Comments
The holy grail of blogging success! What type of posts do you leave comments on? How do you try to encourage more comments on your own blog? Do you respond to people who leave comments on your posts? How do you handle negative/spam comments? Do you use captcha?
YAY FOR COMMENTS! We all love them, need them to feel we have an audience, to feel we are being heard. However, as I’m nearing my second year of book blogging, I’m starting to realize it’s not all about comments. Of course, they are much appreciated and loved and if I never got any, I would be hella sad. However, I know for a fact that many of us read other blogs but do not always comment. I do it, and many of you have stated you do it, too. Let’s face it, LIFE makes taking the time to comment very difficult. I try to comment on about 10 blogs a day, and leave reviews to read on the weekend because they are more time-consuming.
Personally, I think I’m a terrible commenter. I don’t usually know how to word my thoughts of agreement or disagreement, or intrigue or whatever, so I will say something lame. I want to work on that part of me. People take the time to put their heart into reviews, so I need to make more of an effort at acknowledging that. I do in my head and heart, but it doesn’t always come out in my comments.
I try to ask a question at the end of posts like these to encourage discussion. I do love a good discussion! I always, always try to respond. With WordPress, this has become much easier. I don’t always get to all of them, but I certainly read every single one. I would leave a negative comment and respond to it, unless it was a completely rude or ignorant comment about the author, etc. Again with WordPress, spam comments are handled beautifully with plug-ins like Askimet and Anti-Spam Bee. ♥
And um. Captcha is the suck. If you have it, you won’t receive a comment from me, most of the time. It’s a stupid, over-the-top, unnecessary tool for catching spam.
How do you handle comments?
© 2012, Smash Attack Reads. All rights reserved.
| Leave a Reply | |
|
|
|
I’m a really bad commenter too. Aside from the time issue, it’s a matter of having something more to say than great review or I agree. If I don’t have something original to add I typically skip the comment.
Yea, sometimes I do that, too. I feel like a douche already with half the comments I leave…
Personally I love receiving comments. Like you said it makes you feel like your content is really getting read! Sometimes it’s really disappointing if I spend a lot of time writing up a post and then no one comments on it. Then I have to remind myself that life happens and that so many people don’t have time to comment on blogs but that doesn’t mean they don’t still read them. For awhile I spent a lot of time deriving my “blogging success” from comments but now I just let it go. If I get comments I get them but if not it’s not the end of the world.
As for being a good commenter I feel like I really am one. I tend to always comment on the posts I read (and I read a LOT of posts!) because I always have a lot of thoughts (even in real life I’m quite the talker) plus I think it’s nice to show a little blogger love towards others! When I leave comments I always try to make sure they are meaningful. Especially if I’m commenting on a review I’ll try to specifically comment on stuff the blogger mentioned in their review so they know I didn’t just skim it and then scroll to the bottom and write “Nice review.” Meaningful comments are always much nicer than ones that feel copied and pasted!
I can tell what a wicked awesome commenter you are! Rock on with yo bad self.
I do agree that copying and pasting comments is terrible. I would never do that. However, meaningful to me might not be meaningful to you, and vice versa. Sometimes it’s just damn hard to get your words out, ya know? Other times it’s easy, but sometimes I just want to scream WHAT S/HE SAID!
You are a fantabulous commentor.
Why thank you. ♥
I used to spend HOURS a day commenting but I just don’t have time. I think you’re right though. Even though we want comments if we don’t get them it doesn’t mean no one is reading your posts.
I find that people will comment via twitter more now – even weeks after I posted something.
Why is commenting easier with WordPress? Just curious.
Yea, I get a lot of comments on Twitter, too. Commenting from WP is a breeze. You don’t even have to visit the post. Just log in to your WP Dashboard, go to comments, and reply right from there. It’s nifty and quick. Here’s a snippet:
Wow – that does make it easier.
Like you, and apparently like most bloggers, I don’t comment enough. But I follow over 700 blogs and can’t comment on everything unless I give up reading, eating, and sleeping (which isn’t going to happen). I am also trying to comment on at least 10 posts a day which is doable but only a drop in the bucket. My BBC post is here. Have a good day!
Yea, that is a LOT of blogs to read and comment on. I just cleaned up my RSS feed the other day. It’s much more manageable now, but new blogs are always sneaking in!
I’m usually a terrible commenter. It really just depends on the post and the blog. I have about two handful of blogs that I try to follow religiously (yours being one of them) and I do try to comment on each post.
BTW, I am loving this layout!
I hear ya. It definitely depends on the post and my mood. And if I’m feeling lazy or energetic. I save a lot of posts to read when I actually have the time, which makes commenting easier.
BTW, THANKS!
I hate captcha with a passion , and I do try to leave comments as much as I can. Today is been a bad day because of family stuff.
I’m in the same boat and read pots but very bad at commenting on them. I do sometimes comment on twitter if I follow the blogger.
Some days are definitely better than others!
You make a lot of good points. While comments are awesome, we cannot get into a habit of posting in a way that makes us seem like we are posting FOR comments. The content that we share needs to be genuine and needs to be about things that we really care about. Life can get in the way, or someone may simply not have anything to say. But that doesn’t mean no one is reading.
Despite recognizing this, I would be lying if I said that I do not love receiving comments on my posts. While it is true that people do read and not comment, comments show that people are reading and can tell the blogger what they are thinking.
Like most who are talking about this topic today, I am strongly against Captcha. If I’m taking the time to leave you a comment, don’t make me leap through hoops like a circus animal. I have vision issues and some of those darn programs make letters and numbers so blurry that I can’t see them. If I have to try a code a third time, I close the page. And I *know* that is generous.
Anyway, great post. I enjoyed hearing your thoughts on this.
Kathy Ann,
I Write, I Read, I Review
Hella generous! If I have something I really want to say, I give it one shot. One. I do my best with commenting. I could be way better. Of course, we all love to receive comments. It’s validation of this crazy hobby!
Down with the Capthca!
I recently started ending my reviews with a question and have found that its leading to more comments. I love that blogger now has threaded comments because it makes it easier to respond directly and I always try to respond to comments left on my blog.
I go in spurts where I comment a lot on different blogs and then there are days I just don’t get to it. I try to visit at least 5 different blogs each day to leave a comment. Some days it’s easier to do than others.
Yes, ending with a Q helps a lot. Blogger finally got on the bandwagon, thankfully. Still happy I moved to WP though! So much more fun.
I know this comment is not awesome and long and wordy but I just HAD to say this.
In reference to “Captcha is The Suck” I would very much like to say AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!