I suffer from terminal worrying. I worry about whether my plants have been watered enough or have they had too much water. Have I bought too much food, not enough food when friends come to stay. Will the world really run out of food. Do I have on the right clothes today, is it going to rain, be hot, cold, sunny or cloudy. I worry about global warming, world peace, world war. Should I be wearing my granny knickers today, what if I am knocked over by a bus and end up in hospital wearing ugly knickers that they'll have to cut off and people will talk about me............
But my biggest worry of all and the one that keeps me up late at night, way past my bed time, is the whole commenting in Blogland thingy. That's the real worry.....
Where is the rule book on commenting in Blogland?
Am I supposed to reply to every comment individually, do I comment in my own comments? Who will go back and read them, who will miss my reply? Do I personally email each person who takes the time to comment? This is what I've been doing, but what if I get mega famous and have a squillion followers? If I stop replying to every comment individually,will everyone think it's because I'm famous and I'm far too famous to reply? Or, will they realise that if each email takes one minute and there are one squillion comments it will take me one squillion minutes a day to reply to each and every comment. My fingers would be red raw and I would get RSI and then I wouldn't be able to reply to anyone. Then will everyone think I'm too famous to care about comments, and then they won't comment anymore. Ohhh the worry...................................
Haha :0) no need to reply to this :0)
ReplyDeleteIt's funny cos some blogs I comment on reply personally and some don't and I've noticed that most often the UK bloggers don't reply but US and Australian bloggers do. Obviously that doesn't apply to every comment made - just generally. I never know if I should/should not reply so I just kinda follow the leader and reply personally to those who do so when I comment on their blog. I don't expect a reply but it's nice when an email pops up.
I've build up some good friendships through the emails that come and go from commenting.
There apparently is no rule book - tut!!
You could always start a blog post with 'thanks for all of the comments made on my last post' lol - then you are both blogging and replying at the same time (sorted! :0) )
I just generally go and comment back on whoever comments on my blog :-) I just feel that is blog manners. Some people do reply to my comments by email which is nice too. I am a worrier too - you are not alone :-)
ReplyDeleteBoy, thanks for taking up all that worrying so I don't have to.
ReplyDeleteI reply to all comments because I don't get a lot. I have my blog set up so all comments on my posts are sent to my gmail address, and I can reply directly. Lots of times its a brief reply, sometimes there is a little back and forth commenting, which is a lot of fun. I'm curious about people who never reply to comments. Why have a public blog if you aren't going to respond, I wonder?
The only ones I can't reply to are "no-reply" peeps. Sad, really.
I've never received an email reply to any comment I've made on a blog but I always comment when I can on the blogs that I follow. A few of them reply on their blogs but they are gensrally ones with only a couple of comments each time. It would be a very big job to reply if you have heaps of comments.
ReplyDeleteHowever if there has been question and answer going back and forth I reply in the comments section of my blog or sometimes theirs.
Whatever you do don't take the fun out of blogging and make it a chore.
Cheers
Helen
PS You are setting a high standard with these post titles !!!
There's definitely no rules. No-one gets offended if you don't reply.
ReplyDeleteI reply some days, but other days I don't. Some comments really don't need a reply at all.
It all comes down to time I reckon!
Helsie, I want to reply to you via email often but can't because you're a no reply blogger. Change your settings girl and I'll email ya!
ReplyDeleteFor me it depends on the amount of time I have on any given day. Sometimes I reply on my blog , sometimes individually but only to some. I like to leave personal replies, not cut and paste ones, and sometimes thats hard to do as well as comment on everyones posts. I work for a living!
And I worry about this too. All the time!
I think we all have this problem and I certainly wish I could respond to all comments but then not everyone has e-mail addresses on their blog and like you I wonder about commenting on my own blog to their comments in case they never return and so don't see my comment on their comment. I take the cheat's way out and say thanks to you all on my posts occasionally and if I find I want to respond to something someone has said and there is an e-mail I reply to them direct or sometimes by commenting on their blog but then I worry that it might be seen as a way to get more followers off the back of their blog... It really can be a worry can be a problem. But basically as there are no rules and no etiquette here I guess we do what we like?
ReplyDeleteJane
Thanks for the tip Marg. You learn something every day!! Don't know if I ticked the right box or not. I guess if I hear from you I'm on the right track !
ReplyDeleteCheers
Helen
THINK I have done it but not sure!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHelen
okay, this is really dumb, but how do you respond to comments? I don't know why I haven't asked before - cause I've been curious for a while. I appreciate the emails back, but I think if you're already "friends", you shouldn't feel like you have to respond to every comment (I'm speaking personally here) - maybe every other, every two, or combine replies from a few posts!! :)
ReplyDeleteI just emailed you Helsie, so if you get that email then you did it.
ReplyDeleteYou're still popping up as a "no reply blogger to me when I hit reply " to your comments.
thanks for your wonderful email marg and deepest apologies for the late reply.....its been so helpful and all three girls have just sat round the table and taken your comments and recommendations very seriously....hope i can help with your daughter one day....and no, your comments were taken as meant x
ReplyDeleteLOL! Although I'll be the first admit that your blogland reply etiquette has crossed my mind.
ReplyDeleteHere's what I do: When someone comments on my blog I usually try to reply even if it's just with a thank you--although I think during the move I may have been a bit more hit and miss on that. So far being famous hasn't been a problem for me, so I'll cross that bridge if I come to it.
As far as replying on the blog itself, I have occasionally when someone asks a question that I think others might be interested in, but I really have no idea if anyone comes back to read the comments.
Good on you for raising these questions!!! I had no idea what I was supposed to do when I started blogging. You could always put a little message above the comment box saying that Although you love getting comments you don't always have time to reply. I think people will understand. I know when I leave a comment I do it because i want to leave a message for the blogger, not because I'm thinking about what email I might receive. Though I do think the return email is a nice way building bloggy friendships. I think you should just do what you think is enjoyable. Blogging should be fun, not a chore. (You don't have to reply if you don't want to, I'll keep visiting :) )
ReplyDeleteYep, I worry about it as well. If you reply on the blog comments to everyone they may not see the comment if they haven't selected follow up comments.
ReplyDeleteI try and reply to everyone, even if it is a few days later and don't usually notice when they are no-reply until I've already hit send! My wonderfully witty response goes nowhere!
It's the age-old conundrum and, yes, a rule book would be great. I think you have to go with what works for you. I'd like to send an e-mail reply to each and every comment, but I don't always get to it and don't expect a reply back on the comments that I leave, because I totally understand how busy life gets. So, for future reference, you totally don't have to reply to my comments.
ReplyDeletexo -El