So, last week I posed a question on twitter, asking people if they would rather have bloggers reply to their comments that they left on blogs or if they would rather have a comment from that blogger on their own blog as a return “favor”.
In other words, would you rather continue the conversation with those who comment on your posts or visit their blog and leave them a comment?
My friend, Katy (a.k.a.) @birdonthestreet chimed in and had a good point that replies to your commenters help keep the conversation going and build relationships. And I agree.
Personally, I’ve usually been more of a “you comment on my blog, I’ll comment on yours” kinda gal.
BUT.
I think I’m sort of changing my tune.
Of course, hanging out here on Blogger does not afford me the luxury of easily commenting and automatically alerting my readers that I’ve done so, like those using WordPress. Sure, I can add my own comment but unless readers are coming back to see what I’ve written, they won’t even read my reply.
I can also send email replies, which is good to keep the conversation going but other commenters don’t see those.
So, I had this idea to email those I could (some of you I cannot email because it says “no-reply comment blogger”) and then go leave the same response in my comments.
BUT.
That takes TIME. Time I do not necessarily have.
So, I’m putting the question out to all of you…
What would you rather have? My email/comment response or a comment on your blog from me? That is if I only have time for one….
Which, sometimes I have MORE time and time for both.
I’m REALLY interested in what you all have to say about this!
No matter what, I’m definitely going to concentrate more on replying to my commenters in one way or another. Because I really like you all. And I really appreciate the fact that you take the time to visit here and read my words and get involved in my life.
I really, really do… 🙂
I’ve noticed that when bloggers are committed to growing their blogs organically, they both respond to comments on their blogs and visit the bloggers who left the comments. That does indeed take a great deal of time, so you may have to find the compromise within your own schedule. The key is being happy in your own space, and not stressing out over what other bloggers are doing.
I just think it’s important to be genuine. If I leave a comment that doesn’t warrant a response, don’t reply to it. There are only so many ways you can creatively say, “Thanks, I agree” or whatever. If you hate my blog, don’t come leave me a comment just because you feel that’s good protocol. Or if you love my blog but the post you read doesn’t leave you with anything to say, that’s OK too.
Comment, on your blog, my blog, wherever, when it feels natural.
That’s my two (or 35!) cents.
i would enjoy a return email. that “email follow-up comments” button scares me. not sure i want my inbox flooded with all your comments.
If someone asks a direct question in my comments than I will answer it back in my comments as well, in case someone else had the same question. I will also add a comment to someone else’s comment if it really made me think or I had something else to add to their comment. Otherwise I recipricate by going to their blog and reading their posts. It also helps me to get to know my readers better that way too.
I hardly ever email people because for some reason I can’t reply directly from my blogspot and I have to go through my yahoo email and copy and paste and all kinds of craziness. Ugh.
And yes. We TOTALLY could be sisters!!!!! 🙂
i *try* to email respond to all comments. [okay, i made that sound like i’m all popular and stuff, which is not the case … i just have 2 kids blah-dee-blah]
i honestly would NEVER have time to do both. and i do try to at least visit the blogs of regular commenters on my blog, as well, but leaving comments is a luxury these days … a luxury reserved for days when i have both kids napping or playing at the same time. 😉
so i vote “respond to comments via email” … but mostly b/c that’s what i do, and i’m just trying to justify what i do. 😉
I’m on blogger & installed the intense debate plug in. It took a couple tries but now it seems to be working well. I love that I can approve & reply right from my phone/email.
There’s no way I have time to go back to each blog that I’ve commented on, to see if anyone has replied to my comment. If I want to reply to a comment someone left me on my blog, I do it via email, and I try to visit their blog as well as soon as I can.
Have you thought about installing Disqus or Intense Debate? I have Disqus, and though I sometimes have issues with it, I like that I can reply in my comment thread and that the original commenter gets an e-mail about it.
I respond to comments first and then visit back. I used to have time for both, but I don’t anymore and have been debating this same thing. (It’s not that I am getting billions of comments; I just have side projects that are taking up time, too!)
