Responding to Comments on Your Blog
This is a topic that has been debated back and forth for some time now. I recently wrote a post on Lightening Online on this very topic. I think it may be my most responded to post to date. The responses ranged from having a definite opinion on what should happen to expressing confusion about what is right to guilt over not responding to comments enough.
If you haven’t read that post or would like to refresh your memory, it can be found at Commenting on Blogs.
My point at the time was that I wondered if some of the bigger bloggers even READ their comments and if they don’t, why do people continue to comment? Is it in the hope of getting noticed? Or do they simply assume the blogger is reading all 400+ comments?
I learnt something that day. If you want to get the attention of a “popular” blogger, say something controversial or borderline negative about them. Said blogger found her way to my post and left a comment defending herself. Which was perfectly fine. I wasn’t really meaning to condemn her. I was merely thinking out loud.
Since that discussion I’ve been thinking about the whole issue and taking note of how I react to the way various bloggers deal with their comments. This is simply my opinion on the topic. But isn’t that what blogging is about? Sharing our opinions?
A blog is a public platform, therefore comments should also be public.
This is the basic conclusion I have come to. I do a lot of browsing of new blogs and it definitely puts me off if I notice the blog author doesn’t seem to be participating in the discussion taking place in the comments section.
Here are my thoughts on common objections to this concept:
1. My comments section is for my readers and I don’t want to interupt.
The comments section is as much a part of your blog as the rest of it. Even a very brief, “thanks for wading in on the discussion, I’ve really enjoyed reading your comments” can be appropriate and at least acknowledges those participating.
2. Do commenters even come back and read my response?
It doesn’t actually matter whether they do or don’t. Some will and some won’t. Most of the time I do. I used to subscribe to comments but got burnt with a couple of high traffic blogs where the comments went on and on for hundreds of messages. If I ask a question, I’ll often subscribe just to be sure I don’t miss the answer.
Why doesn’t it matter?
Your responses are important for newcomers to your blog. It shows them that it is an interactive blog and that you are interested in the comments and interaction side of blogging.
Your answers may well answer a question for other readers as they come along and read through the comments section.
3. I just don’t have the time.
Doing blogging well can be quite a time consuming task. I try to deal with this dilemma by having a priority list in my head. Finding a balance between posting, responding to comments and commenting on other blogs can be really hard. I would encourage every blogger to at least respond to their commenters occasionally, even if it is just a brief “thanks for taking the time to comment”.
HOWEVER, I don’t feel guilt is a productive emotion. If you feel you should be responding to comments more often than you are are get tied up in guilt, it can affect the whole tone of your blog. DON’T respond to comments simply because you feel you HAVE to. Interacting with commenter needs to be a natural response.
4. Does it Artificially Inflate my Comment count if I respond to comments in my comment section?
The only person that should really be concerned about your comment numbers is you. Most bloggers LOVE getting comments and obviously their own comments aren’t going to bring them joy like the comments of their readers.
If this really bothers you, you could do something like Anonymum does on her blog The Nook of Oz. I think her comments look really effective so I asked her one day how she does that. It’s simply a matter of editing each comment and making her own comment bold and italiced so that it stands out.
My only concern with this method was whether those who do subscribe to comments would be aware that you had made a comment. Of course, readers get used to what different bloggers do and will adjust accordingly.
5. Wouldn’t people PREFER a personal response rather than a public one?
This is a tricky one because it varies from person to person. Some people actually take offence at bloggers sending them personal email, especially if they’re required to leave an email address in order to comment (ie they don’t really have the choice).
I will sometimes respond to a commenter privately if I feel the question asked is a fairly private one or if it requires a more detailed response. I feel that doing so opens up the way for that reader to feel they can email me direct and often-times, these kinds of responses will end up in a conversation over days or weeks (back and forth emailing).
I have also commented on blogs that do both - their reply shows on their blog as well as being sent to your email address. I’m not sure if they have a setting that does this automatically or whether the blogger does this manually.
At The End of the Day
It’s YOUR blog.
Treat comments in the way YOU prefer. We don’t all have to be the same. That’s the beauty of blogging. It allows for a variety of personal preferences and styles. I really don’t think there is a “one size fits all” when it comes to blogging.
Above all, don’t get tied up in feeling guilty. That energy can be much better used elsewhere (like responding to comments 
).
