Question: Do you like responding to all blog comments?
Today I have a fun question that probably applies to every blogger and every blog reader and commentor. Do you like responding to each and every blog comment?
There are two main ways you can respond to blog comments. One could be as a blogger, and the other could be as a blog reader.
Responding to comments as a blogger
If you are a blogger, you may have a habit of responding only to certain comments or commentors, or you may try to respond to every comment. You may also not respond to any comment at all. If you are a blogger, you should realize that there is a difference between responding to comments and simply acknowledging comments. Thus, simply acknowledging comments as an obligation on a regular basis does not mean you know how to, and that you actually are willing to, communicate and interact with your readers.
Responding to comments as a reader
If you are a reader and a commentor on a blog, you may or may not like responding to each and every comment addressed to you, or you may or may not like responding to comments that revolve around your comment. You may even have the habit of tackling and addressing each comment on other people’s blog, based on certain criteria such as the type of a blog in question, the type of topic covered, etc.
One thing we should keep in mind is that every blogger can also be a commentor, and every commentor can also be a blogger through the comments, so both bloggers and commentors can also fall into both categories at the same time.
I try my best to respond to each and every comment
I try to respond to everyone on this site, and I try my best to keep up to date with my comments and any due comments on other sites. Sometimes it takes a while, even a few weeks or months, though I try my best to get to everything. For me, late follow-ups are better than no follow-ups. Communicating with others is one of my main priorities.
I just went through all of my comments and e-mails, and unless I have misplaced e-mails or cannot easily find things because of numerous computer backups, I am happy to say that I have responded, via comments, instant messages, e-mails and other channels of communication, to each and every comment and commentor on all of my blogs for the last 7-8 years or so, with the exception of RA Project, Flickrness and Eyeography so far; I should hopefully be able to get to them soon. Responding to comments in my view means communicating with the commentor, and I do that even on the phone [voice or text messages].
Is responding to all comments one of your priorities?
Keeping the above in mind, do you like responding to all blog comments?
Please let me know what your opinion is about this topic, and also whether or not you think responding to all comments is necessary. Thank you. 
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( July 9th, 2007 at 3:03 pm )
as a blogger I try to reply to every comment, but sometimes I leave some of tham back not intentionally but it happens
… as a reader I keep on discussing a topic only if I’m really interested… it’s hard for me to leave more than one comment on the same post…
I like the difference between replying to a comment and acknowledging it you pointed out.
btw, I’ve a asked a similar question to my readers… here’s the link: http://www.mapelli.info/blog/reader-question-what-are-your-comments-preferences
( July 9th, 2007 at 4:49 pm )
Francesco Mapelli. thanks for the comment and the link. I really appreciate it.
I think I also sometimes either forget something, or think to myself “I want to reply to that in detail. I’ll come back to it soon.” Sometimes, I will come back to comments or e-mails after a very long time and hope that the original commentor/e-mailer still remembers what I am talking about.
I understand what you mean about finding it “hard” to post more than once on something you have already commented on; it can become a bit tricky. Also, I am happy that you like my reply/acknowledge concept.
Thank you.
Off-topic: you have a very interesting site.
( July 9th, 2007 at 9:54 pm )
I try to reply to every comment. I notice in my visitor logs that some readers check back in several hours, presumably to see if I or others have answered their comment. I don’t want them to be disappointed. Also, I don’t get enough comments! So I want to encourage those kind souls who do leave a note on the blog.
( July 9th, 2007 at 10:33 pm )
Genevieve Netz, thanks for the comment. I think that is a very good tip, to analyze site logs. Do you use any specific software to check the logs?
Responding to comments, specially on time, can indeed tell commentors on many levels “I like your comment so much, I am going to talk about it.”
Thanks again.
( July 12th, 2007 at 3:37 pm )
I use Statcounter. and look at the “Visitors Paths” statistics.
( July 13th, 2007 at 9:19 am )
Yep I Try my best to respond to all comments expect the comments which are one liners
( July 13th, 2007 at 9:48 pm )
Arpit Jacob, thanks for the comment.
Your comment can be considered a one liner too, and I know your comment is important because you share what you practice on your own site, so I solved the problem of your comment being a one-liner by reducing the width [minimizing] of my browser, resulting in your comment length becoming 2 lines. 
Nice solution, no?
( July 13th, 2007 at 9:54 pm )
Genevieve Netz, sorry, I forgot to respond to your comment in my response to Arpit above. I haven’t used StatCounter in a long time, though I think it may have come a long way since then. A question: I see you linking back to StatCounter. Is that one of their requirements?
Also, I notice you use sitemeter. Which one do you think is better [sitemeter vs. StatCounter]? Do you think their measure of traffic on your site is consistent? I use more than one stats program, and they all usually show different website traffic, which can be puzzling.
( July 13th, 2007 at 11:31 pm )
No, it’s not required to link back to Statcounter. You can get an invisible counter. I give them the link because it’s the right thing to do. They’re an excellent free service that I use daily — they deserve the courtesy of a link, particularly since I don’t often click on their ads when I look at my statistics.
I greatly prefer Statcounter over Sitemeter. If you haven’t used Statcounter for a while, you should take another look.
The one thing that Sitemeter does better is their “Outclicks” info, in my opinion. Also, if you want to know whether you’re a “Flibberty Fish” or whatever on “The Truth Laid Bear”, you have to use Sitemeter.
I’m talking strictly about the free counters. I don’t know anything about their paid services!
( July 14th, 2007 at 11:54 am )
Genevieve Netz, thanks for the explanation. That is very nice of you, to link back to StatCounter even when it is not required.
I am going to try StatCounter then, thank you. I am currently trying a few free services also, including Google Analytics. Outclicks are important, though if in other features StatCounter has better information, then I can gather the Outclicks from some other service.
I didn’t know about “The Truth Laid Bear“; I should try it to see what it is about, as its about page is not completely clear.
Also, one of the only paid stats services I know is Mint; it is used on the RA Project site, though I have not yet used it on this very site. Thanks again.