However, if my comments are coming from a link (like Write on Edge), I try HARD to return visit, because I like the sense of community there.
Basically, I’m all over the place and question my practices, too. Such a helpful answer, I know.
I prefer a response to my comment, if appropriate. I changed my settings to make that easier for bloggers. I do wish we had nested comments or something on Blogger, but I’m not ready to change platforms. I sometimes go back and comment in my comment box, if someone doesn’t have an email address, but I figure they usually don’t come back and read.
comments are a really hard thing, I try to respond but it usually is through email and I also than try to come over on the blog and comment. Sometimes though life is hard! I think I have evolved to really prefer conversations on twitter.
Courtney
http://www.cookingupafamily.com
Hey love,
from bp&ch,
I didn’t read any of the other comments, so hopefully I’m not sounding like a broken record, but I was replying back to all my comments on my blog, on my blog, but one of my loyal readers recommended that I reply back to the comments in an e-mail, and I thought about it.. At first thought my way was neater ’cause everyone else got to see that I was a comment-reply-kind-of-gal, but then I really thought about it.. The person that matters the most is the person that wrote the comment.. So now I reply back on the comment, click to see their blog, make sure I’m already following them, and take a few seconds the look over the blog.. If I find something that catches my eye I comment. If I don’t have time to look around, and I like the general appearance and/or the quality of the comment, I add them to my bookmarks under different various categories. These categories have funny names but relate to the priority of how often I would like to revisit.
Now if the reader would have never revisited my blog, i.e. they are only interested in their follower number to rise, then this gives me another chance to win their heart over.
And I get to nicely show them all my contact links again. If they are really addicted to twitter or facebook for example, they might be ready to add me because the links in my signature make it convenient.
When I realized that.. I decided I am an e-mail back kind of commenter.. Plus my e-mail will sit there in their inbox to easily go back to.
Hope this helps you out some.. Just to recap, I think you should reply to e-mails within a comment. Plus you can flag any e-mails that you can’t reply back to right away, but wanted to read them then. I think the benefits in this type of reply outweigh the benefits in the other ways.
I guess I never went over.. If to reply back on their page. Umm.. When you reply back on their page, it is out of context, and there is the inconvenience of “who is this person”.. Plus sometimes those replies get lost. I think if I only have 10 minutes to check my e-mail and 50 e-mails, I am going to go for the last name, first name e-mail first because it is more personal.
The e-mail method seems more convenient for all parties involved and more personal like I said. <3
Once again.. Hope this helps.. Feel free to visit me back.
<3xojo
I use Blogger too and I installed Disqus so that I can reply back easily. I think I’ve had it at least 6 months and I love it! It also saves all my comments so that I can export them in case I ever do {heaven forbid} lose my mind and move to WordPress.
Hmm. For the most part, I prefer to just comment on a blog post, and that’s it. Unless there is need for a follow-up reply. I prefer the person returns the comment on my blog… that’s my style, that’s what I like the most. 🙂
I prefer a reply to my comment. For some reason I feel annoyed when I leave a thoughtful comment and get no reply (feel free to ignore any bs ones I leave). That’s what I try to do for others too. But for Ne blogging is largely about building a community. And you can’t do that if all of the conversations are one sided. That’s not even a conversation anyway. That’s just me talking. I like people to leave comments because I know I’m not talking to myself. And, I like to respond because then they know the same thing. As for commenting on your blog with the requirement that I come back to see it, that’s just not gonna happen. I mean how would I even know when to come back to see it? I don’t care particulary if someone comes and leaves a comment on my blog just because I left one on theirs. Sure I want the whole entire world to come and comment on my blog, but I much more appreciate meaningful comments. From people who care about the conversation and have something to contribute. Those comments that say hey, I read your post and I followed your blog so come do that at my blog are useless to me. I don’t callous blogs I have nothing to contribute to or ones I have no intention of ever reading again. That’s just not what this is about for me. How’s that for 2000 cents?!
