Bloggers have mentioned how they will write a post and expect a bunch of comments and get nothing. Then they will post something they consider maybe mundane and get comments out the wazoo.
I'm paraphrasing.
So in the interest of helping those who wonder about why comments are such wily buggers I thought I would tell you how, why and why not I may choose to comment.
You write something brilliant and wait for those comments to come.
I get to your blog and think 'Holy Hell!! It's brilliant!!' I sit and ponder and realize that you have already said everything I could ever think to come up with AND you have done it much better than I.
Much better.
In fact, commenting might let others know a moron visits the site. Best to keep quiet.
You have written a rant and aren't sure what to expect.
I get there and your rant is worthy of an award. Trying not to look like a fangirl by saying 'you rock' (and hey, I have been known to post that when I forget I'm 37 and too old for that) and not having anything that is worth adding, I don't post.
I get there and your rant is wonderful and award worthy and you ask what your reader's think.
Well, hell, that there be an invitation for Cindy to flap her yap. Unless what you ranted about is too intelligent for me to follow and thus, I may lurk to see what others come up with. Screw that you have all read my crazy comments that you are too kind to say 'uh Cindy, apples and oranges dude'.
I get there and your rant is wonderful but I feel differently.
I may comment if I have time or can find the right words. Sometimes the blogger's brilliance is enough for me to keep my yap shut cause 'nah-uh' is not an informative reason for why I don't agree.
You write up a post on your day at work or some weird thing that happened to you while in transit. You figure no one will care.
Pretty much gonna comment. It's not like you asked me a question but what you thought was a mundane post may have caught my funny bone or something in your day triggered a memory that I think you might find funny etc.
Some general rules that I made up in my head about commenting:
If someone else has already said what I was going to say then I usually won't comment.
If the post was on a topic or a book/author I don't know enough about I will probably not comment.
If I read the post and come away with too many thoughts and I can't get them in any sort of order that makes sense, then I may not post. Sometimes I do and wonder if others think a crazy person is stalking them.
I guess this was covered by if I have nothing of value to add to the conversation then I won't comment.
If there are already more than 10 comments and it was a post a few days old I probably won't comment cause everyone else has moved on.
And finally, I sometimes don't have the time to comment and seriously, you guys come up with some crazy intelligent stuff that usually has me scratching my head and realizing I'm out of my league.
Being the stealthy woman I am, I bob and weave to keep you all wondering if I am brilliant or just down right scary.
So, anyone want to share why they sometimes choose to comment or not?
13 comments:
lol, damn you pretty much summed up my approach to commenting too. Most of the time I hold back because I feel like my puny little two cents aren't quite as erudite as they ought to be and that if I offer a trite comment on an awesome post it's almost like an insult. But I do try to at least say something cuz I know I like it when people talk back to me on my little blog. Oddly enough, sometimes the comments take on a whole other life of their own and go in a completely different tangent than the original entry. Which is kinda cool too.
Be sure to keep the link to this post handy because it's a good guide for what most bloggers do. I picture one or more of us asking you to post it again in the future. :)
I don't think the element of surprise will ever go away about what prompts people to comment. One of my busiest posts was about making my bed for crying out loud. Who knew?
Pretty much everything you said :-D
If the post is about a book I have either read or want to read then I will comment...although I do wonder if everyone gets a bit sick of me saying...oh I want to read/have just read that book!
Other than that I comment on a pretty random basis. Some days I comment on lots of peoples blogs...other days not many, and there are still other days when I force myself to comment on 5 peoples blogs.
What does get me wondering is when there are no comments for ages on any of my posts, and I wonder if perhaps it is something that I said or did! And a lot of the time I do wonder if I am just too boring to inspire a lot of interest! Obviously that depends on how far around the 'everyone hates me' dial I am on that day!
I do love it when I get them though, and I assume other people do as well!
Of course, when people start writing entire novels in their comments.....LOL!
Marg - I love your blog! It's just that we read so differently. You are involved in lots of challenges and you talk about the Bookers and award winning books. In essense, you are reading outside of what I do (and since I'm still in Slumpville) I can't really comment. I'm worried I'd bother you with my romance loving self ;) I do know that you get many comments though!
And like you there are days when all I do is chat away at everyone's blog. Bad Cindy.
Meljean - yep, I think I covered most of mine unless I'm in a weirdly giddy mood. Then it all goes haywire.
Rosie - Can you believe I remember that exact post. I'm thinking it was the first one I ever commented on!
Sula - I don't think you could insult the poster unless you pulled my 'nah-uh!'. I think we'd be surprised at how many of us just enjoy talking with each other but I do know what you mean about maybe not feeling 'worthy'.
And I always love me some comments ;)
CindyS
You wouldn't bother me with your romance loving self! I'm a romance loving self too! I do wonder if the fact that I read both puts off both types of readers!
Like you said. If I read someone's blog all the time, but hardly ever comment, I do try to comment once in awhile, just to let the poster know I'm out there, and appreciating her words.
But, yeah, I don't comment a lot, also 'cause I don't want to make it look like I am just so the poster will go visit my blog.
You summed it up very nicely. Don't think I have anything to add.
OMG Cindy, you hit it right on for me! LOL Except if there are lots of other comments, I don't bother reading them and just post mine. :P But yeah, I use the same rationalizations on whether to comment or not.
You are brilliant.
This is a great post! It's pretty much the way I behave about commenting. I'm quiet in real life--I generally say nothing unless I actually feel like I have something important to add to a conversation. So that's the way I comment too. But then sometimes I feel bad, because I do appreciate all the good writing people put on their blogs, even if I don't feel like I have anything brilliant to add.
And where there are already a million comments, I never post. Like at Smart Bitches--I think I read pretty much every word they ever post, but I never comment, because who has time to read 80 comments??
Amen, Sistah, Sing it now...LOL
Yep, I'm with you (and it seems everyone else). Another factor for me right now (ok, two factors..no, three): I'm lazy. Typing takes more energy than I have right now, so eh..i don't comment. I read, I love, I worship, I no leave comment love.
I don't have time. I read, I love, I worship, I no leave comment love. Just don't have time to type out a response.
I'm in a commenting funk. Everything I think I could add to the topic (whatever it is) would just sound trite...So no comment love from me.
Oh, and I'm lazy. Did I mention that? Laziness is an art form I strive to perfect. :P
BUT! I read every post. Seriously. I subscribe to over 150 bloggers in my Google Reader and I read every word written there..I just comment at random.
See, me loves you. :)
Holly - The Lazy One
Yup, that's it exactly. :o)
OMG, you're so brilliant!!! *not afraid of being a fan girl all the time*
Being the stealthy woman I am, I bob and weave to keep you all wondering if I am brilliant or just down right scary.
Heh. And it's why we all keep coming back. :D
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