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Comments
In wordpress there is an excellent plugin called Comment Email Responder and it makes it really easy to let people know that you’ve replied.
I think it’s important as I know personally I’ll often forget to go back to check up on a previous comment I’ve made especially when I’ve moved on to the next/latest post.
I also like to make the commitment to my readers that I’ll read and respond to their comments - at this stage it really isn’t too taxing but who knows in the future!
Well I really wasn’t getting many comments before joining Entrecards, but I respond to them ALL.
Conversely I try to leave comments at most blogs I visit and read. For the most part I say positive, and sometimes opinionated but neutral. If I feel like I want to say something negative I write my own piece on my blog.
Ben - it’s never cut and dried is it? I know I find the same. Sometimes it’s easier to respond to comments than others. One thing I have noticed with Problogger is that he’ll regularly refer to comments made on previous posts, in a post. So you know he’s reading at least SOME of his comments.
Lee - thanks for explaining that.
Dave - thanks for your comment. 
I think that’s a great way to view things. Using your own blog to have your say if it’s going to be negative. I also think it’s possible to disagree or add another viewpoint without being negative or personal. Although if I strongly disagree I mostly wouldn’t say anything.
I got all gung-ho responding to comments via email when I got my wordpress blog because I could, whereas I couldn’t do that easily with blogger. Plus when I got a reply to my comment bia email I always thought it was pretty cool as I never remember to go back and check comments again to see if there is a reply, and having super slow dial-up it is hard enough getting the comments section to load in the first place so the motivation to go back and wait another three minutes on the off chance someone has replied….
But now I am torn…. I know people like to get a reply to their comment, I like to reply… I like to have that ‘conversation’…. and I do agree that seeing that conversation in comments is a nice thing….
But every comment? Is it ok to only reply to those that ‘need’ a response? Like Ben above I often feel like I have already ranted enough and any reply would just be repeating myself? And what about those that say ‘love the photo’ Should I reply to each one with a personal ‘thanks’?
Argh! It is all too hard! Someone just tell me what the rule is and I will follow it ok!
my practice is to reply to three comments at a time, just like what you do. For new commenters, i’d follow their link and leave a message or comment in their blogs.
And when I comment in someone else’s blog, I’d usually come back a day or two after to read some replies.
In my two years of blogging, i noticed that some blogs i’ve been following are no longer “friendly” to commenters. I mean, their owners no longer reply like they used to. Some would just select the comments to reply.
I do try to reply to every comment and definitely feel guilty if I haven’t. I feel like I should at least acknowledge every comment even when its an “I agree” type comment. Sometimes with these though, I will just say “Thanks for your comments”. I particularly try to make a special response to first time commenters. I don’t always get to reply as quickly as I’d like though and I often do a bulk reply if there have been a few comments. This makes it easier when there are a few people that you might reply the same way too.
It’s hard to know the best way to handle comments because everyone’s style and expectations are different. I can’t imagine anyone would have the time to respond to all their comments when there are hundreds (or on some of PW’s posts thousands) but I don’t think commenters have an expectation of reply on the big blogs like that. I’ve only commented once or twice on those big blogs and its usually just to say “thanks for a great blog/post”. I don’t really expect a response and if I had a specific question I would probably email it.
I am quite put off by blogs that have comments turned off. Maybe they prefer to handle things by email, but I just think that goes against the community feel of blogging. the conversation is not just between the blogger and commenter but amongst all commenters as well.
There’s a few plugins and methods of organising author comments, some of which I’ve been playing around with. One is threaded comments which produces a styling like what Anonymum is doing manually - the author’s reply is shown as indented and whatever other style you choose under the original comment. Other commenters can then reply to the thread. Good if you have a few different reactions to a post going on.
The other method that I am using at the moment is to have a different style for author comments, so they stand out from the rest. It makes easy for people to come back and quickly check whether the author has responded. I particularly like this on big blogs (I know problogger does it, others probably too) because its a quick way to check if the blogger responded to your comment, rather than wade through all of them.
I also use cocomment to keep track of comments because I always forget where I have commented.
I usually only comment when the post is about something I can relate to, or if I’ve found it particularly entertaining or instructive. Then I go back a couple of times to read others comments.
