This post was written by Jennifer
So, How Come You Don’t Respond To Comments?
I’m dead serious.
If you work for a network, any network, where say team work is sort of encouraged by networks heads and editors, yet you refuse to respond when readers leave you comments, I’m just curious why. I’m not talking the random no response. I’ve done that. I’m talking about when I’ve left at least 10 comments at your blog in the span of a year, and you’ve never, not once responded back.
I have some ideas.
- Your page views are good no matter if you respond to readers or not, so why bother.
- I’m not leaving the right sort of comment.
- You’re too busy.
- You do respond to readers, just not readers who also blog for your network.
- Your editor never set it up so you get emails - you’re not ignoring me, you just don’t know about me.
Basically I’m curious because there are a couple of network blogs I like a lot. I’ll read, comment, nothing, and yet still return. Which one, I’m done with, because it’s getting old, and two this goes against everything I’ve ever heard about traffic. I.e you should respond back to readers.
I guess I’ve always thought responding is a good plan. I’ve never heard an argument against responding to reader comments. If you happen to be a network blogger who never responds I really am curious about how come (not in a mad way, in a very real curious way).
Maybe you can offer some ideas about this in the comments.
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15 Responses to “So, How Come You Don’t Respond To Comments?”
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A good topic and your suggested ideas seem probably close to the mark.
I just about always respond to comments on my blog. The few exceptions are flagrant ads with no relevance to any thought, these I delete, Some relevance subject but still and ad, not much point commenting and I leave. Sometimes there are a few fans that leave too kind comments too often ( Is there ever really too much kindness?) and only thank them for a few of them.
There are some blogs I read that may appear to have an establish clique or group that gets the main comments and being an outsider or new to blog I guess they are not ready to bring you into the fold.
I have noticed on larger blogs that many commentor are providing additional information not for the Blogger but to the readers and therefore there is not really a need for Blogger to respond.
I see many comments that are not though provoking such as
Wow I can’t wait to try that or
Neat, I have a similar photo on my site.
I wonder if many comments are not just there to drive traffic to their site.
Niels Henriksen
I do try to respond to comments, but I have to admit, I’m not as good about this as I used to be.
It’s not because I don’t care, but because I’m forgetful.
Thanks for this great post. It’s inspired a little post of my own on Sciencetext.com which will appear soon (with due credit and backlink, of course)
db
@Niels I don’t think any of us respond to ads - I delete those too. Or have some fun with them by deleting links. I get the fans who leave many comments, there was a problogger post about this once, I should try and find it; but I’m not a stalker commenter, I also don’t tend to leave the “Wow cool” comments - once in a while; but often I leave longer ones. I think many comments are there to drive traffic, but I honestly won’t comment, if I don’t like a post.
@Deb so forgetting, maybe falls under busy, which I know you are (This post wasen’t about you though). I actually have a couple of specific blogs in mind that literally never respond, but of course wasn’t going to name them.
@Cool David; I’ll watch for the link so I can read it.
…running off to check my comments, hoping I’m not “one of the blogs you had in mind.”
Sandy, silly. No. Actually it’s no one I correspond by email with. I didn’t mean to get people nervous, I just really am curious why some people don’t ever respond. I keep thinking it’s a tactic I missed, because many do it. (or fail to do it, as the case may be).
Has anyone else noticed this at network blogs? Maybe I’m alone on this.
Jennifer:
It’s probably a good thing that we all run nervously to re-examine our handling of blog comments. I doubt that there’s one among us that couldn’t do a better job of it.
Personally, I go in fits and spurts. I try to always thank new visitors that post a thoughtful comment. Regulars and those with ultra-short comments not so much.
Re: being ignored by fellow network bloggers - YES! me too…and not just on one network. It drives me crazy.
The worst abuser was a former b5-er that wouldn’t even approve my (friendly) comments, let alone reply to them.
I’m pretty good about comments. I don’t respond if someone leaves a one word comment usually, and I don’t respond to say, contest comments, or second and third comments (unless there’s a reason too). Overall I miss very few; but I also post less than some bloggers. I take time I could be posting, and use it to answer comments - I need a good balance between posting and comments, but since it’s a personal pet peeve of mine to not answer decent comments, I’m compelled.
PS not approving you Sandy, is just plain rude.
I think it may be that some network bloggers don’t feel they have to respond to their “co-workers,” but I’ve also had this happen to me at independent blogs.
While I don’t think it’s always necessary to respond to each comment, I do think totally ignoring someone over and over is very rude.
@Peggy maybe your right - maybe I’m not a valued customer. However, a page view is a page view, a comment is a comment. I’ve been ignored at independents too, the difference is, I never have to go back, but at the network, the blogs are sort of in my face all the time, and I’m supposed to interact with them for theme days and such. I suppose, it’s just extra annoying because I see their feeds often and so on.
Jennifer, I thought of this question when I couldn’t fall asleep last night:
If the blogger responds to every reader comment, does that discourage interaction between the readers? In order words, does it hinder a sense of community among the readers at all?
@Yeah if the blogger takes over the conversation, but I know very few bloggers who do that. Also, in some cases readers just don’t talk to each other. But I see your point.
I’m one of those non-responders and for a reason that makes so much sense to me, I don’t understand why other people don’t get it.
I write a post which is my opinion. My comments write to either agree or disagree with my opinion. What’s the point of my then going back to agree or disagree with their opinion. You already have mine.
Even when a commenter asks a question, I tend to respond by email, because how many people actually come back looking for an answer to a question they’ve left?
To me, comments are like thank you cards. You don’t respond to a thank you card with a thank you card - where would it end?
From a reading standpoint - I regularly read one blog where the author responds to EVERY COMMENT with basically the same thought, “thanks for commenting.” So 20 comments get inflated to 40 comments for me to wade through. What’s the point?
I read all the comments that come in on my blogs but I rarely respond to each individual one.
@Cynthia Thank you for responding to the question honestly. I don’t think many like to admit that they don’t respond, or else they don’t have a reason to back it up.
I agree with your reading standpoint. If someone always and only responds with a “thanks for commenting” I don’t see the point. It’s worse than not commenting back at all.
I also agree that a merry-go-round of “thanks, no thank you,” is annoying. But I don’t often see that. Most of the time someone ends it.
“Even when a commenter asks a question, I tend to respond by email, because how many people actually come back looking for an answer to a question they’ve left?”
But see, you’re responding to questions. So you are interacting, just not at the blog, in the comments. I see blogs where you can ask a question or ask them to clarify and nothing; not a comment, not an email. That’s annoying and it makes them look like they don’t know what they’re talking about. I actually do go back to see if people respond to me; I think many readers do because part of a blogs appeal is the community aspect. Plus many blogs are set up so you can have further comments emailed to you, so people must be interested in the response to their comment.
If I didn’t feel like interacting, I’d read articles or books not blogs; there is a distinct difference. Partially blogs are community focused. If the blogger has no intention of interacting, it may as well be an article in a publication, or a stagnant website. At all my favorite blogs there’s a community feel, and in my opinion that can’t exist if the blogger is MIA all the time.
But people read blogs for different reasons.
Really though, thanks for commenting on why you don’t comment - it sheds some interesting light on this topic.