I love this dialogue Elaine!
Here’s my 2 cents- if there’s something to talk about- questions and answers, etc I like an e-m or a response on the blog. But I hate emails that say “Thanks for your comment!” because like who has time for that, you know?
As for return visits, that’s tricky, too. It’s hard to keep up, for sure. But it’s a turn off if there’s no connection being made at all. An e-m, tweet, comment, SOMETHING- otherwise? Dropped. I’m all sorts of cold like that. 🙂
Love you!
XO
I know that I love getting an email reply to meaningful comments – not the silly little ones that don’t actually require a reply, those just seem like a waste of time – but the ones that do continue the conversation.
The idea of a set-up where comments can be replied to on the blog, but then the reply is also emailed to the commenter – that’s my ideal. (Shame I am too technologically challenged to figure it out myself!)
Wow, some really great feedback. Great idea Elaine. It has definitely spurred me to figure out why my intense debate isn’t working. Out of frustration over the whole thing, I shut off comments on my last post.
No comments, but no guilt 😉
XO – Ash
I try to do both… comment and visit.
This can be hard but I understand with Blogger that the commenter doesn’t see what you wrote.
Have you considered a move to WP?
I say do whatever you have time for.
I think I agree a little bit with what a lot of people have already said. I certainly love it when people come read my blog and I get a smile on my face every single time I get a comment – it’s nice to know someone is reading it sometimes.
That being said – I also really like conversation – I think for me I would prefer that when I comment on a blog – that I get an email in return – but because I have a wordpress.org account rather than a .com account – I don’t have an “identity” and generally have to comment using Name/Url which doesn’t allow for an email.
I actually keep a spreadsheet in my google documents with the blogs that I comment on so that I can make a point to return to them in a day or two and see if the writer responded to me.
Though since med school started – I really only find myself reading/commenting on the weekends.
I do what I can – sometimes that means I reply to a comment via email and Somedays it means I visit the blogs that commented on mine. And a lot of times I can’t do either! But I try to do something. If someone asks a question in their comment and I can not directly email them the answer, I leave a comment on my post and hope they check back to see it!
Steph
@J – I’m looking into installing Disqus now. I assume it’s pretty easy, right? I may email you to ask a couple of questions. Thanks!
I threw this same question out a few days ago on Twitter, and I was surprised that most people who answered said that they prefer replies to their comments, rather than a return blog visit. They like the sense of engagement and dialogue, which is fabulous. I still try to do both (I have the WP commenting system AND CommentLuv), but don’t always succeed on returning visits each and every time. So I’m glad I still make an effort to reply comments.
Disqus is pretty easy to install and use. And if you choose to move to WP in the future, you can export those comments with you.
When I was on blogger I did replies through email. Rarely would I put it in both places if I thought it really needed to be put on the blog.
I usually reply to every single one of my comments. But I really don’t like that they don’t get an email telling them so. I think that sucks!! I might look into installing something as well. I spend a lot of time replying to comments because I want people to know how much I truly appreciate them taking the time to stop by, visit, and comment.
If I had to choose one, I would say come on over to my blog and leave a comment. 🙂
I like getting comments on my blog, but the email seems more personal.
Certified letter please. Haha. Here’s my 2 cents. I think in the past I have left a couple comments and checked back in to see if you replied. When you didn’t I noticed you didn’t really reply to anyone. I just chalked it up to not having time. How you find the time to blog is beyond me as it is. Little did I know you were posting on their blogs 🙂
I don’t write a blog but I do read plenty of them and comment on a few. I have left comments and rec’d replies either in email or as a reply in the comment section. If I am wondering about a reply to something, I make it my business to check back. So whatever you have time for…
Tiffany H.
Truly one of the deeper questions. I like to respond to comments by email, and visit new bloggers as I have time.
It is part of the process to me to learn whether another blogger is an email responder or a comment reciprocator.
But then, I can usually count, on one hand, the comments on a given post.
good blogg