Kate - of course it is okay not to respond to every. single. comment. Even a brief “thanks for sharing your thoughts” type comment has to be better than NOTHING. Don’t you think? The rule is: “it’s your blog so do what you feel comfortable with” (but don’t ignore your commenters 
).
ceblogger - I often respond to several comments at a time because that’s how long it takes me to get around to replying. But it does work out well and saves me making TOO many comments.
Guera - I find blogs with comments turned off quite strange too. I have to wonder if you can really classify them as a “blog”. I guess perhaps the really popular bloggers have no choice? The only 2 I’ve come across that have done this are Steve Pavlina and Dooce (both of who are HUGE). Those plug-ins sound interesting.
River - I tend to revisit comments on most blogs I read (where I’ve left a comment) too and it has surprised me how many bloggers haven’t responded, days after I’ve left a comment. Having said that, I’m just catching up on the last few days of comments on my other blog. So I know how easy it can be to get behind.
I like to respond within the comment for the exact reason you mention. To do it as comment tends to inflate the comment count, and I don’t feel right. I have no issue with anyone else doing that, but it’s not for me.
I see some people with 20 comments, then when you look, 10 of them are their own responding to 10 genuine comments.
Like I said, I have no issue with it, but it’s not for me.
Doing it as I do makes the repsonse seem a little more personal if that makes sense?
I definitely try to reply to all comments. As been said, it is harder when a reply might not necessarily add anything more to the discussion, but I still think the acknowledgement is important.
I love blogs with email notifications of new comments( and I’m finding that I have little time to check back on blogs which don’t have that function), but I too have been stung by getting too many notifications. On those blogs, I now tend to comment after quite a few messages have already been posted. I still get to read what people are saying but I don’t end up with 20 emails in my box, none of which are really for me.
Responding within the comment itself is, I agree, a very tidy way of doing things. The fact that this wouldn’t notify readers of your responses wasn’t something I had thought of. But I tend to dislike threaded comments as I think they can make it harder to read, especially for longer discussions you go back to more than once because things aren’t displayed in the order they are written.
But yes, people need to do things in a way that works for them.
I do find it a little bit disappointing when I comment on a blog and there is absolutely not response whatsoever…ever. I recently used a tutorial on a favourite blog to make a cloth shopping bag and let the blogger know that I had done so, and posted the link to the photos I had posted of my bag. A comment on her blog or mine would’ve been nice. Not necessarily expecting her to look but just a “glad it worked well for you” would’ve been nice.
On my own blog, I respond in general to the comments all at once. I never thought of upping the comment numbers. But when my top commented on post was a grand total of 11 I guess it doesn’t matter THAT much huh! Even if I had a lot of comment traffic I’d like to think that one or two of those might be mine in response.
Hmmm, this is something I am struggling with at the moment. The actual post is a doddle, done in a matter of minutes as is my style.
But I am known now to comment in the comments AND visit and comment and it can get very time consuming when each post gets between 30-60 comments. I love each and every comment and love everyone for leaving them, I just have to reduce my posting schedule to keep up!
But that said, I have asked my readers a couple of times and this the the method they prefer, so who am I to complain!
Cerebralmum - that’s an interesting way to do things, commenting later so you don’t get inundated with the rest of the comments.
Tracy - personally, I don’t think upping the comment numbers is a huge problem (unless as Anonymum pointed out, it ends up being half the comments). I think most bloggers will respond to a few comments at once.
Kelley - the price you pay for fame! I think there is a middle line there somewhere. Where you can make some generalised responses to comments. I don’t try to necessarily go “comment for comment” with people who comment on my blogs. But I do try to read them and visit at least occasionally (because I read in a feedreader) so that they know I am interested in what they’re saying and still reading their blog even if I can’t comment on a daily basis.
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I reply to every comment as a way of showing that I read and appreciate them all. I think that not having the time to reply is much more valid if you start getting a lot of comments. Look at Problogger for instance. If I was getting as many comments as he does, I wouldn’t be able to reply to them either.
If my blog gets more popular in the future then I may have to rethink whether I reply to every comment. Recently I have been letting a few comments build up and then I reply to them all in one go. But even then, there are comments where there isn’t much I can say in reply.
One thing I would add is that with many of my posts, I’ve already had my say in the post itself. Sometimes I feel like I’m simply repeating myself when I reply to a comment from someone who basically agrees with me. That kind of reply is not particularly useful. Whereas if I write a post that’s specifically geared towards provoking discussion, I’m much more likely to write longer replies.