescending.
I really do need to up my commenting game hm.
I agree with the Twitter comment Rin-san 🙂
Pheww! Better than Twitter at listening to problems! At least I have that!
I’m one of the many that don’t usually comment out of being “too shy”, which is honestly a bad habit of mine, but this post really did make me think about what comments mean to me. I love receiving comments, as does every blogger I speak to, but rarely post comments myself. Receiving feedback on posts is so valuable, even if it is only two words that show some sort of appreciation, so I’m going to do my best now to leave comments! (It’s a practice I should have been doing anyway, but hey…)
Thank you for making me think about this!
My pleasure – it actually made me examine my own habits so we’re both learning together!
Getting feedback for posts is good even if it’s just “cool post”
That does seem to be the consensus.